The Ultimate Biography of The Bee Gees

by Hector Cook

  * * *

  As far back as 1981, Barry Gibb and David English had begun to formulate the idea for a film. “We of ten chew over silly ideas,” Barry explained, “but nothing had ever come to fruition. Then one day there was a hurricane forecast.”

  David English continued the story. “We were on the way to the studios in an old Ford Mustang, which was kind of shaky, but BG loved it and I used to drive him along. One day we went along the coastal road and we saw a big storm out at sea, and I thought it could be our last day on earth and I said, ‘Barry, what would happen if we only had a limited time to live, what would you do?’ ”

  Barry mused, “What would your idea of fulfilment be if there was not time left on earth and you knew it? For some people, I think it would be to sit with their families and wait to die. For others, it would be to go out and do everything that they ever had wanted to do.”

  David said, “We started writing it, about two lads in a hospital, and it took seven years to make, from actually writing the idea, getting Roy Clarke to do the screenplay, Steve Lanning to produce it, to actually raise the money…

  “What Barry and I normally do with ideas, it comes quickly, and if we both like it, it’s like the eclipse of the sun. Two stars go together, you know — occasionally, it happens like that … It’s very much better to do it with a friend. You know if you’ve got a game of tennis, if the ball doesn’t come back over the net, you haven’t got a game,” he explained. “But you know if it’s going well, the idea came in about twenty minutes.”

  “If it takes one of us a little while to get to like the idea, then we probably won’t use it,” Barry added.

  Barry was determined that the film be made in the UK. “The British make the best films in the world, as far as I’m concerned,” he enthused. “And as long as I can — in my own small way — I’m going to try and support the industry.

  “The key to making a good film is if everybody functions the right way at the right time,” he continued. “It’s a whole team of people. And if the sound people don’t function, then the film doesn’t work. If the film people don’t function, the sound doesn’t work, none of it works. Everybody has to do something special like wardrobe, makeup; all of these things if they’re not all done right, everything falls down, you know. Take the main card out and the whole pack falls down so that’s what it’s like … That’s why you have to rely on so much expertise to make a film … It’s quite crazy and I don’t know how a lot of films get made, especially in Hollywood.”

  The concept of two terminally ill young men seems unusual for a comedy, but Roy Clarke took Barry and David’s idea and wrote a script that manages to combine humour, emotion, strength and resilience, concentrating on living even when dying. The film’s star, Timothy Dalton, explained, “Hawks is about living and the value of life. It teaches that you can approach the problems of life and death with courage and humour.”

  The film also starred Anthony Edwards, then best known as Tom Cruise’s co-star in Top Gun, but who would go on to greater fame in the American television series, ER. Edwards plays Deckermensky — abbreviated to Decker — an American football player, who falls ill during a tour of Britain and finds himself sharing a ward with the acerbic lawyer, Bancroft. The two men decide to make their last days on earth pleasurable by stealing an ambulance and heading for the brothels of Amsterdam. Along the way, they meet Hazel and Maureen, played by Janet McTeer and Camille Coduri respectively, and their plans go awry. While Dalton and Edwards already had impressive filmographies to display to their latest employers, Hawks came relatively early in the careers of six foot one inch tall McTeer and the more diminutive Coduri. For each it was their third film, and both would move onto bigger and better things; in particular, Nuns On The Run for Coduri, while in 1999, McTeer appeared in Tumbleweeds and received an Academy Award nomination for her role as Mary Jo Walker.

  Timothy Dalton was eager to take on the role of Bancroft, in spite of — or perhaps because of — the contrast to his suave screen persona as Agent 007. “I jumped at the chance of playing in Hawks because scripts of the calibre Roy Clarke has written come along once in a blue moon,” he explained. “I enjoy playing Bond and those movies are great of their type, but I’m an actor who craves variety.”

  He reflected that playing James Bond hadn’t changed his life, although the money and fame which it brought allowed him to be more selective in his choice of roles. “I know that having me in the movie helped to get it financed because I’m considered bankable as Bond,” he added. “I don’t say that in any egotistical way, but if that leverage means small budget films [that] I want to do can get made, then that’s useful.”

