How Deep Is Your Love (Part II)

Tales from the Brothers Gibb were my Bee Gees 101 lesson. A very long one at that, since the album covers from New York Mining Disaster 1941 to their One for All concert. When I got hold of the VCD, the particular show introduced me to Bee Gees, the performers. While I didn't really like the concert (due to the chorus of the songs being repeated much longer than the records), I was totally impressed by the Brothers Gibb.

What caught my attention was the rather unusual format of the band. The Bee Gees as live performers consisted of a supporting band and the three front men: Maurice Gibb on the left, either playing keyboard or guitar, Robin in the middle and Barry with guitar standing on the right side of the stage.

Maurice was the multi-instrumentalist and the joker of the band. He didn't sing much and if he did, apart from his quota of one lead vocals per concert, he only contributed mostly to the chorus or the three parts harmony.

Barry sang the lead for most of the songs, be it in his normal vocals range or falsetto. If you are wondering what falsetto is, it means the high pitch, girly voice that you hear in the songs such as Too Much Heaven or Night Fever. By the way, also in his repertoire were famous songs such as To Love Somebody, Words or How Deep is Your Love (if I had to name it all, it could form a Bee Gees playlist featuring Barry Gibb. Seriously, again, it was that long!).

Then there was Robin who didn't play any instrument at all. He was the odd one out and it got more obvious when he didn't sing the lead, because he would just stand there, moving awkwardly to the beat of the music while the rest were playing the songs. Only when he stepped in as the main singer that he proved his worth as the band member. Robin could sing with a crystal clear voice or with his signature vibrato. When he did the latter, he would normally cover his ear with one hand while the other was holding the mic, singing tunes such as Massachusetts or his trademark, I Started a Joke, a song that always got the longest standing ovation during the concert. Robin got a voice and style like no other. As much as I like to do Barry's falsetto (especially when singing Love You Inside Out), Robin is always my favourite Bee Gee.

The interesting highlight of the concert was when they retired the band and relied only on Barry's guitar to sing three parts harmony. During this session, Maurice would goof around, Robin was ever serious when it came to singing and Barry would try his best to hold back his laughter. Yet the harmony vocals delivery didn't suffer despite the antics. It was fabulous and so natural that when they did it, you know they couldn't go wrong.

Now, after listening to so many good songs and watching the Bee Gees performing them live, how could a person resist their charm? I certainly couldn't, hence I gave it a try when they released a new album in 1997. Still Waters (it contained a hit called Alone, did it ring a bell?) was my first proper Bee Gees album. Soon to follow was One Night Only, basically a concert to promote Still Waters. With Celine Dion guest starring (she sang Immortality), a duet with their late brother Andy Gibb and songs written but weren't recorded by the Bee Gees such as Grease and Islands in the Stream, this must be their greatest live album! I've watched some other Bee Gees concerts since then, but I certainly love this one the most!

I was a proud Bee Gees convert since One Night Only, even if that meant I'd be laughed at. You know how it worked when you were in high school: if you liked something else that wasn't something hip or mainstream such as, let's say, Backstreet Boys, you were at the constant risk of being mocked at. But I couldn't be bothered, really. I was already considered as an old school for being a fan of the Beatles, anyway, so adding in Bee Gees into my collection was like a walk in the park.

When I look back, it was easily twenty years ago since I hunted down original How Deep Is Your Love. I've been listening to Bee Gees' songs from the last four decades so trust me when I say that their songs age more gracefully than any other boy band's. I mean, I attended a Backstreet Boys concert (yes, they were from my generation, I was that young once and I like their music, too!) when they came to Singapore and much to my dismay, what I saw was Backstreet Uncles singing As Long As You Love Me. That's the problem with boy bands. They are not meant to last whereas the real deals such as Bee Gees, they were destined to have a place in the history of rock and roll.

So what are you waiting for? In this time of day where you can opt for music streaming or online purchase of digital audio, you can easily go for Spotify or iTunes Store. There'll be a lot of Bee Gees' greatest hits collection that you can find there. However, if I may recommend, see if you can find the album called Their Greatest Hits: The Record. It's a personal favourite and I hope you like it, too!

PS: Now here's a little anecdote that I heard before. The drumbeat tempo of Stayin' Alive and Another One Bites The Dust (Queen) actually can be used for a CPR practice, but judging from the song titles, I reckon people would tend to use Stayin' Alive?

From the left: Robin, Barry and Maurice

How Deep Is Your Love (Bagian Akhir) 

Tales from the Brothers Gibb adalah perkenalan saya dengan Bee Gees.  Masa penjajakan ini luar biasa panjang, karena album ini mencakup lagu-lagu dari tahun 1967 sampai 1989. Ketika saya mendapatkan VCD konser One for All, untuk pertama kalinya saya menyaksikan Bee Gees sebagai grup musik di atas panggung. Walau saya tidak begitu menyukai konser ini karena chorus lagu-lagunya yang diulang terlalu banyak kali, saya sangat terkesan dengan Gibb bersaudara.

Yang menarik perhatian saya adalah format mereka yang tidak lazim. Sebagai grup, Bee Gees terdiri dari para musisi pendukung dan tiga artis utama: Maurice yang memainkan gitar atau keyboard di sebelah kiri, Robin di tengah dan Barry dengan gitarnya di sebelah kanan.

