The Gibb Brothers (Bee Gees & more): Top 100 Songs

Barry, Robin, Maurice, and Andy Gibb

Bee Gees et al Top 100 Songs

Twins Maurice (died 1/12/2003) and Robin Gibb (died 5/20/2012) were born on this day (December 22) in 1949 in Douglas, Isle of Man, UK. Together with their older brother Barry (born 9/1/1946 in Douglas, Isle of Man, UK), they formed the Bee Gees, a group known for three-part harmony and falsetto voices. The family moved to Australia in 1958, where the Bee Gees started as a pop-rock act. They returned to the UK in 1967 and and hit their commercial peak in the latter-half of the 1970s when they became disco icons. Their string of hits from 1977’s Saturday Night Fever soundtrack made for one of the greatest chart dominations ever accomplished by a group as the album lingered atop the U.S. album chart for six months fueled by four #1 hits. They landed three more songs atop the Billboard Hot 100 with their 1979 album Spirits Having Flown. Their success waned after that, but over a forty-year run, they sold more than 220 million albums. Their younger brother, Andy (born 3/5/1958, died 3/10/1988), was also a successful singer. Saturday Night Fever is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Albums of All Time. One of that soundtrack’s songs, “Stayin’ Alive,” is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era 1954-1999. For a complete list of the Bee Gees’ DMDB honors, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry. Click here to see other acts’ best-of lists.

Awards:

