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Type | Subsidiary of Access Industries |
---|---|
Industry | Music & Entertainment |
Founded | 1958 (as Warner Bros. Records) 1971 (as WEA (Warner Bros. - Elektra - Atlantic)) 2004 (as WMG) |
Headquarters | New York, United States |
Key people | Stephen Cooper: CEO Lyor Cohen: North American Chairman & CEO Michael Fleisher (Michael D. Fleisher): Vice Chairman |
Revenue | ![]() |
Net income | ![]() |
Owner(s) | Warner Bros. (1958-1967) Warner Bros.-Seven Arts (1967-1969) Kinney National Company (1969-1971) Warner Communications (1971-1990) Time Warner (1990-2004) Independent (2004-2011) Access Industries (2011-present) |
Employees | 4,000 (as of 2008) |
Website | wmg.com |
Warner Music Group (WMG) is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies. For three decades the conglomerate was known as WEA, which stood for Warner Bros.-Elektra-Atlantic Records; three major record companies that signed and developed musical acts and, in turn, distributed product for subsidiaries and other record labels.
The current incarnation of the company as Warner Music Group was formed in 2004 when it was spun off and made completely separate from Time Warner; as a result Time Warner no longer retains any ownership whatsoever in the Warner Music Group, despite its name. WMG also has a music publishing arm called Warner/Chappell Music, which is one of the world's largest music-publishing companies.
In May 2011, the company announced its sale to Access Industries Inc. The purchase of the company was completed on July 20, 2011.[2]
Contents |
Stephen Cooper - CEO
Lyor Cohen – Vice Chairman and Chairman and CEO, Recorded Music – Americas and the U.K.
David H. Johnson – Chairman and CEO, Warner/Chappell Music
Michael Fleisher (Michael D. Fleisher) – Vice Chairman, Strategy and Operations
Michael Nash – Executive Vice President, Executive Vice President, Digital Strategy and Business Development
WMG is the only one of the big four record companies that cannot trace its ancestry to either Columbia Phonograph Company or Berliner Gramophone. WMG's roots date back to the founding of Warner Bros. Records in 1958 as a division of the Warner Bros. Pictures. Warner Bros. Pictures had no record label division at the time and one of its contracted actors, Tab Hunter, scored a hit song for Dot Records, which was a division of rival Paramount Pictures. In order to prevent any of its actors from recording for rival companies and to also capitalize on the music business, Warner Bros. Records was created. In 1963, Warner Bros. Records purchased Reprise Records, which had been founded by Frank Sinatra three years earlier so that he could have more creative control over his recordings. With the Reprise acquisition, Warner gained the services of Mo Ostin who would be most responsible for the success of Warner/Reprise.
The Canadian unit was opened in 1967 as Warner Reprise Canada Ltd, now called Warner Music Canada Co.[3]
After Warner Bros. was sold to Seven Arts Productions in 1967 (forming Warner Bros.-Seven Arts), it purchased Atlantic Records, founded in 1947 and WMG's oldest label, as well as its subsidiary Atco Records. This acquisition brought Neil Young into the company fold, initially as a member of Buffalo Springfield. Young would become one of Warner's longest-established artists, recording as a solo artist, and with some groups, under the Warner-owned Atlantic, Atco, and Reprise labels, as well as five albums for Geffen Records during that label's period of Warner distribution. The Geffen catalogue, now owned by Universal Music Group, represents Young's only major recordings not under WMG ownership.
In 1969, two years after being purchased by Seven Arts, the Warner Bros.-Seven Arts company was sold to the Kinney National Company. Kinney (later changing its name to Warner Communications) combined the operations of all of its record labels, and Kinney CEO Steve Ross led the group through its most successful period until his death in 1994.
An earlier attempt by Warner Bros. Records to create an in-house distribution arm in 1958 didn't materialize. So in 1969, Elektra Records boss Jac Holzman approached Atlantic's Jerry Wexler with the idea of setting up a joint distribution network for Warner, Elektra, and Atlantic. An experimental branch was established in Southern California as a possible prototype for an expanded operation.[4] Also in the summer of '69, Atlantic Records agreed to assist Warner Bros. in establishing overseas divisions, but some rivalry between the labels was still a factor —when Warner executive Phil Rose arrived in Australia to begin setting up an Australian subsidiary, he discovered that only one week earlier Atlantic had signed a new four-year distribution deal with Australian label Festival Records.
During the 1970s, the Warner group built up a commanding position in the music industry. In 1970, it bought Elektra (founded by Holzman in 1950) for $10 million, bringing in leading rock acts including The Doors, Tim Buckley, and Love and its historically significant folk archive along with the successful budget Western classical-music label Nonesuch Records. The same year, the group established its first overseas offices in Canada and Australia. By that time the "Seven Arts" moniker was dropped from the Warner Bros. name. By late 1972, US anti-trust laws had changed and the company was renamed WEA Corp. (from the first letter of each of the three main record companies; Warner Bros, Elektra, and Atlantic). Warner Bros. also started the Casablanca Records subsidiary, headed by Neil Bogart; but several years later Casablanca would become independent of Warner Bros.
Atlantic, its subsidiary Atco Records, and its affiliate Stax Records paved the way for Warner's rise to industry prominence. The purchase brought in Atlantic's lucrative back-catalogue, which included classic recordings by Ray Charles, The Drifters, The Coasters, and many more. In the mid Sixties, Atlantic/Stax released a string of landmark soul music recordings by artists including Booker T & the MGs, Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Ben E. King, and Aretha Franklin. But the sale led to Stax leaving the Atlantic fold because the new Warner owners insisted on keeping the rights to Stax recordings. However, Atlantic also moved decisively into rock and pop in the late 1960s and 1970s, signing major British and American acts including Led Zeppelin, Cream, Crosby Stills & Nash, Yes, Average White Band, Faces, Dr John, King Crimson, Bette Midler, and Foreigner.
It was soon apparent in 1969 that Atlantic/Atco president Ahmet Ertegün viewed Warner/Reprise president Mike Maitland as an antagonist. Maitland believed that, as vice-president in charge of the Warner-Seven Arts music division, he should have final say over all recording operations, and he further angered Ertegün by proposing that most of Atlantic's back-office functions (such as accounting and distribution) be combined with the existing departments at Warner/Reprise. In retrospect Ertegün clearly feared that Maitland would ultimately have more power than him and so he moved rapidly to secure his own position and remove Maitland.
