by Hector Cook
As far as The Bee Gees were concerned, he added that he thought their next single would be an immense success. “Like ‘Jumbo’, ‘Tomorrow, Tomorrow’ was just one of those records, and the next one will be big. I would not call it a failure, just a black spot. We,” he went on, undoubtedly finding the habit hard to break after years of being a member of the group, “have had failure before, but they weren’t really failures. The Bee Gees don’t have to depend on chart records. But the next will probably go straight into the Top 10.”
Despite all the highly publicised fighting and backbiting in Britain, The Bee Gees’ popularity in Germany had never waned. In Bravo magazine’s annual music poll, they received 197,497 votes as favourite pop group. The Beatles came in second with only 85,862 votes – in fact, votes for The Bee Gees’ exceeded the total number of votes for all of the other 19 groups nominated.
Best Of Bee Gees, a compilation of the group’s greatest hits to date, was released in June in Britain, although its release was delayed until October in the US. It marked the first time that fans outside the US could buy ‘I’ve Gotta Get A Message To You’ on an album, and the first LP appearance worldwide of ‘Words’. The album was certified gold in seven countries, proof indeed of the popularity of the united group.
Robin maintained that going solo had been a very slow process, mainly because of all the legal hassles, but added, “Now my new record seems to be establishing itself, so things are starting to move. [It] started happening in September 1968 and just mushroomed from there.
“All of us have always had things we wanted to do – and things that could only really be done individually. I’m happier now than I’ve ever been. It wasn’t so much a split in the group as a progression. We’ve been professional since the age of seven, and so this is really a graduation into something else for all of us as individuals. I personally want to do a lot of things … I shall be writing some musical scores for films in the New Year, and I’ve also completed a book called On The Other Hand which is to be published soon. It’s a collection of poems and stories, all very classical. I’m a great admirer of Dickens …
“I really want to try and influence people towards a more patriotic feeling. The nearest I’ve got to it at the moment, as far as recording goes, is a song called ‘The Statesman’, dedicated to Winston Churchill. It’s not on my new album, but it’s on a special album which is to be released early next year.”
Robin began a whirlwind tour, making television appearances in a dozen countries to promote ‘Saved By The Bell’, which eventually rose to the second spot on the British charts and topped the Irish charts for two weeks.
On July 19 the New Musical Express announced “Tonight [Robin Gibb] is fronting a 97-piece orchestra and a 60-piece choir in a recording of his latest composition ‘To Heaven And Back’, which was inspired by the Apollo 11 moonshot. It is an entirely instrumental piece, with the choir being used for ‘astral effects’. The single will be billed as by The Robin Gibb Orchestra and Chorus and it will be rush-released as soon as possible by Polydor.”
The single was one of many Gibb projects which would never see the light of day. Robin later described a track recorded for his first solo album called ‘Heaven And Earth’ as “a musical piece of mine [which] features a 100-piece orchestra and a 70-piece choir. It should have been a 73-piece choir, but three were working in Tooting!” It seems likely that this was another title for ‘To Heaven And Back’, but the composition was cut from the finished album.
Robin originally planned to entitle his first solo album All My Own Work, for obvious reasons, and announced that the tracks would be ‘Alexandria Good Time’, ‘The Flag I Flew Fell Over’, ‘I’ll Herd My Sheep’, ‘The Man Most Likely To Be’, ‘Love Just Goes’, ‘Make Believe’, ‘I Was Your Used To Be’, ‘The Complete And Utter History’, ‘Seven Birds Are Singing’, ‘Sing A Song Of Sisters’ and ‘Beat The Drum’.
But in August, when he returned to the studio to complete work on the album, the title and tracks had changed, and the assiduous Mr Gibb had even more projects on the go. “I’ve got fifteen tracks in the can for the LP, titled Robin’s Reign. There isn’t any universal theme to the tracks, just a series of my compositions.
