A broken record turned three Gibb brothers into singers
In Manchester in December 1957, the young Gibb brothers were rushing to a cinema to mime along to a record when the brittle shellac disc snapped. Forced to sing live, they got such a warm reception that they decided to keep singing. Decades later only five acts had outsold them, according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Barry, Robin and Maurice were born on the Isle of Man and moved to their father Hugh's home town of Chorlton-cum-Hardy in 1955, where they played skiffle as the Rattlesnakes. In August 1958 the family emigrated to Redcliffe in Queensland. The boys sang for pocket money, including at the Redcliffe Speedway, where they performed on the back of a truck circling the track and kept whatever coins the crowd threw. The Brisbane radio presenter Bill Gates dubbed them the BGs, later spelled Bee Gees.
Australian success came slowly. Col Joye helped them sign with Leedon Records in 1963, and they opened for Chubby Checker in Sydney. By 1966 their label was close to dropping them. Frustrated, they sailed for England on 4 January 1967, learning at sea that Australia's leading music paper had named Spicks and Specks the single of the year.
Their father had sent demos to Brian Epstein, who handed them to Robert Stigwood. After an audition in February 1967 the brothers signed a five-year deal, and Stigwood billed them as the most significant new talent of that year. New York Mining Disaster 1941 went to radio with a plain white label showing only the title; some DJs assumed it was a new Beatles record and played it constantly, pushing it into the top 20 on both sides of the Atlantic. To Love Somebody, first written for Otis Redding, became a pop standard.
The 1975 album Main Course moved them towards R&B and disco, with Barry's falsetto becoming the signature sound, and the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack in 1977 was the turning point. Nine Billboard number ones place them third among bands, behind the Beatles and the Supremes. After Maurice died suddenly in 2003 at 53, Barry and Robin retired the name after 45 years.
Source: Bee Gees