Maitland had put off renegotiating the contracts of Joe Smith and Mo Ostin, the presidents of the Warner Bros. and Reprise labels, and this provided Ertegün with an effective means of undermining Matitland. When Wexler—now a major shareholder—found out about the contract issue he and Ertegün began pressuring Elliot Hyman to get Smith and Ostin under contract, ostensibly because they were worried that the two executives might move to rival labels—and in fact Ostin had received overtures from both the MGM and ABC labels.
In 1969, the wisdom of Hyman's investments was proved when Kinney National Services purchased Warner-Seven Arts for $400 million—more than eight times what Hyman had paid for Warner/Reprise and Atlantic combined. From the base of his family's funeral parlour business, Kinney president Steve Ross had rapidly built the Kinney company into a profitable conglomerate with interests that included comic publishing, the Ashley-Famous talent agency, parking lots and cleaning services. Following the takeover, Warners' music group briefly adopted the 'umbrella' name Kinney Music, because U.S. anti-trust laws at the time prevented the three labels from trading as one; once resolved, Kinney rebadged the film and music group Warner Communications Inc.
Ross was primarily focused on rebuilding the company's ailing movie division and was happy to defer to the advice of the managers of the company's record labels, since he knew that the they were generating most of the group's profits. Ertegun's campaign against Maitland began in earnest that summer. Atlantic had agreed to help Warner Bros. in its efforts to establish its labels overseas, beginning with its soon-to-be-established Warner Bros. subsidiary in Australia, but when Warner executive Phil Rose arrived in Australia, he discovered that just one week earlier Atlantic had signed a new four-year distribution deal with a rival local label, Festival Records (owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Limited). Mike Maitland complained bitterly to Kinney executive Ted Ashley, but to no avail[5] – by this time Ertegun was poised to make his move against Maitland.
As he had with Hyman, Ertegun urged Steve Ross to extend Mo Ostin and Joe Smith's contracts, a recommendation Ross was happy to accept. Ostin however had received overtures from other companies including MGM Records and ABC Records and when he met with Ertegun in January 1970 and was offered Maitland's job, he was unwilling to re-sign immediately. In response, Ertegun broadly hinted that that Maitland's days were numbered and that he, Ertegun, was about to take over the recording division.
Ostin was understandably concerned that, if he accepted the position, the Warner Bros. staff would feel that he had stabbed Maitland in the back, but his attorney convinced him that Maitland's departure was inevitable, regardless of whether or not he accepted the post (succinctly advising him, "Don't be a schmuck"). On Sunday January 25, Ted Ashley went to Maitland's house to tell him he had been dismissed, and Maitland declined the offer of a job at the movie studio. One week later, Mo Ostin was named as the new President of Warner Bros. Records, with Joe Smith as his Executive Vice-President.[6] Ertegun nominally remained the head of Atlantic, but since both Ostin and Smith owed their new positions to him, Ertegun was now the de facto head of the Warner music division. Maitland moved to MCA Records later that year and successfully consolidated MCA's labels, which he couldn't do at Warner.
In 1970, Kinney paid $10 million for Jac Holzman's Elektra Records and its sister label Nonesuch Records, and they eventually assembled the labels into a group known as Warner-Elektra-Atlantic, also called WEA for short, which was renamed Warner Music in 1991 (the word "group" was added after the formation of AOL Time Warner). With the Elektra acquisition, the next step was forming an in-house distribution arm for the co-owned labels. By this time, Warner-Reprise's frustrations with its current distributors had reached breaking point; Joe Smith (then Executive Vice-President of Warner Bros.) recalled that The Grateful Dead were breaking as a major act but the distributor was constantly out of stock of their albums. These circumstances facilitated the full establishment of the group's in-house distribution arm, initially called Kinney Records Distributing Corporation.[7]
The purchase of Elektra-Nonesuch brought in more prestigious additions to the Warner catalogue including The Doors, Judy Collins, The Stooges and Elektra's rich back catalogue of folk music as well as the renowned Nonesuch catalogue of classical and world music. Elektra founder Jac Holzman ran the label under Warners for two years, but by that time, he was by his own admission 'burnt out' after twenty years in the business. Kinney president Steve Ross subsequently appointed Holzman as part of a seven-person 'brains trust' tasked with investigating opportunities presented by new technologies, a role Holzman was eager to accept.[8]
WEA was an early champion of the heavy metal style of rock music. Several heavy metal bands, including the three major pioneers Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple were all signed to WEA's labels at least in the United States. Among the earliest American metal acts to be signed to WEA were Alice Cooper, Montrose, and Van Halen.
Up to this point the Warner owned record companies had relied on licensing deals with local record labels to manufacture, distribute and promote its products in other countries; concurrent with the establishment of its new distribution arm, the company now began establishing subsidiary divisions in other major markets, beginning with the creation of Warner Bros. Records Australia in 1970[9] and soon followed by branch offices in the UK, Europe and Japan. In July 1971 the new in-house distribution company was incorporated as Warner-Elektra-Atlantic Distributing Corp. (WEA) and branches were established in eight major US cities; Joel Friedman a one-time Billboard writer who had been the head of Warner's advertising/merchandising division in its early years, was appointed to head WEA's US domestic division, and Ahmet Ertegun's brother Nesuhi was appointed to oversee its international operations. Neshui Ertegun, a Turkish native, displayed a global perspective and independence from its U.S. counterpart by successfully promoting international acts in their target markets world wide. Ertegun headed WEA International until his retirement in 1987. A de facto committee of three senior marketing executives—Dave Glew from Atlantic, Ed Rosenblatt from Warner Bros. and Mel Posner from Elektra—oversaw the integration of each label's marketing and distribution through the new division,[7] but each label continued to operated totally independently in A&R matters and also applied their own expertise in marketing and advertising.[10]
On 1 July 1971, following the pattern set by similar joint ventures in Canada and Australia, the Warner labels entered into a partnership with the British arm of CBS Records to press and distribute Warner-Reprise product in the United Kingdom, although this was undertaken as a cooperative venture rather than a formally incorporated business partnership. The Billboard article that reported the new arrangement also noted that, despite their intense competition in the US market, CBS continued to press Warner-Reprise recordings in the USA. However the new UK arrangement was a major blow to Warner's previous British manufacturer Pye Records, for whom Warner-Reprise had been their largest account. With the scheduled addition of the UK rights to the Atlantic catalogue, which would revert to Kinney in early 1972, Billboard predicted that the Warner-CBS partnership would have a 25-30% share of the UK music market.[11]
In April 1971, thanks mainly to the influence of Ahmet Ertegun, the Warner group announced a major coup with its acquisition of the worldwide rights to The Rolling Stones' new label Rolling Stones Records, following the expiration of the band's contract with Decca Records and the acrimonious end to their business relationship with controversial former manager Allen Klein. Under the terms of the deal, Atlantic subsidiary Atco would distribute the Stones' recordings in the USA, with other territories mainly handled by Warner Bros. international divisions.[12]
One of the Warner group's wisest investments was Fleetwood Mac. The band signed to Reprise in the early 1970s after relocating to the USA and the label supported them through numerous lineup changes and several lean years during which the band's records sold relatively poorly, although they remained a popular concert attraction. Ironically, after their transfer to Warner Bros. in 1975 and the recruitment of new members Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, the group scored a major international hit with the breakthrough single "Rhiannon" and consolidated with the blockbusting albums Fleetwood Mac, Rumours and Tusk, becoming one of the most successful bands of all time.
