GLEE Redux • Saturday Night Glee-ver

This is the my own version of the recap for the latest episode of GLEE, Saturday Night Glee-ver. I tell the Glee story, but use the music and videos of the original artist. This week the show will feature the soundtrack to the movie that helped take Disco to the top of the charts, Saturday Night Fever. Much of the soundtrack was written and performed by the brothers Gibb, better known as The Beegees.



Saturday Night Glee-ver opens with a bunch of action happening quickly. Rachel is not willing to put off her future in New York to follow Finn to California. Remember, he plans to partner with Puck in a pool cleaning business in LA. Finn suddenly realizes Rachel is self-centered, it seems. A member of another glee club comes to Kurt and Mercedes, to ask what they thought of his idea to take the regional stage in full drag, as his alter-personae, Unique. Mr. Schue and Coach Sue team up to try to get some of the students to focus on their own future. They decide to employ the soundtrack to the movie and music sensation, Saturday Night Fever. To get the kids on board, they perform Night Fever by The Beegees.



Santana, Mercedes, and Finn are finalists for the white suit, so Mr. Schue assigns them to do a song off the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever, and hope it helps them define and chase their own dreams. Mercedes is not impressed by the assignment, and hits the halls and stage singing the Trammps great hit, Disco Inferno.



It turns out Mercedes dream is to be Aretha, Mariah, and Whitney, rest her soul. She wants to be a big-time diva, but doesn't know if she can figure out how, or if she really can. Next up, we have Santana ready to take on the world with Yvonne Elliman's If I Can't Have You.



Instead of being her proclamation of love to Brittany, and their desire for same sex marriage laws, Santana declares it is really a song about her need and desire for fame. Rachel tweets for Finn to come to the auditorium, when she tells him how she has missed him since they fought, and maybe they need to spend time helping him define his dream. Then she sings the Beegees huge hit, How Deep Is Your Love, for him.



Sue calls Kurt and Mercedes to her office, for she overheard the advice to Wade, aka Unique. She wants them to tell him to go forward with the drag, and even supplies a pair of heels in size 13. She hopes this would be the ruin of his team, Vocal Adrenaline. Brittany tells Santana she is helping her achieve fame, and has posted a sex video of them online, to help her achieve fame. And she has plenty more ideas where that came from. Kurt and Mercedes stop by to visit Wade, the lead singer of Vocal Adrenaline, and tell him to not heed their advice to perform in drag. He is hurt, but decides to go forward with the plan, complete with the pumps sent by Kurt and Mercedes, but really Coach Sue. Unique takes to the stage to sing Boogie Shoes, by KC and The Sunshine Band.



As soon as the number starts, Jesse St. James, the coach for Vocal Adrenaline, freaks out, and runs backstage to try to get Unique off the stage. He does not succeed, but the number ends with huge applause. Finn calls Rachel in to rehearse a new song with him, the Beegees' More Than a Woman.



He tells her he knows what he wants, and it is to go the New York and apply to be part of the Actor's Studio. She inspires him to follow his dream to be an actor. They kiss. Mercedes is in the hallway chatting with Kurt about how Wade, AKA Unique, took a risk, and it paid off. Then Sam steps up, and Kurt hurries away. He takes Mercedes to see a YouTube video he posted, of her singing Disco Inferno. It has gone viral, and people are loving it. He tells her they believe in her, and he does too. They kiss. Sue has called Santana and Brittany to her office, to tell of her disappointment in Santana and her drive for fame, no matter the cost. Santana sees that now, and is sorry. Sue is glad to hear it, for she has a scholarship for a University with a top cheerleader team. Santana is moved, and thanks both Sue and Brittany. Back in the chorus room, it is time for the winners to take the stage. Out come Finn, Mercedes and Santana, all who have found a way to not only define their dream, but they also found the courage to follow them as well. They come out in their white disco suits, singing a mash-up of the great songs of The Beeegees You Should Be Dancing and...



and the great Stayin' Alive.