  “He’s a man faced with a huge problem and he faces it with great pugnacity, verve and humour. Hawks is really more about life than death. The lives of Decker and Bancroft have been brought into very sharp focus through their illness. The film is about the course of action that they take and how they deal with it. It’s a film of resilience and courage, good humour and toughness. It’s a terrific story, a worthwhile story.

  “It’s a story so international in its theme, it should touch everybody. There’s learning, wisdom, dependence, independence, need … all about life in the little time,” Dalton summarised, “and it’s all enchanted by Barry Gibb’s haunting score.”

  That haunting score had been through several transformations before its eventual release. It began its life as Barry’s 1986 follow-up to his Now Voyager album, with the working title When Tomorrow Comes, which later became My Eternal Love, before changing to Moonlight Madness.

  David English described the film as “another way of getting Barry’s music over to the public” during the Fever backlash, when American radio in particular turned against The Bee Gees. “It’s another medium; it’s a good way of actually getting through while this silly period is going on,” he added.

  Barry explained, “Hawks was actually turned down by my record company twice. A lot of those songs were done for the second solo album, which never came out, so I was more or less caught with a lot of songs that MCA didn’t particularly want to release [which] I thought should still go out. It’s a matter of creative opposition. I opposed MCA’s opinion not to put it out. And that’s why I forced a lot of that music through this film and through the album, because I think the music ought to get heard, whether or not they’re what you’d call hit singles … I hate dealing with the idea that you can only write music if it’s bracketed as a hit single by a record company’s opinion. I think it’s wrong.”

  The Hawks soundtrack combines two new songs, the Diana Ross recording of ‘Chain Reaction’, and seven songs from Barry’s unreleased 1986 solo album. Credited as a Barry Gibb album, it was not released by MCA for North America, but Polygram did release it to the rest of the world in September.

  “MCA turned it down when it was in its original form as an album, and they turned it down when I presented it to them as a soundtrack so, there’s really nothing I can do about that,” Barry disclosed.

  Three of the 1986 songs were not in the movie and are listed as “bonus cuts” in the CD notes.

  August 4 marked the world premiere of the film Hawks at the Odeon West End in London, with general release on the following day. “What Barry and I did beforehand,” David English revealed, “we had a look at the underground, at the posters on the wall, just to see our names. “We couldn’t believe we’d actually pulled it off!”

  For Barry, the occasion was tinged slightly by the sorrow that his youngest brother could not be there to share in the achievement. Andy had seen two early previews of the film shortly after his arrival in England. “Those previews were virtually the only times he went out,” said Barry.

  In the United States, the film would have a limited release some three months after its British premiere.

  The single ‘Childhood Days’, backed by ‘Moonlight Madness’, was also released in August, supported by a film clip showing co-writer Maurice playing bass. It r
emains the only time any of the Gibbs had appeared in one of their brother’s solo promotional film clips.

  August also saw the release of One Moment In Time, a compilation of songs by various artists for the 1988 Olympics. The Bee Gees contributed ‘The Shape Of Things To Come’, one of the finest singles that never was. Arista Records opted for Whitney Houston’s title track for the lead-off single.

  “It was a great song,” Barry asserted. “We gave it to them, but you know, it’s a strange business. Whitney came first. We’re not on Arista Records. So we gave a song to Arista Records to put on an album that also included people like Whitney Houston, who is on Arista Records. So they’re going to promote the people on their own label because that’s where their money’s going to get made. And people like us, little did we realise, are going to get pushed into the background … It should have been out as a single, but they screwed around with it. You know, that’s what happens.”

