Bee Gees
Alone (Polydor 1007)

The Gibb brothers have more lives than that cat from the Nine Lives cat food commercials … um, that is, TEN lives or more!

Yuck, what a bad opening sentence. But I'm going for quantity rather than quality today so it stays. My point was that there have been so many times in the Bee Gees' career that they, by all accounts, should have been 100% washed up, and yet they always seem to come back with a song that makes the public remember why they were once the biggest stars in music.

I never forget the Gibbs, though, unlike countless party guests and assorted witmeisters throughout the years … I've always rooted for them even in the face of tremendous hostility from those who would cry "disco sucks!"

Disco doesn't suck, first of all, and second of all, the Bee Gees were never limited to disco, though they did disco incredibly well. They've done great British pop, pseudo-R&B, disco, and "adult contemporary" pop with equal élan. The secret is that they're just music dorks: exquisitely talented with songwriting and production, and incapable of being truly trendy. They got popular because they were in the right place at the right time, and the music industry collided with them.

But why have they remained? Because they write great goddamn songs, that's why. Barry Gibb is probably music's most unheralded pure genius, though one day he'll get his due. Someone really needs to cover "Nights on Broadway" to make people see how amazing this guy is.

Hell, all people need to realize is that not only did he write "Staying Alive," but he's got a songwriting credit on "Ghetto Supastar" as well (didn't know he wrote "Islands in the Stream"? Shame on you).

Um, so I like the Bee Gees, m'kay? Listening to the CD single for their 1997 comeback hit Alone made me think of how many times these guys have come back … hell, even Saturday Night Fever itself was a comeback for them. I was surprised when "One" came out in 1989 and it was pure quality, but even I figured that would be the last go-round for the brothers Gibb.

Lo and behold, they arose once more with "Alone," a peppy MOR tune with a 50s feel and the requisite trademark harmonies. Great song. The EP is fleshed out with a pointless but not bad live version of "Stayin' Alive" (awkwardly listed as "Stayin' Alive (Live)"); a nine-minute remake/remix of "You Should Be Dancin'" (awkwardly listed as "You Should Be Dancin' (Decadence)"); and a limp b-side called "Rings Around the Moon" which features some pretty hystrionic singing from Robin.

When I'm in the right mood, this is a swingin' little EP, and I enjoy it a lot. I don't get in the mood to listen to it much, though. Really, what I wish would happen would be a great 2-disc best- of that would include "Alone" and all the Bee Gees singles through the years, going back to the late 60s and also including stuff like "Emotion" (which may as well be a Bee Gees song) and "Islands in the Stream" (perhaps a demo version).

Actually, theoretical CD collecting is getting to be more fun than the real thing, sadly enough.

Loud Bassoon rating scale

Review by Hugo Early