A few times I've been around that track

Short week or no short week, my bones are aching and my body and soul will both be greatly relieved to see the back of another "working-from-home week", once 4.30pm comes around...

Our little gang is actually planning another virtual "party" this evening via the newly-ubiquitous Zoom, and so I think we need a little something to get ourselves into the mood for a bit of a bop, and to get our energy levels up for a (hopefully) warm Spring weekend - how about another of those genius "Rock-vs-Disco" mashups from the marvellous Bill McLintock? That'll shake us all up a bit!

Thank Disco It's Friday!

Bee Gees vs Gwen Stefani - Stayin' A Hollaback Girl

Have a good one, dear reader...

Smokin'

We all "jump for joy" as a weekend looms - and after the long dark week I have had, it can't come a moment too soon.

To get us into the mood for a party, how about another brilliant "Hair Metal/Funk mash-up" by Mr Bill McClintock? I think we should...

Thank Disco It's Friday!

The Bee Gees vs Deep Purple - You Should Be Smoking

Have a faboo weekend, dear reader!

He's my gigolo and my Romeo

As we slide slowly towards the weekend, and keep our fingers crossed it stays as warm and sunny as it has all week (some chance!), so we also have not one, not two, but three birthday celebrants to get us in the mood for a party!

First up, our Patron Saint of Schlock, Mr Harris Glenn Milstead aka Divine (19th October 1945 – 7th March 1988) - here in a mad - and completely brilliant - Disco mash-up with the BeeGees:

Bee Gees vs Divine - Shoot Your Shot vs Jive Talking (Matt Pop remix)

...also celebrating (and still very much with us), the original Disco Stud, Mr George McCrae (born 19th October 1944) - in a bizarre duet on his greatest hit with none other than Holland's "real" Queen, Gerard Joling(!):

Gerard Joling & George McCrae - Rock Your Baby

And, finally - Sinitta (who is either 50 today, or 55 - Wikipedia says "born 19th October 1963 or 19th October 1968")!

Sinitta - Toy Boy

Thank Disco It's Friday!

Have a good weekend, dear chums...

J-J-J-Jive talkin' - you're telling me lies

Another milestone was recently reached - it is 40 years this month since the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever exploded all over our charts! One of the world's biggest-selling albums, it spent 18 consecutive weeks at No. 1 here in the UK; though we had to wait till March '78 to see the film.

Track after track after track would be an eminently suitable choice for our traditional party number to start the weekend. The album has 'em all - Stayin' Alive, Night Fever, How Deep Is Your Love, More Than a Woman, If I Can't Have You, Boogie Shoes, You Should Be Dancing, Disco Inferno...

...but, to get our juices flowing ready to boogie, I've chosen this one!

Bee Gees - Jive Talking

It's just your jive talkin'
you're telling me lies, yeah
Jive talkin'
you wear a disguise
Jive talkin'
so misunderstood, yeah
Jive talkin'
You really no good

Oh, my child
You'll never know
Just what you mean to me
Oh, my child
You got so much
You're gonna take away my energy

With all your jive talkin'
You're telling me lies, yeah
Good lovin'
Still gets in my eyes
Nobody believes what you say
It's just your jive talkin'
That gets in the way

Oh my love
You're so good
Treating me so cruel
There you go
with your fancy lies
Leavin' me lookin'
like a dumbstruck fool
with all your

Jive talkin'
You're telling me lies, yeah
Jive talkin'
You wear a disguise
Jive talkin'
so misunderstood, yeah
Jive talkin'
you just ain't no good

Love talkin'
is all very fine, yeah
Jive talkin'
Just isn't a crime
And if there's somebody
You'll love till you die
then all that jive talkin'
just gets in your eye

Jive talkin'
You're telling me lies,yeah
Good lovin'
Still gets in my eyes
Nobody believes what you say
It's just your jive talkin'
That gets in the way

I listened to The saintly Ana Matronic's recent Radio 2 documentary Night Fever - The Rise of the Bee Gees, and - among many fascinating insights and reminisces it featured - according to Barry Gibb, that unmistakeable percussive intro to the song was taken from the clack-clack noise the group's car made while crossing a metal bridge on their way to the recording studio!

The result is legendary.

And I hope your weekend is similar, dear reader.

Saturday Night Fever soundtrack on Wikipedia

Night and day; there's a burning down inside of me

It was Mr Barry Gibb's 70th birthday yesterday. Among the myriad songs for which he and his late brothers Robin and Maurice were responsible was their 1979 mega-hit Tragedy...

...and that was given a memorable makeover in the 90s by the campest of all "manufactured pop acts" of that era - Steps!