Maurice adalah musisi dan pelawak di grup. Dia jarang bernyanyi dan selain jatah satu lagu per konser, dia hanya bernyanyi saat mereka membawakan lagu dalam tiga suara. 

Barry adalah penyanyi utama dalam banyak lagu, baik dalam suara normal maupun falsetto. Bagi yang belum pernah mendengar istilah ini, falsetto adalah teknik bernyanyi dengan menggunakan nada tinggi yang menyerupai suara wanita, contohnya adalah lagu Too Much Heaven dan Night Fever. Oh ya, koleksi lagu populer yang dinyanyikan Barry mencakup To Love Somebody, Words, How Deep is Your Love dan masih banyak lagi. Jika harus saya sebutkan semua, bisa jadi daftar lagu Bee Gees tersendiri nantinya.

Kemudian ada Robin yang sama sekali tidak memainkan instrumen musik apa pun. Ketika dia tidak sedang bernyanyi, dia hanya berdiri di tengah sambil bergoyang mengikuti irama musik. Janggal kelihatannya, namun ketika dia menjadi penyanyi utama, barulah terlihat kemampuannya sebagai anggota grup. Robin bisa bernyanyi dengan suara yang jernih atau vibrato yang menjadi ciri khasnya. Ketika dia menggunakan suara getar, dia seringkali menutup sebelah telinga dengan tangannya sementara sebelah tangan yang lain menggenggam erat mikropon di depannya, lalu menyanyikan lagu seperti Massachusetts atau lagu yang identik dengannya, I Started a Joke. Dari beberapa konser yang saya saksikan, lagu ini selalu mendapat tepuk tangan paling panjang dari para penonton. Dengan gaya dan suaranya yang unik, Robin adalah anggota Bee Gees favorit saya. 

Hal lain yang pantas disebutkan tentang konser mereka adalah saat mereka tampil hanya dengan satu gitar yang dimainkan Barry. Pada sesi ini, Maurice biasanya melucu, Robin senantiasa serius dan Barry akan berusaha menahan tawa. Kendati begitu, vokal hamoni yang mereka lantunkan terdengar sempurna. Tiga suara menyatu dengan alami ketika mereka bernyanyi. 

Setelah mendengar dan menyaksikan pertunjukan Bee Gees, saya menjadi penggemar grup ini. Ketika mereka merilis album baru di tahun 1997, saya pun membelinya. Judul albumnya adalah Still Waters yang berisikan lagu hit berjudul Alone. Segera setelah itu, mereka merilis album konser One Night Only yang juga menampilkan lagu-lagu dari album terbaru mereka. Celine Dion juga muncul sebagai bintang tamu untuk lagu Immortality. Selain berduet dengan adik mereka yang telah meninggal, Andy Gibb, mereka juga menyanyikan lagu-lagu yang mereka tulis untuk bintang lain dan tidak pernah mereka rekam sebelumnya seperti Grease dan Islands in the Stream. Saya telah menonton konser-konser Bee Gees lainnya semenjak itu, namun tidak bisa dipungkiri bahwa ONe Night Only masih yang terbaik!

Saya menjadi pengagum berat Bee Gees sejak One Night Only, meskipun itu berarti saya akan ditertawakan. Di masa SMA, jika anda menyukai sesuatu yang tidak populer di saat itu, anda akan selalu menjadi bahan tertawaan. Tapi saya tidak peduli. Saya sudah dianggap salah zaman saat menjadi penggemar the Beatles, jadi gampang saja bagi saya untuk menambahkan Bee Gees ke dalam koleksi musik saya, haha. 

Ketika saya melihat kembali, sudah lebih dari dua puluh tahun lamanya sejak saya mencari kaset yang berisi How Deep is Your Love. Saya sudah mendengarkan lagu-lagu Bee Gees dari empat dekade, jadi percayalah bila saya berkata bahwa lagu mereka semakin lama semakin enak didengar. Beda misalnya bila dibandingkan dengan lagu-lagu boy bands. Ketika Backstreet Boys ke Singapura, saya menghadiri konser mereka, namun aneh rasanya melihat orang-orang setengah baya menyandang nama Backstreet Boys dan menyanyikan lagu As Long as You Love Me. Ini lantas membuat saya mengerti kenapa grup seperti Bee Gees pada akhirnya memiliki tempat tersendiri di sejarah musik rock and roll.  

Jadi apa yang anda tunggu lagi? Di zaman sekarang, anda bisa mendapatkan lagu-lagu Bee Gees dengan gampang lewat Spotify atau iTunes. Akan tetapi, jika boleh saya rekomendasikan, coba cari album yang berjudul Their Greatest Hits: The Record. Itu adalah favorit saya dan saya harap anda pun menyukainya!

PS: Berikut ini adalah sebuah anekdot yang pernah saya baca sebelumnya. Irama drum dari lagu Stayin' Alive dan Another One Bites The Dust (Queen) bisa digunakan untuk latihan CPR, tapi dari judul lagunya, saya rasa orang lebih cenderung memilih Stayin' Alive, haha.