  The Bee Gees with Eric Clapton also appeared incognito on the LP as The Bunburys with ‘Fight (No Matter How Long)’. Earlier that year, Clapton explained, “The first single was ‘We’re The Bunburys’ by The Bunburys, who at the time were The Bee Gees. David English invented The Bunburys as a cartoon. Those two started writing, and Barry wrote a song for me to do which hasn’t been released yet, called ‘Fight’, and will be out on The Bunburys album. Elton’s on it and George Harrison is on it. It has been held up for one reason or another because I don’t know what label it’s coming out on yet. But it’s good stuff and I think it’s going to be an ongoing thing for David.”

  While The Bunburys project was on hold, the One Moment In Time album seemed a good opportunity to get at least one of the songs heard.

  The project had expanded from its inception as a children’s story. “I’d written six books on Bunbury Tails,” David English explained, “then I got a deal with Channel 4 to have a series out and we thought we’d write a song for each one of the episodes. So ‘Fight’, we wrote it together, Barry and I.”

  Once the song was completed with Robin and Maurice, Barry and David approached Clapton to involve him in the project. “We trapped him at the polo at Windsor. [It was] a very sociable day,” David recalled, “and we said, ‘We’ve written this demo for you, we’d love you to hear it,’ and he said, ‘Where is it?’ We got it out of our pockets so, as he was eating, he was listening to it on the Walkman. So he said, ‘Okay, I’ll do that,’ so we went down to Dave Mackay’s studios and recorded it … Ian Botham was on the ‘Fight’ track doing back-up vocals — it was really getting all your mates together, but singing is a gift and, with The Bee Gees’ writing, it does help when you’ve got some songs of that kind of quality.”

  The song was recorded over the summer holidays, so all the Gibb and Mackay children, as well as Ian Botham’s young son, had a fine time together while their fathers toiled away in the studio. Dave Mackay recalled that during the recording, the air conditioning in his studio had broken down, and as it was a hot summer’s day, all the windows and doors were open. Eric Clapton, immersed in his guitar solo with his eyes tightly closed in concentration, was brought abruptly back to earth by Mackay’s dog’s impudent snuffling.

  Mackay was accustomed to getting up starting his work day at about seven each morning, and finishing up for the day at around five, in sharp contrast to The Bee Gees’ usual routine of beginning work late in the afternoon and working until the early morning hours. Dave recalled Linda Gibb wistfully wondering if Barry could ever be convinced to “work to live” as he did, striking a better balance between work and family, rather than living for his work.

  The Bunburys ‘Fight’ was released in January, 1989, as a single in some parts of the world, notably not in the USA although it was heavily promoted there on a promotional only 12-inch single. Despite the superstar collaboration, the song failed to make an impact on the charts.

  Barry hosted his fifth Love & Hope Tennis Festival for the Diabetes Research Institute at the Turnbury Isle Yacht And Country Club in Aventura, Florida, on November 18, 1988. Despite the usual complement of celebrity guests, Andy’s absence was almost tangible at the event, after the years of lending his support to the cause. One of the features of the evening’s entertainment was the performance of Barry and old Australian family friend Noeleen Batley Stewart — now a resident of Miami — of ‘Islands In The Stream’.

  * * *

  Months after Andy’s death, The Bee Gees gathered in Middle Ear Studio to commence the recording of material written over the previous 18 months for the One album. In an ironic twist of fate, the title reflected their intention to tour with Andy in 1989 under the “all for one, one for all” principles of The Three Musketeers. Memories of their youngest brother were still strong, and the group subconsciously exorcised their individual demons in the lyrics of two songs in particular, ‘Tears’ and ‘Wish You Were Here’. While to outsiders, the connection seems patently obvious, the three brothers were so wrapped up in their emotions, that it was not until recordings were complete that they would realise the extent of Andy’s influence upon them.

  The album is simply “dedicated to our brother, Andy.” The only cover art is overlapping black and white photos of their three faces, none shown in its entirety, but which merge from the neck down.

  The Bee Gees were once again producing themselves along with engineer Brian Tench, who has been listed as “co-producer” on E.S.P. They used a small group of four musicians: Tim Cansfield on guitar, Peter John Vettese on keyboards, Nathan East on bass, and Steve Ferrone on drums, along with Alan Kendall on three songs. Of the four, Vettese had probably the most varied history having previously worked with Annie Lennox, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Jethro Tull, Chicago’s Peter Cetera and Tommy Shaw of Styx.