So, get ready to do all the right moves - and Thank Disco It's Friday!

Steps - Tragedy

And in case anyone is in any doubt as to how to do that dance, here are some handy instructions ("step-by-step", geddit?):

	1. Put your hands beside your ears in a "Tragedy" pose. Look shocked!
	2. Raise your right arm.
	3. Raise your left arm to join it!
	4. Clasp both your hands to your heart in a protective manner.
	5. Stretch both arms out in front of you with your palms facing up.
	6. Put your arms up to your head as in Step 1 and take a step to your right.
	7. Repeat the same move to the left, and then repeat both moves again.
	8. Place your right hand on your hip and step to the left, swinging your right arm out.
	9. Repeat the same move to your right.
	10. Hold up your arm as if you're stopping traffic!
	11. Turn to your right and roll your left shoulder three times. That's it!

There is something goin' down and I can feel it

Another week is (almost) over, and it's time to party!

It is also an excuse to feature another "timeslip moment"...

In the news thirty-eight years ago: Cold War tensions continued after the Soviets shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 902; the Afghan Civil War began with a military coup; American homophobe Anita Bryant, Bob Marley, Saatchi & Saatchi and the Yorkshire Ripper were all headline-grabbers; and Britain's first official naturist beach opened in Covehurst Bay near Hastings. On telly: Pennies From Heaven, Cheggers Plays Pop and All Creatures Great and Small. In our cinemas: Dawn of the Dead, FM, and (of course) the ubiquitous Saturday Night Fever.

In the UK charts this week in April 1978: novelty act Brian and Michael's Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs was (unfortunately) at the top, and also selling well were Suzi Quatro, Wings, Showaddywaddy, Andrew Gold, Johnny Mathis with Deniece Williams, Gerry Rafferty, Sheila B Devotion and Blondie. However, continuing the inexorable dominance of the charts by the aforementioned Saturday Night Fever, this classic number was about to take over...

So let's take a step back to that remarkable Bee-Gees-led Disco boom, get our best black panties on - and Thank Disco It's Friday!

Bee Gees - Night Fever

Listen to the ground:
there is movement all around.
There is something goin' down
and I can feel it.

On the waves of the air,
there is dancin' out there.
If it's somethin' we can share,
we can steal it.

And that sweet city woman,
she moves through the light,
controlling my mind and my soul.
When you reach out for me
yeah, and the feelin' is bright,

then I get night fever, night fever.
We know how to do it.
Gimme that night fever, night fever.
We know how to show it.

Here I am,
prayin' for this moment to last,
livin' on the music so fine,
borne on the wind,
makin' it mine.

Night fever, night fever.
We know how to do it.
Gimme that night fever, night fever.
We know how to show it.

In the heat of our love,
don't need no help for us to make it.
Gimme just enough to take us to the mornin'.
I got fire in my mind.
I got higher in my walkin'.
And I'm glowin' in the dark;
I give you warnin'.

And that sweet city woman,
she moves through the light,
controlling my mind and my soul.
When you reach out for me
yeah, and the feelin' is bright,

Then I get night fever, night fever.
We know how to do it.
Gimme that night fever, night fever.
We know how to show it.

Here I am,
prayin' for this moment to last,
livin' on the music so fine,
borne on the wind,
makin' it mine.

Night fever, night fever.
We know how to do it.
Gimme that night fever, night fever.
We know how to show it.

Possibly the one and only time anyone thought John Travolta was sexy.

Have a great weekend!

Listen to the ground: there is movement all around

A dreadful week crawls to its close, and it is time to start planning to party!
[Admittedly, this may be celebration or commiseration if they announce today whether or not I still have a job...]

We're off to Brighton this evening for a much-needed (if brief) getaway, and we'll be sure to pack our tightest jump-suits and copious quantities of Elnett hairspray - just like the Brothers Gibb (including a weirdly beardless Barry)!

Topping the UK charts this week in 1978, it's the magnificent Night Fever. Thank Disco It's Friday!

Bee Gees - Night Fever

Listen to the ground:
there is movement all around.
There is something goin' down
and I can feel it.

On the waves of the air,
there is dancin' out there.
If it's somethin' we can share,
we can steal it.

And that sweet city woman,
she moves through the light,
controlling my mind and my soul.
When you reach out for me
yeah, and the feelin' is bright,

then I get night fever, night fever.
We know how to do it.
Gimme that night fever, night fever.
We know how to show it.

Here I am,
prayin' for this moment to last,
livin' on the music so fine,
borne on the wind,
makin' it mine.