“I’m also doing the musical score for a film called Henry The Eighth and I’m making my own film called Family Tree. It involves a man, John Family, whose grandfather Sir Catarac is caught trying to blow up Trafalgar Square with a home-made bomb wrapped in underwear. He is taken away by ten policemen and left in a cage at the zoo, where after a considerable length of time he begins to enjoy his abode. The rest of his relations dislike seeing him in a zoo, so knowing his partiality for cages, John Family has one installed in his lounge at home and keeps the old man there. The theme of the film is John Family’s attempts to get into his past and trace his ancestors.”
In addition, it was reported in New Musical Express that Robin had written half a dozen songs for Tom Jones, and that the Welsh singer would be recording one of them as his next single. A meeting between the two stars was said to be arranged for Robin’s return from a three-day promotional trip to Germany.
At this point, it was also announced that Robin had signed a new management and agency contract worth £400,000 a year with Vic Lewis, the former top bandleader, who was then managing director of NEMS Enterprises. Chris Hutchins was still on the scene but, from this point onwards, adopted a more behind-the-scenes role due to a combination of Lewis’ increasing prominence and Stigwood’s diminishing influence. Molly Gibb, who was 22 years old, countersigned the contract on behalf of her 19-year-old husband, still legally regarded as a minor. However Molly was quick to point out, “My countersigning the contract today was a formality. I’m not the boss at all. I don’t make Robin’s decisions for him. He has a mind of his own.”
Years later, Robin would laugh about what happened next. “Dad came to me and asked me to make it up. I told him, ‘Go ’way, Dad, or I’ll put a pair of cement shoes on you.’ Then he tried to make me a ward of the court,” he quipped.
The whole scenario sounds suspiciously like evidence of Robin’s offbeat sense of humour, but the latter remark was no idle jest. Hugh Gibb, who had countersigned Robin’s five-year contract with Robert Stigwood, did announce that he would try to make Robin a ward of the court. “My wife Barbara and I are being kept away from Robin,” he said. “We believe he is almost a prisoner in his own home. He is under pressure. We’ve tried ringing him but can’t contact him. My wife can’t take anymore … I last saw him two weeks ago at a TV show. We said hello, but you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife. He was very heavily guarded. I don’t want anything. Making him a ward of the court is the very last thing I want to do. I have never been a stern father …”
“At the time it was just poisoning everything,” Tom Kennedy said of Hugh’s lawsuit. “There were just a lot of bad vibes around …”
Hugh insisted, “The fact is that Robin just couldn’t go on on his own. He’s a ballad singer. He needs the others, besides which, he’s under contract.
“Robert Stigwood has told me he is going to fight tooth and nail to keep Robin in the group, and we are right behind him. The fans should realise that Robert is acting entirely in Robin’s interests. It’s not a selfish thing at all. He knows, and we all know, that Robin can’t expect to be as successful as a solo singer.
“Robin is only 19 and has always had his frustrations and rows with the other brothers. I’ve seen them having a stand-up fight, break it off to appear on stage, then carry on fighting afterwards. But these things have always blown over.
“What’s upsetting and significant to me is that there has been no official word from Robin himself. My wife and Lulu both phoned up last night to try to speak to Robin, but each time they spoke to Robin’s wife who told them, ‘You can’t come round; I’ve got friends here.’ And she would not put Robin on the phone either.”
And so it went on, with Robin next calling a press conference to air his vi
ews. “There’s no chance of my going back with my brothers in The Bee Gees,” Robin told the assembled reporters. “That’s all over. I don’t see how my father can make me a ward of the court. I have my own family and career and don’t have to cater for my father and mother. I’m not fighting my family. They are the ones who are fighting. For a father to interfere is ridiculous. He is just making a fool of himself. It is ridiculous to suggest I’m not well or for my father to think I’m a prisoner in my own home. If that is prison, I’d like to throw away the key. I’m having a lovely time. I feel sorry for my father.