In 1972, the Warner group acquired another rich prize, David Geffen's Asylum Records. The $7 million purchase brought in several very important acts who would prove crucial the Warner group's subsequent success, including Linda Ronstadt, The Eagles, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell and later Warren Zevon. On the downside, however, it was rumoured that Warners was soon concerned about their possible liability under the California State Labor Code because of Geffen's questionable status as both the manager of most of the Asylum acts and the head of the record label to which they were signed. The sale included the Asylum Records label and its recordings, as well as Geffen's lucrative music publishing assets and the interests in the royalties of some of the artists managed by Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts. Geffen accepted a five year contract with WCI and turned over his 75% share in the Geffen-Roberts management company to Roberts and Warners paid Geffen and Roberts 121,952 common shares worth $4,750,000 at the time of the sale, plus $400,000 in cash and a further $1.6 million in promissory notes convertible to common stock.[13]
Although it seemed a lucrative deal at the time, Geffen soon had reason to regret it. Uncharacteristically, he had greatly underestimated the value of his assets—within Asylum's first year as a Warner subsidiary, albums by Linda Ronstadt and The Eagles alone had earned more than the entire value of the Asylum sale. Geffen's discomfort was compounded by the fact that, within six months of the sale, the value of his volatile Warner shares had plummeted from $4.5 million to just $800,000. He appealed to Steve Ross to intervene, and as part of a make-good deal, Ross agreed to pay him the difference in the share value over five years. Acting on Jac Holzman's suggestion that Kinney should take Asylum from Atlantic and merge it with Elektra, Ross then appointed Geffen to run the new combined label.[14]
In 1976, Warner gained a brief early lead in digital media when it purchased the Atari computer company, and in 1981 it bought the Franklin Mint novelty company. WCI also blazed the trail in visual music with MTV, which it created and co-owned in partnership with American Express. In 1984–85, Warner rapidly divested many of these recent acquisitions, including Atari, Franklin Mint, Panavision, MTV Networks and a cosmetics business.
New signings in the late 1970s placed the Warner group in a strong position for the 1980s. A deal with Seymour Stein's Sire Records label (which Warner Bros. Records later took over) brought in several major punk and New Wave acts including The Pretenders, The Ramones and Talking Heads and, most importantly, rising star Madonna; Elektra signed The Cars and Warner Bros. signed Prince, giving WEA several of the biggest-selling acts of the decade.
WEA's labels also distributed a number of otherwise independent labels. For example, Warner Bros. distributed Straight Records, DiscReet Records, Bizarre Records, Bearsville Records, and Geffen Records (the latter was sold to MCA in 1990). Atlantic Records distributed Swan Song Records. In 1975, WEA scored a major coup by signing a distribution agreement with Island Records, which only covered the United States and select other countries. For the next 14 years (initially with Warner Bros. until 1982, then with Atlantic afterward), WEA would distribute such artists as Bob Marley, U2, Robert Palmer, Anthrax, and Tom Waits. This relationship ended when Island was sold to PolyGram in 1989.
A proposed 1983 international merger between Polygram and WEA was forbidden by both the US Federal Trade Commission and Germany's cartel office, so PolyGram's half-owner Philips then purchased a further 40% of the company from its partner Siemens, and bought the remaining shares in 1987. The same year, PolyGram divested its film and publishing operations, closed PolyGram Pictures and sold Chappell Music to Warner for US$275 million.
WEA formed WEA Manufacturing in 1986.[15] In 1988 WEA took over the German classical label Teldec and the UK Magnet Records label.
In 1989, it was announced that Warner Communications was to merge with Time Inc. to form Time Warner, a transaction that was completed in 1990. Following the merger, WEA continued acquiring independent labels, buying CGD Records (Italy) and MMG Records (Japan) in 1989.
Through the 1990s, Time Warner was the largest media company in the world, with assets in excess of US$20 billion and annual revenues in the billions of dollars; by 1991, Warner's music labels were generating sales valued at more than US$3 billion, with operating profits of $550 million[16] and by 1995 its music division dominated the US music industry with a 22% share of the domestic market.[17] Acquisitions and corporate changes within the Warner group of labels continued after the Time Warner merger—in 1990 WEA purchased French label Carrere Disques, WEA was renamed Warner Music in 1991, leading French classical label Erato (1992) and in 1993 WEA bought the Spanish DRO Group, Hungary's Magneoton label, the Swedish Telegram Records, Brazil's Continental Records and Finnish label Fazer Musiiki.
Atlantic launched two new subsidiary labels in the early 1990s: East West Records and Interscope Records. In 1995, East West absorbed Atco Records and was eventually folded into Elektra Records. In 1996, Interscope was purchased by MCA Records.
