“The circus is coming to see you” is one of the scariest opening lines of a song ever, at least the way these guys say it, but don’t worry: laughing out of fear is the early Bee Gees’ sweet spot. There shouldn’t be a question why this single belongs to every Bee Gees list of greatest hits. Strings and choir voices blend in a massive harmonic onslaught that is one of Odessa’s high points. The title sounds like a Ramones song, and indeed there is a cutting note of defiance in this song’s message, but the arrangements couldn’t be further from punk. So, for a moment, put the image of three falsetto singing-heads out of your mind and check out the 10 best songs the Bee Gees wrote and recorded before their disco breakthrough. The Bee Gees had nine singles reach number one on the Hot 100 chart which, according to Billboard, puts them in third place for the most number ones in history, after the Beatles and the. Music Reviews: Their Greatest Hits: The Record by Bee Gees released in 2001 via Polydor. In fact, songs the brothers wrote for Otis Redding, Gram Parsons, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers count as some of the better hits of the rock n’ roll era. Music Reviews: Their Greatest Hits: The Record by Bee Gees released in 2001 via Polydor. RSO, the Bee Gees record label during the 1970s, initially released the collection as a double LP, atypical for a compilation derived from an acts imperial phase, but even in double compact disc format, sales were high, so perhaps, in the case of the Bee Gees music anyway, the attention span of the average music consumer could in fact last. The Bee Gees’ string of luminous recordings during the ‘60s is remarkable for both the deft incorporation of a huge range of instruments, as well as the songwriting skills of Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb. And lately, there’s been an uptick of interest in the Bee Gees’ first golden age-the experimental, soulful cousin to the British Invasion era-thanks to yet another career comeback from surviving member Barry Gibb.
But the Bee Gees also pulled off an-arguably-greater run in the late-‘60s. Those disco years and Saturday Night Fever tracks certainly were. It’s not that the hirsute, all-white-clad Bee Gees of the 1970s weren’t great.