Top 100 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. Songs which hit #1 on various charts are noted. (Click for codes to singles charts.) DMDB Top 1%: 1. B-M-R: Stayin’ Alive (Bee Gees, 1977) #1 US, CB, HR, RR, CN, AU 2. B-M-R: Night Fever (Bee Gees, 1977) #1 US, CB, HR, RR, UK, CN 3. B-M-R: How Deep Is Your Love (Bee Gees, 1977) #1 US, CB, RR, AC, CN 4. A-B-M-R: Shadow Dancing (Andy Gibb, 1978) #1 US, CB, HR, RR, AU 5. B-M-R: Islands in the Stream (Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton, 1983) #1 US, CB, AC, CW, CN, AU DMDB Top 5%: 6. B: I Just Want to Be Your Everything (Andy Gibb, 1977) #1 US, CB, HR, RR, UK, AU 7. B-R: Woman in Love (Barbra Streisand, 1980) #1 US, CB, HR, RR, AC, UK, CN, AU 8. B-R: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (Bee Gees, 1971) #1 US, CB, HR, CN 9. B-M-R: Too Much Heaven (Bee Gees, 1978) #1 US, HR, RR, CN 10. B-M-R: You Should Be Dancing (Bee Gees, 1976) #1 US, CB, CN 11. B-M-R: Jive Talkin’ (Bee Gees, 1975) #1 US, CB, HR, RR, CN 12. B-M-R: Tragedy (Bee Gees, 1979) #1 US, CB, HR, RR, UK, CN 13. B-M-R: The Lights Went Out in Massachussets (Bee Gees, 1967) #1 UK 14. B-M-R: If I Can’t Have You (Yvonne Elliman, 1977) #1 US, CB, RR, CN 15. B: Grease (Frankie Valli, 1978) #1 US, CB, HR, RR, CN 16. B-R: To Love Somebody (Bee Gees, 1967) 17. B-M-R: More Than a Woman (Bee Gees, 1977) DMDB Top 10%: 18. B-R: Emotion (Samantha Sang, 1977) #1 CB, CN 19. A-B: Love Is Thicker Than Water (Andy Gibb, 1977) #1 US, CB, HR 20. B-M-R: Heartbreaker (Dionne Warwick, 1982) #1 AC 21. B-M-R: Lonely Days (Bee Gees, 1970) #1 CB, HR, AU 22. B: The Grease Megamix (Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta, 1990) #1 AU 23. B-M-R: Guilty (Barbra Streisand & Barry Gibb, 1980) 24. B-M-R: Love So Right (Bee Gees, 1976) 25. B-M: Words (Bee Gees, 1968) #1 CN 26. B-M-R: Love You Inside Out (Bee Gees, 1979) #1 US, CN 27. B-M-R: More Than a Woman (Tavares, 1977) 28. All I Have to Do Is Dream (Andy Gibb & Victoria Principal, 1981) 29. B-M-R: I Started a Joke (Bee Gees, 1968) #1 CN, AU 30. B-M-R: Nights on Broadway (Bee Gees, 1975) DMDB Top 20%: 31. B: An Everlasting Love (Andy Gibb, 1978) 32. B-R: To Love Somebody (Michael Bolton, 1992) #1 AC 33. B: Our Love (Don’t Throw It All Away) (Andy Gibb, 1978) 34. B-M-R: Fanny, Be Tender with Me Love (Bee Gees, 1975) 35. B-M-R: Chain Reaction (Diana Ross, 1985) #1 UK, AU 36. B-M-R: I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You (1968) #1 UK 37. B-R: Come on Over (Olivia Newton-John, 1976) #1 AC 38. B-M-R: How Deep Is Your Love (Portrait, 1995) 39. B-M-R: Run to Me (Bee Gees, 1972) 40. R: Hold on to My Love (Jimmy Ruffin, 1980) 41. B-M-R: Alone (Bee Gees, 1997) 42. B-R: Emotion (Destiny’s Child, 2001) 43. B-R: New York Mining Disaster 1941 (Bee Gees, 1967) 44. B-M-R: The Woman in You (Bee Gees, 1983) 45. B-R: My World (Bee Gees, 1972) 46. B-M: Don’t Forget to Remember (Bee Gees, 1969) 47. B-M-R: How Deep Is Your Love (Take