During my formative years, I never knew anything about the Bee Gees, nor did I care. That is, I didn't think I knew anything about them. I concluded years later that they were a part of me for my entire life, but I never realized it until 1995.
My mother always complained about how horrible disco music was. I didn't question her opinion and didn't even understand what disco music was. I was too young during the late 1970s to remember anything about that time. I do recall around 1990 that my mother purchased some vintage 45s for her record collection. She put "Jive Talkin' " by the Bee Gees on her turntable, then she became annoyed because it had the disco sound. I didn't know what the disco sound was, due to my extreme ignorance. I just knew that disco and the Bee Gees were awful for some reason. There was a water tower around a mile away from my home that had "Disco Sucks" spray painted on it. All I knew was that everyone hated disco.
In around 1991, I loved watching The Best of Saturday Night Live on Nick at Nite. The episodes were 30-minute compilations of the best skits from each original episode of Saturday Night Live from the late 1970s. One day, I watched and recorded an episode that included a skit titled "Samurai Night Fever." In the skit, John Belushi dances to "Stayin' Alive." I am certain that I had heard the song before, since I apparently knew what song it was.
When I saw the skit, I liked the song a lot. My mother had a set of Time Life CDs with classic music from the 1950s to date. Even though she didn't like disco music, she had all of the discs including the ones from the late 1970s. I immediately went through the discs from the late 1970s. I found the disc with "Stayin' Alive" on it.
I don't remember exact details, but listening to "Stayin' Alive" quickly led me to pulling out all the discs from the late 1970s and listening to the Bee Gees' other disco songs as well. I remember that I liked "Tragedy" and "Night Fever" a lot. I didn't tell my mother, since she hated disco. Oh no, I wouldn't admit to liking any of that stuff. My routine was to wait until my mother went somewhere, then I started blasting "Stayin' Alive" on the stereo. She had no idea.
So a few years went by. In that time, I must have listened to "Stayin' Alive" hundreds of times. I listened to the Bee Gees' other disco songs many times as well. I still knew nothing about them. I had no idea that they were on the cover of the disc that had "Night Fever" on it.
One fateful day in 1995, I perused the television listings and saw that there was a special on VH1 about the Bee Gees that was to air late that evening. I was mildly curious and wanted to know more about them. I set it to record, and I watched it.
Below is a link to a YouTube video of the beginning of that very special.
That was it. In just one hour, I went from being mildly curious about this group to being an extreme hardcore fan. I learned so much about the Bee Gees that hour. I even learned that they wrote my favorite childhood song, "Islands in the Stream," which was recorded by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. I was amazed.
I loved every song that I heard during that special. I loved the songs from the 1960s, the 1970s, and the 1980s. I loved songs that I had never heard before. I loved everything. I didn't question why I loved all of the music so much, but in retrospect, it was a bit strange to have that strong of a reaction to a music group about which I knew nothing until that night.
Of course I made my mother watch it. I was nervous about broaching the subject. In fact, I think it took me around two days to get up the nerve to do it. During those two days, all I thought about was the Bee Gees and how I had to get her to watch the special. Somehow, I just knew that she would understand and would think that the Bee Gees were totally awesome, despite her strongly negative opinion of the Bee Gees and disco music.
She ended up being as mesmerized as I was. I learned that the very first album that my mother purchased when she worked at a record store in the late 1960s was the album Bee Gees' 1st. My mother loved the Bee Gees during the late 1960s and early 1970s. I was utterly astounded. This was quite a revelation. At the time, I didn't consider what this really meant.
Immediately after watching the VH1 special, I went through all of my mother's Time Life CDs from 1967 on and found every disc that had a Bee Gees song on it. I don't recall details, but I do know that I was not content with those CDs for very long. I began checking music stores throughout Oklahoma City in search of every Bee Gees CD, LP, or 45 that I could find. I also started purchasing songbooks.
One of my early purchases was the CD for the 1993 album Size Isn't Everything. I found fan club information in the liner notes, and within a few months, I was a member of the Bee Gees fan club.
From the day I saw that special, I was off and running with my new obsession. But let's go back to what I learned that night. It actually took me a number of years to realize why I reacted so strongly to that Bee Gees special. I was actually already a Bee Gees fan and didn't know it.
I am a Bee Gees fan because my mother loved the Bee Gees when I was young. She played their music all the time. I have no memory of this, but I undoubtedly heard their songs when I was an infant. I was conditioned to love their music. When I saw that special in 1995, I became reacquainted with something that had always been a part of me.
By the way, my mother realized that she was blaming the Bee Gees for everything bad about the disco genre in addition to other things. The Bee Gees were redeemed in her eyes.
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