“I make my own decisions,” he reiterated. “I love her, but my wife is second to me in my own house. Maturity isn’t a question of age, it’s a question of mind. Molly and I have a partnership, not a dictatorship. She’s a wonderful person and these stories that she’s some kind of demon … they make me sick.”
“Certain people around him were trying to rip him off, but he wouldn’t listen,” Hugh said years later. “They were trying to make Robin a big star. I wanted him made a ward of the court for his own protection. That was the only answer at the time.”
Robin flatly disagreed with Hugh’s assessment of the situation. “[All my] years in show business have gained me insight,” he claimed. “Otherwise I might have been conned, but I know what I’m doing, have an ability for instant analysis of a situation, a sixth sense about people which enables me to tell whether to trust them or not.”
“Dad and Mum didn’t have evil in them,” Barry insisted. “They didn’t have anything against Molly. They were only trying to save Robin from what he was doing to himself, and that was taking too much speed. They tried to stop it to get him in his right mind. They thought somebody was doing everything for him. Robin wasn’t doing anything. He was vegetating. He didn’t know one way or the other what he wanted to do. That’s the way I saw it.
“But unfortunately, it alienated Molly from our parents. For forever, I suppose,” he added sadly.
“I think the whole thing was blown up out of all proportion,” Molly said. “Robin has got a mind of his own, always has. He wanted to leave the group and as his wife, I was behind him. If your husband wants to do something, you’re not going to kick him in the teeth. He wanted to do it, so I stood by him, no matter what. I don’t know why his family and people surrounding him thought he wasn’t capable of making his own decisions. That’s when the nervous exhaustion bit came back and was thrown in our faces.
“To make your son a ward of the court when he’s a married man, to me, was just absolutely crazy,” she added. “And I took it because I’m that kind of person. It was terribly unpleasant, and it was very upsetting for my family. We’re just an ordinary family, and to pick up the papers and read this and that … And of course, we had no money. Our money was stopped. The whole thing was like a crazy nightmare. All Robin wanted was to have more recognition of himself as a songwriter and singer, not as a personality.”
The arguments dragged on but the crazy nightmare was far from over. The agreement which Hugh had countersigned with Robin meant that he was legally under exclusive contract to the Stigwood Organisation for agency, management, recording and publishing for another two years. Citing this, a spokesman for RSO stated: “The Robert Stigwood Organisation has issued writs against Vic Lewis and NEMS Enterprises claiming damages. The claim arises out of certain contracts alleged to have been made by Vic Lewis and NEMS with Robin Gibb.”
Vic Lewis countered, “We always take advice about all our contracts, and I am satisfied that the one I signed with Robin is completely valid.”
Eventually, Robert Stigwood was compelled to drop the claim. “Barry and Maurice were so upset by Robin’s departure that we had to release him from the company,” he related. “That was really the most difficult part of it. I always instinctively knew that they would get back together – there’s a great bond there for them as brothers. But when brothers fight, it’s worse than strangers fighting.”
A NEMS spokesman issued a statement that clarified the situation: “An amicable settlement has been reached between the Robert Stigwood Organisation and The Bee Gees with Robin Gibb and NEMS Enterprises Ltd. The basis of it includes provision that Robin Gibb relinquishes his shares in The Bee Gees’ songwriting and publishing companies in return for his release from the Robert Stigwood Organisation in all areas.”
The statement went on to say that … “Robin will continue to record for Polydor with Vic Lewis as his personal manager and NEMS providing exclusive worldwide agency representation.”
In July, Robin sold his shares in Abigail Music to Robert Stigwood for £40,000 and collected his first instalment of £30,000 from his recording contract with Polydor. “I put it straight into the bank,” he said. “I’m not going to spend it just because it’s there. When I see something I want, I will go out and buy it.”
At the time, he claimed to have few vices. “Well, I don’t drink. But I might go out and buy a few thousand records,” he admitted. “I’m quite a record collector.”
