…otherwise known as Record Store Day 2015 indulgence part 2.
I can’t say I have ever been a particularly big Bee Gees fan but I can’t deny them their place in popular music history, they really did have an astonishing career. Forming in 1958 (yes 1958!) and selling a shade over 200m records, Robin, Barry and Maurice Gibb never really got the praise they deserved and were easy targets for mickey-taking, some less affectionate than others. In the UK their popularity came in waves, principally in the late 1960’s (Massachussets, Gotta Get a Message to You), the mid to late 1970’s (Saturday Night Fever) and the mid to late 1980’s (writing for Diana Ross, You Win Again, etc). Lots of people I know say they don’t like the Bee Gees. I don’t believe any of them.
This 12″ single compiles four tracks from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack (Night Fever, More Than a Woman, You Should Dancing, Stayin’ Alive), in (slightly) extended form. It’s a nice release, ridiculously overpriced (£15 – honestly!), not even a different coloured vinyl (which I thought was de rigeur for all Record Store Day releases?) but something I still felt the need to buy.
Yet again I could easily be listening to this on Spotify or YouTube or the radio (I heard Night Fever twice this week alone) but that defeats the object. Record Store Day appeals to that basest of instincts in some music fans of owning and respecting something. I have many music-mad friends who have happily moved on from possessing the object itself, content to listen on Spotify, Deezer, iTunes, etc and I do lots of that myself too. But despite my earlier cynicism about RSD I can’t pass by the opportunity to pick up the odd daft release like this. It keeps you grounded, reinforces your appreciation and the value you should place on what you are listening to. These same friends will happily have neatly arranged rows of books on their shelves and regard Kindles as the work of the Devil… well, its the same for me with records like this. It’s £15 unwisely spent.*
*I should thank my friend Andy who bought this on my behalf. He did the dirty job of queuing up at 6 in the morning to buy a Bee Gees record (not the only thing he bought, I should add but all the same it went against everything he holds true) while I went up and down the record store queues in the fine city of Leeds with flyers for our local Record Club. He went far beyond the call of duty and I salute him.
Record at Random 