During 1992, the Warner Music Group faced one of the most serious public-relations crises in its history when a major controversy erupted over the provocative Warner Bros. recording "Cop Killer" from the self-titled album by Body Count, a heavy metal/rap fusion band led by Ice-T. Unfortunately for Warner, the song (which mentioned the Rodney King case) was issued just before the controversial acquittal of the police charged with King's beating, which sparked the 1992 Los Angeles Riots and the confluence of events put the song under the national spotlight. Complaints escalated over the summer—conservative police associations called for a boycott of Time Warner products, politicians including President George H. W. Bush denounced the label for releasing the song, Warner executives received death threats, Time Warner stockholders threatened to pull out of the company and the New Zealand police commissioner unsuccessfully tried to have the record banned there. Although Ice-T later voluntarily reissued Body Count without "Cop Killer", the furore seriously rattled Warner Music and in January 1993 the label made an undisclosed deal releasing Ice-T from his contract and returning the Body Count master tapes to him.[18]
Also in 1992, the Rhino Records label signed a distribution agreement with Atlantic Records and Time Warner bought a 50% stake in the Rhino Records label. The distribution agreement allowed Rhino to begin reissuing recordings from Atlantic's back catalogue.
In 1994, Canadian beverage giant Seagram bought a 14.5% stake in Time Warner, and the Warner publishing division—now called Warner/Chappell Music – acquired CPP/Belwin, becoming the world's largest owner of song copyrights and the world's largest publisher of printed music. In 1996, Time Warner made another dramatic expansion of its media holdings, taking over the Turner Broadcasting System, which by then included the Turner cable TV network, CNN and the screen production houses Castle Rock Entertainment and New Line Cinema, acquisitions that would bring huge profits into the Warner Group thanks to content assets like Seinfeld and the colossally successful Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
By the early 1990s, senior Warner staff like Ostin and Waronker had remained in their positions for several decades—a highly unusual situation in the cutthroat world of the American music industry—but the death of Steve Ross destabilized the Time Warner hierarchy, and over the next few years the music group was increasingly disrupted by internal power struggles, leading to a string of major executive upheavals in 1994–95, which The New York Times described as "a virtual civil war".[19]
The central conflict was between Mo Ostin and Warner Music Group chairman Robert Morgado, who had joined the Warner group in the late 1980s. Because of his political background (he had been the chief-of-staff to former New York Governor Hugh L. Carey) and his lack of music industry experience—especially compared to the widely-revered Ostin—Morgado was viewed as an outsider at Warner. Nevertheless, he gained favour with Ross and Levin and was promoted in 1985 to oversee the Warner international music division after helping the company slash costs in its computer game sector.[17]
Since his appointment as head of WBR, Ostin had always reported directly to Steve Ross and Ross's successor Gerald Levin, but in late 1993, when Ostin's contract came up for renewal, Morgado asserted his authority, insisting that Ostin should now to report directly to him. The tensions between them reached boiling point in July 1994 when Morgado appointed former Atlantic chief Doug Morris to head the Warner Music Group in the USA, a decision that many saw as a deliberate move to hasten the departure of Ostin and Elektra head Robert Krasnow.[17] Morgado's new structure was announced in August 1994 and Bob Krasnow resigned from Elektra the next day. Within days, after more than 30 years with the Warner music group and more than 20 years as President and Chairman of Warner Bros. Records, Ostin announced he would not renew his current contract and would leave Warners when it expired on 31 Dec. 1994. There was more negative publicity the following month, when top Elektra act Metallica launched a lawsuit against the label, seeking a release from their contract and ownership of their master tapes, and claiming that Morgado had refused to honour a deal they had worked out with Krasnow before he quit.
Ostin's departure marked a seismic shift in the corporate culture at WBR and the news was greeted with dismay by industry insiders and the many artists whose careers he had helped to nurture. Lenny Waronker had agreed to take over as WBR Chairman and CEO but in October 1994 he announced that would not be taking up the position; he initially said that he would remain as President of WBR[20] but by this time there was already widespread speculation that he would leave, and he did so soon after. The following year he re-joined Ostin and son Michael as joint head of the newly launched DreamWorks Records label.[citation needed]
Beginning in August 1994, Morgado alienated Morris by his clumsy handling of Warner's relationship with Interscope Records, the successful label founded by Ted Field and Jimmy Iovine and part-owned by Warner. Morgado had resisted making a decision about increasing the Warner stake in Interscope, which encouraged other companies to make overtures to the label; in response, Morgado threatened to send cease-and-desist notices to executives at several record companies, demanding that they stop approaching Interscope with buyout offers, a move that reportedly infuriated Iovine.[17]
By late 1994, Morris was gaining the upper hand over his rival and media reports claimed that Morris had moved to settle with Metallica, offering a deal that was reportedly even more generous than the one they had worked out with Krasnow. Morgado now faced a showdown with Morris, who felt he was not being allowed to run WMG as he saw fit. In October 1994, Morris and 11 other Warner executives "staged an unprecedented insurrection that nearly paralyzed the world's largest record company".[17] This led to a climactic meeting between Morris and Gerald Levin in late October, at which Morris reportedly threatened to quit if he had to continue to report to Morgado.[21]
Morgado gave in to the demand that Morris be granted autonomy to run the North American operations and he was forced to upgrade Morris' position from Chief Operating Officer to Chief Executive of Warner Music Group (USA); Morris promptly named Danny Goldberg, former president of Atlantic Records, to run WBR in defiance of Morgado, who had a different candidate in mind[22] and Levin also reduced Morgado's power to oversee Warner's mail-order record club division and its international operations.[17] Morris then brought in Sylvia Rhone and Seymour Stein to stabilize Elektra, settled the Metallica lawsuit and persuaded Levin to purchase an additional 25% of Interscope,[17] although this initiative proved short-lived.
The power struggle between Morgado and Morris reached a dramatic climax in May 1995 when Morgado was asked to resign by Gerald Levin, following a welter of complaints from executives at the three major Warner Music labels, who said that Morgado was undermining Morris' authority and damaging Warner's reputation among performers.[22] Morgado was immediately replaced by HBO chairman Michael J. Fuchs but the corporate upheavals did not end there; in late June 1995 Fuchs abruptly dismissed Doug Morris, saying that Morris had been "leading a campaign to destabilize Warner Music in an effort to seize control of the company". As Morris' strongest ally, Danny Goldberg was also under threat; he was initially told that he could stay on as President of WBR as long as he refrained from office politics and concentrate on the day-to-day management of the label, but he resigned as President of Warner Bros. Records soon after to pursue "other interests", and was replaced by WBR Vice-Chairman Russ Thyret.