Looking back now, Robin says that he was very much in denial of the situation. Most of his money was spent before he got it, but he was a pop star and pop stars had money and all the friends money could buy. Looking back, he says ruefully, “I wish I knew you couldn’t buy friends … At the time, it wasn’t as if I even had any money. I was living in this big house in Virginia Water [Surrey] with no money in the bank. People never knew you could have a number one record and still be broke. You had your advance, and it had gone before the record was a hit.”
At that time, his personal assistant was a man named Ray Washbourne. “One day we went off to buy a Mercedes,” Robin recalled. “He kept telling me I didn’t have any money, but my attitude was that it didn’t matter so long as I was happy, and I rather liked the idea of a blue one. It cost about £6,000, which was a lot of money in those days. Then two weeks later it was his wedding anniversary, and I gave it to him as a present.
“I couldn’t see at the time why it’s not the sort of thing you go and do. I can imagine giving a car now to someone who was really special. But you have to learn not to be like that and that you can’t buy friends by giving them a Mercedes Benz. If you do, of course, they just think less of you. I did so many silly things in those days …”
But in those days, Robin had his own theories of what the public wanted from its recording artists. “In entertainment and music being a star, not just a pop star, means you have an obligation to your audience. The public wants an artist who is unreal to them. And it is the artist’s duty to endeavour to be unreal. The mystique of an artist has to be there. The kids love that. They don’t want to see you out smoking and drinking like they do. They want someone who has this glamour. Somebody straight out of the television tubes. Not like Harry Blogsworth next door.
“I work on the philosophy of accept me like I am if you want to or forget it – either like it or lump it … It’s when you take a middle course that you are finished.”
Plans were announced for an ambitious promotional tour of 22 countries. “The tour has been arranged for me to promote ‘Saved By The Bell’ on TV in the various countries, but also to establish me as Robin Gibb, the solo artiste. I shall be appearing in the major cities in the countries, such as Vienna, Berlin, Munich, Milan. Then I’ll be over in the States for two weeks doing New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, etc. After that I’ll go over to Japan and play Tokyo.
“In all, the tour lasts for two months. I won’t be away from Britain for that period. The dates I have on the Continent I’ll fly across to, then return home. But for the States and Japan, I’ll be away for a little time.
“A solo artist’s scope is incredible … there are so many things one can do. One thing I won’t do is one night stands. For the concerts, I’ll sing backed by a 33-piece orchestra or more. I don’t want to be like Cliff or anyone else – I’m just aiming to be simply Robin Gibb. In the future, singing and writing will be given equal attention. I’ll b
e recording two or three singles a year and one album at the most. Then, later on, I’ll give individual concerts at major cities.
“When I start doing live appearances, they will be at least three months apart and there won’t be any of those club and ballroom gigs … I want the whole thing to be an event, a performance. I’ll have an orchestra behind me but no chorus. I might possibly do one in Prague first, because I have a lot of fans out there and I’d really like to do one for them.”
Although Robin claimed that there was no reason why he and his brothers could not get along socially, it was evident that the rift between them was far from healed. “I haven’t heard from them for a long time,” Robin continued. “The reason we didn’t talk during the split business was because my lawyers advised me not to make contact.
“The first time I met Maurice after that was at the NME Poll Concert in May and we were very friendly and chatty. He asked me if I was coming back and I said ‘no.’ That was that as far as he was concerned.”
As he rehearsed for his upcoming concert tour, he admitted, “The feeling that you are all alone is there. But that is countered by a feeling that the group is still there with me. However, I have all the confidence I need and have no worries apart from any profession’s worries.
“I’m used to doing a lot of singing on my own because Barry’s more aggressive, powerful voice has given out with laryngitis and so I’ve had to do the singing. I do know my business and I have all the confidence in the world. I regard myself as an artist and a musician, and if I cannot do what I’m paid to then I have no right being where I am.”
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While Robin continually expressed enthusiasm for his new found freedom, Vince Melouney was finding life outside the group a bitter disappointment. “Things have really gone sour on me,” he admitted.