That, 1996) #1 UK 48. B-M-R: Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are) (Pras Michel, 1998) * 49. B: What Kind of Fool (Barbra Streisand with Barry Gibb, 1980) #1 AC 50. B-M-R: Desire (Andy Gibb, 1980) 51. B-M-R: First of May (Bee Gees, 1969) 52. B-M-R: You Win Again (Bee Gees 1987) #1 UK 53. B: I Can’t Help It (Andy Gibb with Olivia Newton-John, 1980) 54. B-M-R: One (Bee Gees, 1989) #1 AC 55. B-M: Alive (Bee Gees, 1972) 56. B: This Woman (Kenny Rogers, 1983) 57. B-M: Shine Shine (Barry Gibb, 1984) 58. B-M-R: Boogie Child (Bee Gees, 1976) 59. B: Spicks and Specks (Bee Gees, 1966) 60. B-R: Love Me (Yvonne Elliman, 1976) 61. B-M: Tomorrow Tomorrow (Bee Gees, 1969) 62. B-M-R: Jumbo (Bee Gees, 1968) 63. B-R: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (Al Green, 1972) Beyond the DMDB Top 20%: 64. B: Take the Short Way Home (Dionne Warwick, 1983) 65. A-B: Time Is Time (Andy Gibb, 1977) 66. B-M-R: Edge of the Universe (Bee Gees, 1975) 67. Oh! Darling (Robin Gibb, 1978) 68. B-M: Eaten Alive (Diana Ross with Michael Jackson, 1985) 69. B-R: Paying the Price of Love (Bee Gees, 1993) 70. B-M-R: He’s a Liar (Bee Gees, 1981) 71. B-M: Eyes That See in the Dark (Kenny Rogers, 1983) 72. B-M: I.O.I.O. (Bee Gees, 1970) 73. B-M-R: Someone Belonging to Someone (Bee Gees, 1983) 74. B-M-R: Islands in the Stream (Vanessa Jenkins with Bryn West, Sir Tom Jones & Robin Gibb; 2009) #1 UK 75. B-M-R: Islands in the Stream (Bee Gees, 1998) 76. B-M-R: I Saw a New Morning (Bee Gees, 1973) 77. B-R: Mr. Natural (Bee Gees, 1974) 78. B-R: Holiday (Bee Gees, 1967) 79. B-R: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (Michael Bublé, 2003) 80. B-M-R: I Started a Joke (Faith No More, 2003) 81. B-R: Promises (Barbra Streisand, 1980) 82. B-M-R: This Is Where I Came In (Bee Gees, 2001) 83. B-M-R: Immortality (Celine Dion with the Bee Gees, 1997) 84. B-M-R: Living Eyes (Bee Gees, 1981) 85. M-R: Boys Do Fall in Love (Robin Gibb, 1984) 86. B-M-R: Still Waters Run Deep (Bee Gees, 1997) 87. B-R: For Whom the Bell Tolls (Bee Gees, 1993) 88. B: Don’t Wanna Live Inside Myself (Bee Gees, 1971) 89. B-M: World (Bee Gees, 1967) 90. B-M: If Only I Had My Mind on Something Else (Bee Gees, 1970) 91. B-M-R: Wouldn’t I Be Someone (Bee Gees, 1973) 92. B-M-R: All the Love in the World (Dionne Warwick, 1982) 93. B-M-R: We Tryin’ to Stay Alive (Wyclef Jean & the Refugee All Stars, 1997) ** 94. R: Saved by the Bell (Robin Gibb, 1969) 95. B-M-R: Ups and Downs (Snoop Dogg with the Bee Gees, 2005) *** 96. B-M-R: E.S.P. (Bee Gees, 1987) 97. B-M-R: Only One Woman (Marbles, 1968) 98. B-M-R: Stayin’ Alive (Richard Ace, 1978) 99. A: Me Without You (Andy Gibb, 1980) 100. B-M-R: Buried Treasure (Kenny Rogers, 1983) * samples “Islands in the Stream” ** samples “Stayin’ Alive” *** samples “Love You Inside Out” Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Bee Gees Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists” First posted 5/20/2012; updated 6/5/2022.