Despite early success with Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg, and Morris' decision to increase Warner's stake to 50%, by the mid-1990s Interscope Records was being seen as a liability for the Warner group. Time Warner's board and investors had already been bruised by the damaging 1992 "Cop Killer" controversy and now they were faced with renewed criticism about the gangsta rap genre, in which Interscope's associate imprint Death Row Records was a key label. In mid-1995, Time Warner refused to distribute the Interscope album Dogg Food by Tha Dogg Pound, forcing the label to seek outside distribution, and in late in the year TW sold its stake in Death Row back to co-owners Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field[23] and soon after it sold off its share in Interscope to MCA Music Entertainment.
The upheaval at Warner was beneficial to its rivals, who picked up valuable executives who had left Warner. Goldberg moved over to Mercury Records; Morris joined MCA Music Entertainment Group and led its reorganization into Universal Music Group, now the world's largest record company. In November 1995, Fuchs was himself sacked by Levin, leaving the company with a reported US$60 million "golden parachute",[24] and Time Warner co-chairmen Robert A. Daly and Terry S. Semel took over the running of the music division.[25][26]
In 1998, Seagram boss Edgar Bronfman Jr. held talks aimed at merging Seagram's Universal Music, headed by Morris, with the venerable British recording company EMI, but the discussions came to nothing; Bronfman then oversaw Universal's takeover by Vivendi. WEA meanwhile continued to expand its publishing empire, buying a 90% stake in the Italian recording and music publishing group Nuova Fonit Cetra.
Also in 1998, Time Warner bought the remaining 50% of the Rhino Records label they did not own. The Rhino Records retail store in Los Angeles was not included. Rhino then began reissuing the back catalogues of the Warner/Reprise and Elektra/Asylum labels. In 1999 Rhino launched Rhino Handmade, which released limited-edition reissues of lesser-known but still-significant recordings from the WEA labels.
In 2000, Time Warner merged with leading American internet service provider AOL to create AOL Time Warner. The new conglomerate again tried (and failed) to acquire EMI, and subsequent discussions about the takeover of BMG stalled, with Bertelsmann eventually offloading BMG into a joint venture with Sony. In 2002, AOLTW further consolidated its hold over the publishing industry, buying 50% of music publisher Deston Songs from Edel music AG. By the early 2000s, however, the effects of the dot-com crash had eroded AOL's profits and stock value, and in 2003 the Time Warner board sidelined its under-performing partner by dropping AOL from its business name.[27]
Looking to reduce its debt load, Time Warner—the corporate successor to Warner Communications—sold Warner Music Group in 2004 to a group of investors led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. for US$2.6 billion. This spinoff was completed on February 27, 2004. In the 2004 transition to independent ownership, WMG hired record industry heavyweight Lyor Cohen from Universal Music Group (the result of the merger between the PolyGram and MCA label families) to attempt to reduce cost and increase performance. Contrary to common belief, Time Warner no longer retains any ownership in WMG, though it had the option to re-acquire up to 20% of WMG for three years following the closing of the transaction.[28] WMG's current logo is the former Warner Communications logo (originally designed by Saul Bass) and is used under license by its former parent, which retains full ownership and control of the Warner trademarks.[29]
The Warner music group currently trades as Warner Music Group and is structured in three main units: recording, licensing and publishing. It has thirty-seven affiliates and numerous licensees in over fifty countries, and operates on every continent (except Antarctica). Its major record labels include Atlantic, Elektra, Nonesuch, Reprise, Rhino, Sire, Teldec, Warner Bros. and Word. Its music publishing division, Warner/Chappell Music, is currently the largest music publisher in the world, with a catalogue of over one million song copyrights.
Once free of Time Warner, WMG began cutting costs by offloading loss-making or low-earning divisions. Like its rival EMI, Warner reacted to the growth of the digital music market by making a historic change, moving out of record production by closing or selling off disc-pressing plants, particularly in territories such as the USA and the Netherlands, where production costs are high. The US manufacturing operations were sold to Cinram in 2003, before the purchase from Time Warner.
In 2005, the Miami-based Warner Bros. Publications, which printed and distributed a broad selection of sheet music, books, educational material, orchestrations, arrangements and tutorials, was sold to Alfred Music Publishing, although the sale excluded the print music business of WMG's Word Music (church hymnals, choral music and associated instrumental music).
On May 3, 2006, WMG apparently rejected a buyout offer from EMI.[30] Then WMG offered to buy EMI and it also rejected the offer. In August 2007, EMI was purchased by Terra Firma Capital Partners.[31] Talk of a possible WMG acquisition of EMI was fanned once again in 2009 after WMG executed a bond offering for $1.1 billion, which brought to light WMG's relatively strong financial position, which was contrasted with the weakened and debt-laden state of EMI.[32] The same year WMG acquired Rykodisc and Roadrunner Records.
On December 27, 2007, Warner announced that it would sell digital music without Digital Rights Management through AmazonMP3, making it the third major label to do so.[33] In 2008, the New York Times reported that WMG's Atlantic Records became the first major record label to generate more than half of its music sales in the U.S. from digital products.[34] In 2010, Fast Company magazine detailed the company's transformation efforts in its recorded music division, where it has redefined the relationships it has with artists and diversified its revenue streams through its expansion into growing areas of the music business [35]
In 2007, Warner/Chappell sent a Cease and Desist letter to Walter Ritter, the creator of a freeware program called PearLyrics that was used to find lyrics of songs using the internet. In response to wide negative publicity, it subsequently apologized and offered to cooperate with him on the application. However, no subsequent overtures seem to have been made, and the software remains unavailable.[36]
WMG was the first major media company to form a strategic relationship with YouTube, effectively embracing a business model around user-generated content. The arrangement with YouTube required that royalties be paid based on the number of views that videos featuring music from WMG artists received. However in December 2008, negotiations between the two companies broke down, and as a result, clips on YouTube featuring WMG music recordings have had their audio removed or blocked completely and replaced with a message indicating copyright infringement.