Worth Another Listen • The Bee Gees

Before there was Saturday Night Fever, before the remake of Sgt. Pepper, before duets with Barbra, before disco ruled the airwaves, there was a trio of brothers who moved with the family from England to Australia, and were soon on their way to take over music. Barry and his twin brothers, Robin and Maurice, were making music in the late 60s in Australia, but seemed unable to get a foothold in the business. Much earlier, they were talking with radio DJ Bill Gates and promoter Bill Goode, who gave them the name Bee Gees, not because they were the 'Brothers Gibb' as is often thought, but because it was the initials of the men.

They went back to the UK, only to discover they had their first hit with the song Spicks And Specks was a hit Down Under, and earning the boys awards. Shortly after their arrival in England, the boys were signed to a label, and in April of 1967 they released their first single, New York Mining Disaster 1941. It was released to radio in a white sleeve with black lettering for the song title, and immediately started getting airplay, for many assumed it was The Beatles. It rose to #14 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, their first hit.



The album was called The Bee Gees 1st, which was a bit of a misnomer, since the band had released two albums in Australia. On the heels of the first success, the second single was released, and it seemed to be a song the world was waiting to hear. Written by Barry and Robin Gibb for singer Otis Redding, but once done, was recorded for their own album. To Love Somebody became a song that would be a standard, a song that has since been covered by some of the top names in the music industry. It was their second forray into the Billboard Top 20.



The fourth single released would be yet another song that would become a signature song for the band. Just after Massachusetts was recorded, Beatles manager Brian Epstein heard it, and told Barry that it was beautiful, and he expected it to be the hit of the summer of 1967. Those were the last words Barry heard from the man, as he passed away a short time later. But his words were prophetic, as the song made it to # 11 on the US Billboard chart, and hit #1 throughout Europe and Canada.



In January of 1968, it was time for the next single. The Bee Gees had a new song they had not put on an album yet, but it was released as a single. Once again, it quickly became a signature song for them, as Words scored another hit, taking the #15 spot of the US Pop chart.



So, in their first year back in the UK, the Bee Gees not only firmly established their careers in British music, they also were leaving their imprint on the ears of fans worldwide. There is much more music to come, but for now, I will just say to learn more about the Bee Gees, visit their official website here. I am sure I will have more music from the prolific men soon.

Worth Another Listen - 1978

According to Billboard magazine, the following are the Top five songs from 1978. They are all songs that bring me back to then, solidly spanning high school graduation to the start of college. We can start with the #5 song from the year, Kiss You All Over. It was performed by the band Exile, a rock band who moved to pop and hit the charts big. Five years later, they moved to Country, and found a home there, with 10 #1 Country songs. But in 1978, they sounded like this.



In 1977, Saturday Night Fever ruled the Christmas box office, and the the early part of 1977. With it, the soundtrack ruled the airwaves and the charts. The BeeGees, brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, had their first taste of success in the US in 1967, with a pop sound with strong melodies and vocals. In a few years, that success started to fade a bit as Disco started taking center stage. Not to be left behind, the brothers stepped up the beat, and joined the new style. They wrote the the soundtrack to the film, and the #4 song, Stayin' Alive.



Chic was a band headed up by Nigel Rodgers, an amazing guitarist, writer/composer, as well as one of the most innovative and influential music producers of the 70s and 80s. In 1978, however, he was at the helm of Chic, and had the #3 song of the year, Le Freak.



Yet another of the Gibb brothers, Andy Gibb, topped the charts in 1978 with his own music. He was riding high, with a music career in overdrive, having a debut album going to platinum, and several hit singles. He also had a relationship with his wife, who gave birth to their daughter in January. In a few years, the career took a turn for the worse, as his singles didn't have the same success, and he lost a few jobs acting and hosting. Just as it was decided to make him the fourth BeeGee, Andy's helth went bad, and he passed away. But in 1978, he has the #2 song on the charts, the title track from his sophomore album, Shadow Dancing.



Completing the domination of the charts, the #1 song of 1978 was the BeeGees Night Fever. The big track from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, the song was everywhere. The British-born brothers, whose family moved to Australia, started out their careers Down Under, but soon ruled the world.