50 years ago: The Everly Brothers achieve a “Dream”: #1 on 4 charts simultaneously

All I Have to Do Is Dream The Everly Brothers

Writer(s): Felice Bryant, Boudeleaux Bryant (see lyrics here) First Charted: April 14, 1958 Peak: 15 US, 13 HP, 14 CB, 2 GR, 14 HR, 13 CW, 15 RB, 17 UK, 15 CN, 3 AU, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 1.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 6.0 radio, 0.43 video, 85.12 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The Everly Brothers’ “close-harmony country-rock became an enormous influence on the wave of artists who found fame in the 1960s.” TB Bob Dylan said, “We owe those guys everything. They started it all.” TB Don and Phil Everly, born in 1937 and 1939 respectively, grew up in a musical family. They first performed on their parents’ radio show when they eight and six years old. Don was working as a writer in Nashville in 1954, having crafted songs for Kitty Wells and Justin Tubb. KL When the Everly Brothers tried to launch their own careers, they struck out on their first recording session, but then “Nashville heavyweight” TB Chet Atkins hooked them up with the husband-and-wife writing team of Felice & Boudleaux Bryant, KL who’d written hits for Little Jimmy Dickens, Joe Smith, and Eddy Arnold. FB Felice met Boudleaux when she was working as an elevator operator in a Milwaukee hotel where he was playing in a jazz band. When she met him, she claims she knew him immediately because she’d dreamed the face of her future husband when she was eight-years old. As such, “All I Have to Do Is Dream” may be closer to their story than any of their other songs. DM It “feels so natural and right in its beautiful hesitations and thoughtful syncopations that it might as well be fated.” DM The Bryants went on to write the Everlys’ first three big singles – “Bye Bye Love,” “Wake Up Little Susie,” and “All I Have to Do Is Dream.” All three topped the country charts and the latter two topped the pop charts. However, “Dream,” “with Atkins’ innovative tremolo chording backing the brothers’ high-lonesome harmonies,” RS500 also topped the R&B and UK charts, making it the biggest hit of the Everlys’ career. On June 2, 1958, the song became the only record to hit #1 on all four of Billboard’s singles charts simultaneously. WK Phil Everly recalls first hearing the song “on an acetate and it was just Boudleaux and his guitar. I said, ‘You could put that out and it would be a hit.’” KL “‘It’s just a great, great song. It’s beautiful.’” SF Phil’s sentiments have been echoed in subsequent decades. Richard Chamberlain had a #14 hit with it in 1963. In the ‘70s, Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell had a top 40 version of the song and in 1981 Andy Gibb dueted with Victoria Principal for yet another charted version. In the end, though, it is the Everlys who own the “definitive version.” HL Theirs is “so pretty, so evanescent, so – dreamlike” PW that they “don’t sound like two guys. But they don’t sound like one guy, either. They sound…like an angel.” PW Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for The Everly Brothers FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 37. HL Michael Heatley and Spencer Leigh (1998). Behind the Song: The Stories of 100 Great Pop & Rock Classics. London, England: Blandford Books. Page 13. KL Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh (2005). 1000 UK Number One Hits: The Stories Behind Every Number One Single Since 1952. London, Great Britain: Omnibus Press. Page 50. DM Dave Marsh (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. New American Library: New York, NY. Page 394. SJ Bob Shannon and John Javna (1986). Behind the Hits: Inside Stories of Classic Pop and Rock and Roll. Warner Brothers, Inc.: New York, NY. Page 56. SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Pages 544-5. DT Dave Thompson (2011). 1000 Songs That Rock Your World. Krause Publications: Iola, WI. Page 205. TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 32. PW Paul Williams (1993). Rock and Roll: The Best 100 Singles. New York, NY: Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc. Pages 41-2. Last updated 4/5/2023.

Andy Gibb hit #1 with “Shadow Dancing”

First posted 10/24/2020; last updated 3/11/2021.

Shadow Dancing Andy Gibb

Writer(s): Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Andy Gibb (see lyrics here) First Charted: April 15, 1978 Peak: 17 US, 16 CB, 18 HR, 14 RR, 8 AC, 11 RB, 42 UK, 13 CN, 11 AU (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.5 US, -- UK, 2.5 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 12.4 video, -- streaming

Awards: (Click on award for more details).

About the Song: The Gibb brothers (Barry, Maurice, Robin, and Andy) dominated the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1978. Their run began when the Bee Gees’ “How Deep Is Your Love,” the first single from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, ascended to #1 on December 24, 1977. “Stayin’ Alive” and “Night Fever” followed in early 1978. Their runs at the pinnacle were only separated by younger brother Andy’s two-week stint with “Love Is Thicker Than Water.” In May, Yvonne Elliman’s “If I Can’t Have You,” another song penned by the Bee Gees and featured on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, went to #1. Five weeks after that, Andy Gibb was back on top with “Shadow Dancing,” the lead single from his sophomore album of the same name. Its seven weeks on top meant the Gibb brothers spent 25 weeks at #1 from December 24, 1977 to July 29, 1978 as performers and/or writers. Barry Gibb notched another week on top as the songwriter for “Grease” before year’s end, making him personally responsible for half of the year’s #1 songs. “Shadow Dancing” was written by all four Gibbs while Andy’s older brothers were working on the movie Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was time to start getting tracks together for Andy’s second solo album. He recalled the four of them relaxing one night and they started singing the chorus, sketching out the song in about ten minutes. WK This was Andy’s third chart-topper, making him the first solo artist in the U.S. pop chart history to have his first three releases hit #1. WK “Shadow Dancing” was also named the biggest song of the year by Billboard magazine. The song also marked the first time all four brothers performed live in concert together when the Bee Gees joined Andy on stage in July in Miami to sing the song. WK Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Andy Gibb WK Wikipedia