Bee Gees hit #1 with “How Deep Is Your Love”

How Deep Is Your Love Bee Gees

Writer(s): Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (see lyrics here) First Charted: September 24, 1977 Peak: 13 US, 14 CB, 13 GR, 2 HR, 14 RR, 16 AC, 3 UK, 16 CN, 3 AU, 5 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.7 US, 1.02 UK, 3.64 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 5.0 radio, 635.80 video, 500.38 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” may be the song most associated with disco, but it was the group’s previous single, “How Deep Is Your Love,” which kickstarted the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack that made disco the juggernaut it became. “How Deep Is Your Love” reached #1 a week after the debut of the Saturday Night Fever movie. SF It was followed to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 by two more Bee Gees songs (“Stayin’ Alive” and “Night Fever”) and Yvonne Elliman’s “If I Can’t Have You.” Even this many years later it ranks second only to The Bodyguard as the best-selling soundtrack of all time with 25 million worldwide. “Deep” was also significant in that it ended Debby Boone’s 10-week reign at the top of the charts and became the first song to spend 17 weeks or more in the top 10 since Chubby Checker’s “The Twist.” It held the record until Boyz II Men’s 19-week run in the top ten with “End of the Road” in 1992. The Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb has said it is his favorite Bee Gees’ song. WK Robert Stigwood, who manged the Bee Gees, tapped them to contribute songs to his Saturday Night Fever movie. The group was tempted to give this song to Yvonne Elliman, but Stigwood said, “You’ve got to do this song yourself; you should not give it to anybody.” WK When the song, which Billboard described as a “warm tender ballad,” WK reached #3 in the UK, Barry said, “With all the new wave and punk rock out, I would have thought something like ‘How Deep Is Your Love’ wouldn’t have a chance.” WK The song won the Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Group. Resources: SF Songfacts TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Pages 172-3. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 10/23/2020; last updated 4/12/2023.

Elvis Costello gets banned from Saturday Night Live: December 17, 1977

Originally posted December 17, 2011.

Saturday Night Live made its name in the 1970s not just for its live sketch comedy, but for musical performances. For the December 17, 1977 broadcast, the Sex Pistols were scheduled to perform. Their criminal records complicated the process of getting them visas in time so Elvis Costello & the Attractions were invited instead. Ironically, one would have assumed no one was more likely to provide controversy than the Pistols, but Elvis proved them wrong.

Costello wanted to promote his upcoming new single “Radio Radio”. However, the powers-that-be wanted an already established song from his repetoire. Lorne Michaels, the show’s producer, also didn’t want them to perform the song because of its anti-media message ^ZM which criticized “the commercialization and payola of the airwaves.” ^RS Costello seemingly obliged, kicking into a performance of “Less Than Zero”. However, he’d barely started the song when he turned to his band yelling “Stop! Stop!” and then informing the audience, “I’m sorry ladies and gentleman, there’s no reason to do this song here.” He then launched into “Radio Radio” instead.

The move got Costello banned from the program for more than a decade. Michaels was not a fan of such spontaneous changes and was reportedly infuriated that it put the show off schedule. ^ZM Costello has said the move was inspired by a Jimi Hendrix performance on BBC television in which he was supposed to play “Hey Joe” but opted for a cover of Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love” instead. That broadcast was stopped when it ran “longer and louder than the show’s producers intended.” ^WK

Costello finally appeared as a musical guest again in 1989 and also in 1991. For SNL’s 25th anniversary in 1999, the Beastie Boys were beginning a performance of their song “Sabotage” when Costello interrupted them and they played “Radio Radio” together.

Click here to see the 1977 performance of “Radio Radio”

Resources and Related Links:

• Elvis Costello’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry
  
• ^RS RollingStone.com: Week in Rock History: Elvis Costello Defies ‘Saturday Night Live’. By Stacey Anderson. (12/12/11).
  
• ^WK Wikipedia.org entry: “Radio Radio”
  
• ^ZM Zimbio.com People banned from SNL
  

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“You Light Up My Life” spent 10th week at #1

You Light Up My Life Debby Boone

Writer(s): Joe Brooks (see lyrics here) Released: August 16, 1977 First Charted: August 27, 1977 Peak: 110 US, 18 CB, 17 GR, 113 HR, 16 RR, 11 AC, 4 CW, 48 UK, 15 CN, 7 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, 6.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 10.0 video, 37.26 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Despite the sentimental nature of this romantic love ballad, the story of how it ended up with Debby Boone isn’t quite so sweet. Joe Brooks wrote the song for the 1977 movie You Light Up My Life, which he wrote and directed. SF The story was about a girl, played by Didi Conn, who is trying to make it in show business. In the movie, she is seen singing the song in the studio. SF Conn lip synched it in the movie, but Kasey Cisyk, best known for singing jingles, actually sang it and her version was featured on the soundtrack. While Brooks was initially pleased with Cisyk’s version, her second husband, Ed Rakowicz, said Brooks retaliated against her for rebuffing improper advances. He wouldn’t speak to her and avoided making payments, eventually recouped in a lawsuit. WK Meanwhile, for more than a year the movie sat unreleased, as did the song. RC When it finally saw release, record exec Mike Cub thought the song could launch the solo career of Debby Boone, SJ the daughter of legendary singer Pat Boone, to sing a new version of the song. The same orchestra track and piano was used for Boone’s version. She said Brooks allowed her no freedom in how to sing the song; she was directed how to sing every inflection so it matched the original recording. WK She has said in interviews that Brooks was so mean to her, that she was reduced to tears. SF In her hands, the song became “a little tale of Christian fundamentalism that sneaked onto the pop charts.” SJ Her parents were “outspoken religious zealots” SJ and so, as she said, “I knew it was probably written about a male-female relationship, but…as far as I’m concerned, it’s my love song to God.” SJ Her version of “You Light Up My Life” was released as the first single to her debut solo album of the same name. It became the biggest #1 Billboard Hot 100 hit of the 1970s. Its 10 weeks on top of the chart made it the biggest #1 since Elvis Presley topped the charts for 11 weeks in 1956 with his double A-side hit “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Hound Dog.” It scooped up a number of year-end awards, including a Grammy Award for Song of the Year, an Academy Award for Best Original Song, an American Music Award for Favorite Pop Single, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. It even garnered Boone a Grammy for Best New Artist. She never had another top 40 hit on the Billboard pop charts, but she did crossover to the country charts. Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Debby Boone FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 475. RC Rod Couch (2015). The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era: 1955-2015. Pages 140-1. SJ Bob Shannon and John Javna (1986). Behind the Hits: Inside Stories of Classic Pop and Rock and Roll. Warner Books, Inc.: New York, NY. Page 74. SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 10/30/2019; last updated 4/29/2024.