In 2008, WMG, Universal Music, Sony BMG, EMI, and several Indies (via Merlin) together with the Orchard licensed their full back catalogs to the new concept of Spotify in order to fight piracy with a legal way of music streaming.[37] However, in February 2010, WMG announced that it would no longer be licensing music for Spotify and other free streaming services, claiming that they were "clearly not positive for the industry".[38]
In 2009, Warner Music took over its South-East Asian and Korean distributions of EMI audio and video products, including newer domestic releases, which was announced September 2008. The two companies already enjoy a successful partnership in India, the Middle East and North Africa, where EMI has marketed and distributed Warner Music’s physical product since 2005.
Warner formed a partnership with MTV Networks in June 2010 that allows MTVN to exclusively sell ads on WMG's premium content. In turn, views of WMG videos will be counted as views for MTVN.[39] As a result of the alliance, MTV Networks overtook Vevo as the top online music video-sharing network.[40]
In May, 2011, the company announced its sale to Access Industries for US$3.3 billion in cash.[41] The price represented $8.25 a share, a 34% premium over the six-month-before average price and a 4% premium over the day-before price but a drop of 70+% since 2007.[42] Access is a conglomerate controlled by Russian-born billionaire Len Blavatnik. "The deal cap[ped] a three-month sale process in which as many as 10 bidders vied" for the company, according to the Wall Street Journal. Blavatnik was a former board member and still-substantial shareholder of WMG at the time of the purchase announcement. Runners-up in the bidding were Los Angeles-based brothers Tom and Alec Gores.[43] Another report valued the sale at US$1.3 billion plus the assumption of US$2 billion of debt, for the same total. This report said cash of US$320 million would change hands in the transaction and that, while further job cuts were likely, CEO Bronfman would continue in his post. The investment group, which has owned the company since 2004 was said to have received a profitable return on its investment, and that Blavatnik's current stake in the company was about 2 percent. Other unsuccessful bidders included Ron Burkle and No. 2 music company Sony Corp., and Sony and Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group, ranked No. 1, were said to be prospective buyers of parts of WMG going forward.[44] The purchase was completed on July 20, 2011 and the company became private.[2]
In August 2011, Stephen Cooper became CEO of Warner Music Group replacing Edgar Bronfman Jr., who became Chairman of the company.[45] Edgar Bronfman stepped down as Chairman of the company on January 31, 2012.[46]
It was announced on October 31, 2011 that Warner Music Group was once again in talks to acquire EMI's recorded music business, according to The Washington Post. The goal of WMG was to combine with EMI and form a company that would effectively compete with 2 other largest music groups: Universal and Sony Music Entertainment. Bloomberg News was reporting that Warner Music had submitted a bid of around $2 billion. However, Universal ended up being the one buying EMI.
Warner/Chappell Music dates back to 1811 and the creation of Chappell & Company, a sheet music and instrument merchant in London. In 1929, Jack Warner, president of Warner Bros. Pictures Inc., founded Music Publishers Holding Company (MPHC) to acquire music copyrights as a means of providing inexpensive music for films and, in 1987, Warner Bros.' corporate parent, Warner Communications, acquired Chappell & Company. Its printed music operation, Warner Bros. Publications, was sold to Alfred Publishing on June 1, 2005.
Among the historic compositions of which the publishing rights are controlled by WMG are the works of Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. In the 1930s and 1940s, Chappell Music also ran a profitable orchestration division for Broadway musicals, with house arrangers of the caliber of Robert Russell Bennett, Don Walker, Ted Royal and Hans Spialek. Between them they had orchestrated 90 percent of the productions seen up to the war years.[47]
WMG's Rhino Entertainment reissues recordings from the WMG vaults and their aforementioned Rhino Handmade sublabel issues limited edition albums of lesser known and cult status recordings from the WMG vaults.
In December 2008, negotiations between WMG and YouTube broke down.[48] As a result, Warner Music Group has continuously blocked or muted videos on YouTube that feature music recordings belonging to its labels or to its publishing arm, Warner/Chappell Music, citing copyright infringement but many weren't even signed with WMG. Although the majority of the blocked videos are not official content of WMG, they include WMG recordings in a minor way normally covered by Fair Use. Many of these claims to copyright violation not only affect artists who are under record labels owned or distributed by WMG, but also to artists who have songs published and controlled by Warner/Chappell, regardless of label.[citation needed] This makes the association between non-WMG artists and WMG much less apparent to YouTube users as music publishers, unlike record labels, generally do not brand themselves to their recordings.[citation needed] Muting also occurred to clips featuring people covering a song by a WMG artist or of a song controlled by Warner/Chappell.[citation needed] The response from YouTube users on affected videos has been overwhelmingly negative towards WMG.[49] Notably, Seattle band Death Cab for Cutie was affected when music videos streamed on their website from their Atlantic Records albums Plans and Narrow Stairs were removed by WMG.[50] The issue and opinion of WMG has since worsened when they began removing and muting songs that are covers rather than just recordings.
With the rise of music video games, CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. complained that "The amount being paid to the music industry, even though [these] games are entirely dependent on the content we own and control, is far too small", and he concluded that "we will not license to those games." However, if they found new and better ways to promote music and new ways to make profit, this would not be a problem.[51] A Wired magazine article claimed that Rock Band publisher MTV Games has boycotted WMG as a result, but both parties have claimed this to be untrue. WMG has not made any new content deals with MTV Games since August 2008.[52] This had led to a backlash against WMG by fans of these games.
Many anti-Warner videos have appeared on YouTube from users due to outrage over their videos being blocked, muted or removed by WMG. There have been provisions by some YouTube users to boycott and sometimes ban any material exhibited on YouTube specifically by Warner Music Group, as well as former owners Time Warner and Warner Bros. In some videos that have music playing in the background, YouTube users intentionally make loud noises or speak very loudly so the music in the background cannot be heard, and therefore WMG has less grounds to mute on.[53] Online rallies, protests and organizations have been formed against WMG, and on multiple occasions YouTube users have hosted online petitions demanding that Warner Music Group permanently withdraw its control and censorships from YouTube.[citation needed]
On September 21, 2009, CNET reported that Warner Music Group had possibly struck a new deal with YouTube and WMG videos may start appearing back on YouTube within weeks.[54] It was confirmed on Warner Music Group News and the YouTube Blog on September 29, 2009 that YouTube and Warner Music Group were in a multi-year deal with the two.[55][56] In January 2010, there have been new reports of YouTube accounts containing covered songs completely closed due to intervention by WMG.[57][58] This following a contest by Red Hot Chili Peppers bass player Michael "Flea" Balzary to cover their songs. An end solution seems not to have been found as of February 1, 2012.