  In most places, the lead single and first song on the album, was ‘Ordinary Lives’, released in April, 1989, followed by ‘One’; the order was reversed in the United States. The demo of ‘Ordinary Lives’ was made around the time of Andy’s death under the title ‘Cruel World’, a phrase that is still in the opening line of the second verse. Ordinary Lives’ reached number 27 in Holland and number 54 in the UK.

  ‘One’ was released in June and reached a disappointing number 71 in Britain and 46 in Holland. When it was released in the USA in July, coinciding with the start of their American tour, it was their first Top 10 smash since 1979, peaking at number seven.

  The album One was released in April, 1989, in most of the world, with its American release delayed until July. Less than a month after the album’s European release, The Bee Gees opened their first concert tour in nearly a decade. “We’re enthusiastic about our new music,” Maurice said, “and we’d like to play it live now. Besides, we’d like to present many of our former hits in a new polished up version to all our new and of course to all our old fans.”

  “In 1988, after our performances at the 40th Anniversary of Atlantic Records, the Prince’s Trust [Concert] and at the Nelson Mandella concert, we decided to use the chance that came up after the release of our new album to go on tour again,” Robin explained. “We hadn’t been playing live for nearly ten years. And when it suddenly started to be fun again, we decided to go on tour. It is extremely exciting. And we haven’t been playing live in many countries, like France for example.

  “I’ve looked forward to this tour for a long time, even though I know it’s going to be a lot of hard work. You’ve got to make every night your first night. That’s important to the audience because, for them, it is your first night and they want everything you’ve got.”

  “We’ve got a lot of thanking to do,” Barry added. “There’s a lot of people that’ve been really good to us over so many years, and I think it would be nice to see them sitting in front of us and be able to please them the same way. The band is in our blood. I just can’t wait for the energy you get when it’s 10 seconds before you go on stage.”

  The touring band was quite impressive for, as well as Barry, Robin, Maurice and Alan
Kendall, it also featured Tim Cansfield on guitar, Vic Martin and Gary Moberley each on keyboards and synthesizer, George Perry on bass and Chester Thompson on drums. Tampa Lann, Linda Harmon and Phyllis St James on vocals and percussion completed the band. It was quite a change from their first tour of Germany back in 1968.

  The One For All tour began on May 3 at Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, Germany, taking the group to 19 cities throughout Europe. The final concert, on July 1, brought them back to Germany with a show at the Niedersachsenstadion, a huge football stadium in Hannover, where 50,000 were in attendance. Hugh was literally dragged on stage and introduced to the audience, while during his brothers’ performance of ‘Holiday’, Maurice disappeared to fetch his video camera and proceeded to film the audience. During the medley version of ‘Islands In The Stream’, Maurice grabbed hold of his jumper at strategic points in a clear tribute to one of the two performers who turned the song into a hit.

  Germany has always held special memories for The Bee Gees, going right back to their first international success. “For us it is the most fanatical place,” Robin asserted. “The shows there sell out very fast, and the fans have got every album we’ve made. At a hotel in Munster once, the manager turned a fire hose on a whole crowd of our fans in the lobby and washed them out into the street, so they promptly got hold of the hose and turned it back on him. All the while, we were watching and laughing from a window above.” Tennis star Steffi Graf attended the Hamburg concert, and was clearly thrilled when ‘You Win Again’ was dedicated to her.

  Although the tour included a show in Copenhagen, where Linda celebrated her birthday, other Scandinavian fans were disappointed since there were no concerts in Oslo and Stockholm, shows in these cities having been dropped shortly before the tour had begun. Three shows in Italy would also be cancelled, apparently due to Barry’s continuing back problems.

  “The E.S.P. album was so successful over in Europe, we thought it would be a great place to start the tour because they’ve already accepted us back over there,” Maurice explained.