The Bee Gees

The Bee Gees are a music group formed in 1958, featuring brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful as a popular music act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers of the disco music era in the mid- to late 1970s. August 9, 1975 - The Bee Gees started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Jive Talkin', the group's second US No.1 it made No.5 in the UK. Largely recognized as the group's "comeback" song, it was their first US top-ten hit since "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" in 1971.

By 1975, the Bee Gees assembled a studio group consisting of Alan Kendall on electric guitar, Blue Weaver on keyboards and Dennis Bryon on drums. This combination, with Maurice Gibb on bass and Barry Gibb on rhythm guitar, recorded all the Bee Gees albums of the late '70s and also went on tour with the group. Recording for "JiveTalkin'" took place on 30 January and 2 February 1975. The scratchy guitar intro was done by Barry and the funky bass line provided by Maurice Gibb.

According to Maurice, while hearing this rhythmic sound, "Barry didn't notice that he's going 'Ji-Ji Jive Talkin' ', thinking of the dance, 'You dance with your eyes'...that's all he had...exactly 35 mph...that's what we got." He goes on to say, "We played it to Arif [producer Arif Mardin], and he went 'Do you know what "Jive Talkin' " means?' And we said 'Well yeah, it's, ya know, you're dancing.' He says 'NO...it's a black expression for bullshitting.' And we went 'OH, REALLY?!? Jive talkin', you're telling me lies...' and changed it". Maurice goes on to describe how Arif gave them "the groove, the tempo, everything." Robin Gibb then goes on to mention that, because they were English, they were less self-conscious about going into the "no-go areas", referring to musical styles that were more black in styles, etc. He then said: We didn't think that there was any 'no go' areas, it's music!

The original studio version was included on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, as it was used in a scene that was cut from the final film. Later pressings of the album used the live version of "Jive Talkin' " from the Bee Gees 1977 album, Here at Last... Bee Gees... Live, due to contractual distribution changes. The CD version restores the use of the studio version.

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Culture Club

August 27, 1983 - “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya” peaked at No.9 on the Hot 100.

According to Boy George, this upbeat diddy has a message. The Culture Club lead singer explained in a 1983 Trouser Press interview: My lyrics may not be so straightforward, but they are very real – like 'I'll Tumble 4 Ya' is about wanting to do anything to be the next big thing. We were very much a 'downtown band' at the time I wrote those words. In general I think my basic ideas come across.

A track from their debut album, this was the third single released in the United States by Culture Club, who got a lot of attention on MTV thanks to their androgynous frontman. In the days before you could Google such things, there was plenty of chatter about whether the singer was a boy or a girl. This look was far less shocking in England, where they were used to variations of Glam and music on TV, but in America it was something different.

Following "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" and "Time (Clock Of The Heart," it made Culture Club the first British band since The Beatles to score three Top 10 hits from their debut album. They enjoyed some critical success as well, winning the 1983 Grammy for Best New Artist.

Siobhan Barron directed the popular music video, which has the group performing alongside tumblers and female dancers in a rehearsal studio. The band's drummer Jon Moss, guitarist Roy Hay and bassist Mikey Craig all took tap lessons so they could perform a routine in the clip, but they chickened out and the scene was replaced.

Recognize one of those dancing girls? That's future supermodel Naomi Campbell as a pre-teen.

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DAVID BOWIE

September 20, 1975 - David Bowie went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Fame'. It was his first number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as his first to break the top 10, but would only reach number 17 in the UK.

With the Young Americans sessions mostly concluded by late 1974, the material was delayed while Bowie extricated himself from his contract with manager Tony Defries. During this time, he was staying in New York, where he met John Lennon at a party thrown by Elizabeth Taylor. Lennon was one of Bowie's idols, and they became good friends.. The pair jammed together, leading to a one-day session at Electric Lady Studios in January 1975. There, Carlos Alomar had developed a guitar riff for Bowie's cover of "Footstompin'" by The Flairs, which Bowie thought was "a waste" to give to a cover. Lennon, who was in the studio with them, sang "ame" over the riff, which Bowie turned into "Fame" and he thereafter wrote the rest of the lyrics to the song.

Bowie would later describe the song as "nasty, angry", and fully admitted that the song was written "with a degree of malice" aimed at the Mainman management group with whom he had been working at the time. In 1990, Bowie reflected: I'd had very upsetting management problems and a lot of that was built into the song. I've left that all that behind me, now... I think fame itself is not a rewarding thing. The most you can say is that it gets you a seat in restaurants.

Bowie allegedly got drunk to perform the song for the American TV show Soul Train; at the time he was one of the few white artists to appear on the program.

The song is included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

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