In February 2010, CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. said that Warner Music Group will stop licensing its songs to free music streaming services. He said that the focus will be on services that require payment. However, this has predictably only created an increase of the corporation's boycott and lack of respect.[59]
When WMG took over Roadrunner Records, the label refused to release an album by Delain, supposedly because the genre of the record was metal[60]. This caused a major uproar among fans of the band.
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A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music, typically known by a distinct name. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families (such as piano, strings, and wind instruments) or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles. In jazz ensembles, the instruments typically include wind instruments (one or more saxophones, trumpets, etc.), one or two chordal "comping" instruments (electric guitar, piano, or organ), a bass instrument (electric bass guitar or double bass), and a drummer or percussionist. In rock ensembles, usually called rock bands, there are usually guitars and keyboards (piano, electric piano, Hammond organ, synthesizer, etc.) and a rhythm section made up of a bass guitar and drum kit.
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In Western Art music, commonly referred to as classical music, smaller ensembles are called chamber music ensembles. The terms duet, trio, quartet, quintet, sextet, septet, octet, nonet and dectet are used to describe groups of two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten musicians, respectively. A group of eleven musicians, such as found in The Carnival of the Animals, is called either a "hendectet" or an "undectet" (see Latin numerical prefixes). A solo is not an ensemble because it only contains one musician.
A string quartet usually consists of two violins, a viola and a cello. An upper string quartet features two violins and two violas. A lower string quartet features 1 viola, 2 cellos and a double bass.
A woodwind quartet usually features a clarinet, bassoon, flute and oboe. A brass quartet features 2 trumpets, a trombone and a tuba. A wind quartet features a horn, flute, oboe and bassoon. A lower wind quartet features a tuba, a bassoon, a bass clarinet and a trombone.
The string quintet is a common type of group. It is similar to the string quartet, but with two violas, two cellos, or more rarely, the addition of a double bass. Terms such as "piano quintet" or "clarinet quintet" frequently refer to a string quartet plus a fifth instrument. Thus, a piano quintet is usually a string quartet plus a piano. Mozart's Clarinet Quintet is similarly a piece written for an ensemble consisting of 2 violins, a viola, a cello and a clarinet, the last being the exceptional addition to a "normal" string quartet.
Other common groupings in classical music are the woodwind quintet, usually consisting of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn and the brass quintet, consisting of two trumpets, one french horn, a trombone and a tuba.
Classical chamber ensembles for more than six musicians are occasionally used, such as septets (seven musicians), octets (eight musicians), or nonets (nine musicians). However, in many cases a larger classical group is referred to as an orchestra of some type. A small orchestra with fifteen to thirty members (violins, violas, cellos, double basses, and several woodwind or brass instruments) is called a chamber orchestra In the American education system, sitting groups are known as wind ensembles or concert bands (to differentiate from marching bands). Music is similar to that of a pops orchestra, orchestrated for woodwinds, brass, and percussion. A sinfonietta usually denotes a somewhat smaller orchestra (though still not a chamber orchestra). Larger orchestras are called symphony orchestras or philharmonic orchestras.[1]
A pops orchestra is an orchestra that mainly performs light classical music (often in abbreviated, simplified arrangements) and orchestral arrangements and medleys of popular jazz, music theater, or pop music songs. A string orchestra has only strings, i.e., violins, violas, cellos and basses.
A symphony orchestra is an ensemble usually comprising at least thirty musicians; the number of players is typically between seventy and ninety-five and may exceed one hundred. A symphony orchestra is divided into families of instruments. In the string family, there are sections of violins (I and II), violas, cellos, and basses. The winds consist of the woodwind family of instruments (flutes and piccolo, oboes and English horn, clarinets [made up of the E♭ clarinet, clarinet, and bass clarinet], saxophones, and bassoons [often including contrabassoon]) and the brass family (horns, trumpets, trombones, euphonium and tuba). The percussion family includes the timpani, bass drum, snare drum, and any other percussion instruments called for in a score (e.g., triangle, glockenspiel, chimes, cymbals, wood blocks).
When orchestras are performing baroque music (from the 17th century and early 18th century), they may also use a harpsichord or pipe organ. When orchestras are performing Romantic-era music (from the 19th century), they may also use harps or unusual instruments such as the wind machine. When orchestras are performing music from the 20th century or the 21st century, occasionally instruments such as electric guitar, theremin, or even an electronic synthesizer may be used.
In jazz, there are several types of trios. One type of jazz trio is formed with a piano player, a bass player and a drummer. Another type of jazz trio that became popular in the 1950s and 1960s is the organ trio, which is composed of a Hammond organ player, a drummer, and a third instrumentalist (either a saxophone player or an electric jazz guitarist). In organ trios, the Hammond organ player performs the bass line on the organ bass pedals while simultaneously playing chords or lead lines on the keyboard manuals. Other types of trios include the "drummer-less" trio, which consists of a piano player, a double bassist, and a horn (saxophone or trumpet) or guitar player; and the jazz trio with a horn player (saxophone or trumpet), double bass player, and a drummer. In the latter type of trio, the lack of a chordal instrument means that the horn player and the bassist have to imply the changing harmonies with their improvised lines.
Jazz quartets typically add a horn (the generic jazz name for saxophones, trombones, trumpets, or any other wind instrument commonly associated with jazz) to one of the jazz trios described above. Slightly larger jazz ensembles, such as quintets (five instruments) or sextets (six instruments) typically add other soloing instruments to the basic quartet formation, such as different types of saxophones (e.g., alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, etc.) or an additional chordal instrument.
The lineup of larger jazz ensembles can vary considerably, depending on the style of jazz being performed. In a 1920s-style dixieland jazz band, a larger ensemble would be formed by adding a banjo player, woodwind instruments, as with the clarinet, or additional horns (saxophones, trumpets, trombones) to one of the smaller groups. In a 1940s-style Swing big band, a larger ensemble is formed by adding "sections" of like instruments, such as a saxophone section and a trumpet section, which perform arranged "horn lines" to accompany the ensemble. In a 1970s-style jazz fusion ensemble, a larger ensemble is often formed by adding additional percussionists or sometimes a saxophone player would "double" or "triple" meaning that they would also be proficient at the clarinet, flute or both. Also by the addition of soloing instruments.