Night fever, night fever.
We know how to do it.
Gimme that night fever, night fever.
We know how to show it.

In the heat of our love,
don't need no help for us to make it.
Gimme just enough to take us to the mornin'.
I got fire in my mind.
I got higher in my walkin'.
And I'm glowin' in the dark;
I give you warnin'.

And that sweet city woman,
she moves through the light,
controlling my mind and my soul.
When you reach out for me
yeah, and the feelin' is bright,

then I get night fever, night fever.
We know how to do it.
Gimme that night fever, night fever.
We know how to show it.

Here I am,
prayin' for this moment to last,
livin' on the music so fine,
borne on the wind,
makin' it mine.

Night fever, night fever.
We know how to do it.
Gimme that night fever, night fever.
We know how to show it.

Right from the opening bars, you just knew this was always destined to be a classic.

Have a great May Day Bank Holiday weekend, one and all!

Livin' on the music so fine

Today is Paddy's Day - the day that everyone in the world is supposed to drink Guinness and believe in leprechauns and stuff like that, allegedly.

It is also another Tacky Music Monday (too soon, too soon again after a gorgeous sunny weekend) - and what better way to celebrate than with one of the Emerald Isle's finest [OK, I know she was born in Ulster and is thus British, but hey ho] Miss Clodagh Rodgers, here dancing in what appears to be a windswept bog with her suitably chirpy safety aerachs

It's Night Fever as the Gibb brothers probably never imagined it...

Clodagh Rodgers - Night Fever

Have a good week, peeps!

Friday Night Fever

It's still glorious weather, it's almost the end of another week in work, and I feel like dancing - in the 1970s, with John Travolta and the BeeGees, of course...

So squeeze yourself into those brown flares and huge collared satin shirt, swivel those hips, and Thank Disco It's Friday!

BeeGees - You Should Be Dancing

Saturday Night Fever

Read Alex Petridis on the BeeGees and an interview with Barry Gibb in the Guardian yesterday.

Just a dream to fade away

Yet more of my 70s is dying - first Donna Summer, and now Robin Gibb has gone...

Bee Gees - Too Much Heaven

"Nobody gets too much heaven." Indeed.

RIP, another legend.

Robin Gibb obituary on the BBC

Teeth, trousers, talent

Many happy returns to the toothsome Barry Gibb - 65 years old today!

With brothers Robin and the late Maurice, the Bee Gees were at one time completely unstoppable in their dominance of the charts - with the world-beating Saturday Night Fever album, their work with Mega-Babs, Miss Ross and Dionne Warwick, together with hugely successful songs such as Emotion by Samantha Sang and Islands In The Stream (Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers), and myriad cover versions of their own classics like How Deep is Your Love?, the trio remain in the top ten of the best-selling artists of all time across the world.

By way of a little tribute, here's one of my favourite later songs by the mega-group, You Win Again:

Bee Gees - You Win Again

Facts about Barry Gibb:

• Often referred to as "Australian", he and his brothers were actually born on the Isle of Man and were brought up in Chorlton-cum-Hardy in Manchester.
• Unlike many contemporaries in the pop and rock world, Barry and Linda Gibb remain happily married after 41 years.
• As a songwriter Mr Gibb has had No.1 songs in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, when (Barry) Islands in the Stream became Number 1 in the UK as the Comic Relief single for 2009.

A remarkable man, who wears tight trousers very well...

Barry Gibb official website

You took a pedestal and put me on it

A quarter of a century ago queens across the world stood back in awe, as Miss Ross proved once more that she was still Mistress of all she surveyed - with this magnificent collaboration with the Bee Gees, a selection of couture frocks and a dry ice machine, she effortlessly dismissed the opposition!

In 1986, the likes of Madonna and Whitney Houston could hardly touch her sparkling gloves...

Diana Ross - Chain Reaction

When you lose control and you got no soul

Good heavens! Can it really be thirty years since this was at Number One in the charts?

Bee Gees - Tragedy

Here I lie
In a lost and lonely part of town
Held in time
In a world of tears I slowly drown
Goin' home
I just cant take it all alone
I really should be holding you
Holding you
Loving you loving you

Tragedy
When the feelings gone and you cant go on
Its tragedy
When the morning cries and you don't know why
Its hard to bear
With no-one to love you you're
Goin' nowhere
Tragedy
When you lose control and you got no soul
Its tragedy
When the morning cries and you don't know why
Its hard to bear
With no-one to love you you're
Goin' nowhere

Night and day
There's a burning down inside of me
Burning love
With a yearning that wont let me be
Down I go
And I just cant take it all alone
I really should be holding you
Holding you
Loving you loving you