Two-member rock and pop bands are relatively rare, because of the difficulty in providing all of the musical elements which are part of the rock or pop sound (vocals, chords, bass lines, and percussion or drumming) with trios or quartets. Two-member rock and pop bands typically omit one of these musical elements. In many cases, two-member bands will omit a drummer, since guitars, bass guitars, and keyboards can all be used to provide a rhythmic pulse. Examples of two-member bands are The Lightning Strikers, Local H, Pet Shop Boys, Hella, Flight of the Conchords, Death from Above 1979, Francis Xavier, I Set My Friends On Fire, Middle Class Rut, No Age, The Pity Party, Little Fish (band), The White Stripes, Big Business, Two Gallants, Lightning Bolt, The Ting Tings, The Black Box Revelation, Satyricon, The Black Keys, Panic! At the Disco, Tenacious D, They Might Be Giants (until 1992), Simon and Garfunkel, Hall & Oates, and The Pack A.D..
When electronic sequencers became widely available in the 1980s, this made it easier for two-member bands to add in musical elements that the two band members were not able to perform. Sequencers allowed bands to pre-program some elements of their performance, such as an electronic drum part and a synth-bass line. Two-member pop music bands such as Soft Cell, Blancmange and Yazoo used pre-programmed sequencers. Other pop bands from the 1980s which were ostensibly fronted by two performers, such as Wham! and Tears for Fears, were not actually two-piece ensembles, because other instrumental musicians were used "behind the scenes" to fill out the sound.
Two-piece bands in rock music are quite rare. However, starting in the 2000s, blues-influenced rock bands such as The White Stripes and The Black Keys utilized a guitar and drums scheme. However, this is predated by the Flat Duo Jets from the '80s. Death From Above 1979 featured a drummer and bass guitarist. Tenacious D is a two-guitar band; One Day as a Lion and The Dresden Dolls both feature a keyboardist and a drummer. The band Welk consists of a two-man psychedelic flute band, with the occasional synthesizer. Two-person bands have grown in popularity in experimental rock music. W.A.S.P. guitarist Doug Blair is also known for his work in the two-piece progressive rock band signal2noise, where he manages to be the lead guitarist and bassist at the same time, thanks to a special custom instrument he invented (an electric guitar with five regular guitar strings paired with three bass guitar strings). Heisenflei of Los Angeles duo The Pity Party plays drums, keyboards, and sings simultaneously. Providence-based Lightning Bolt is a two-member band. Bassist Brian Gibson augments his playing with delay pedals, pitch shifters, looping devices and other pedals, occasionally creating harmony. Local H, No Age, Blood Red Shoes, PS I Love You, The Redmond Barry's and Warship are other prominent two-person experimental rock bands.
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The smallest ensemble that is commonly used in rock music is the trio format. In a hard rock or blues-rock band, or heavy metal rock group, a "power trio" format is often used, which consists of an electric guitar player, an electric bass guitar player and a drummer, and typically one or more of these musicians also sing (sometimes all three members will sing, e.g. Bee Gees or Alkaline Trio). Some well-known power trios with the guitarist on lead vocals are The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Nirvana, Green Day, Violent Femmes, Gov't Mule, The Minutemen, Triumph, Shellac, Sublime, Chevelle, Muse, Short Stack, ZZ Top, and the original lineup of Wolfmother.[2] A handful of others with the bassist on vocals include Primus, Motörhead, The Police, The Melvins, Blue Cheer, Dinosaur Junior, Rush, The Presidents of the United States of America, Venom, and Cream. Some power trios feature two lead vocalists, both of which play their respective instruments. For example, in the band blink-182 vocals are split between bassist Mark Hoppus and guitarist Tom DeLonge.
An alternative to the power trio are organ trios formed with an electric guitarist, a drummer and a keyboardist. Although organ trios are most commonly associated with 1950s and 1960s jazz organ trio groups such as those led by organist Jimmy Smith, there are also organ trios in rock-oriented styles, such as jazz-rock fusion and Grateful Dead-influenced jam bands such as Medeski Martin & Wood. In organ trios, the keyboard player typically plays a Hammond organ or similar instrument, which permits the keyboard player to perform bass lines, chords, and lead lines. A variant of the organ trio are trios formed with an electric bassist, a drummer and an electronic keyboardist (playing synthesizers) such as the progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Atomic Rooster. Another variation is to have a vocalist, a guitarist and a drummer, an example being Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Another variation is two guitars, a bassist, and a drum machine, examples including Magic Wands and Big Black.
A power trio with the guitarist on lead vocals is popular record company lineup, as the guitarist and singer will usually be the songwriter. Therefore you only have to present one face to the public, the backing band is easy to house, and the songs will likely stay simple and accessible as the frontman will have to sing and play guitar at the same time.
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The four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. Before the development of the electronic keyboard, the configuration was typically two guitarists (one lead guitarist and one rhythm guitarist, with the latter on vocals), a bassist (typically the electric bass guitar) and a drummer (e.g. The Beatles, KISS, Foo Fighters, Weezer, Metallica, The Clash, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Kinks, The Fray, Sonic Youth, The Smashing Pumpkins, Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, Against Me!, CN Blue, and the new lineup of Wolfmother[2]). This is popular with bands for its versatility. However, it has been noted[by whom?] the main complaint is that it takes too much effort to keep so many instruments in tune when they are played by every member of the band.
Another common formation was a vocalist, electric guitarist, bass guitarist, and a drummer (e.g.The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Ramones, Sex Pistols, Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., Blur, The Smiths, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Stone Roses, Creed, Black Sabbath, Van Halen, Rage Against the Machine, The Stooges, Joy Division, U2 and Coldplay). Instrumentally, these bands can be considered as trios. This format is popular with new bands, as there are only two instruments that need tuning, the line-and-counterpoint formula prevalent with their material is easy to learn, four members are commonplace to work with, the roles are clearly defined and generally are: melody line, rhythm section with counterpoint melody, and vocals on top.
Some bands, such as My Chemical Romance, had previously been a five piece, but omitted a drummer after disagreements with the band, and now have a line up featuring a lead vocalist, lead guitarist, rhythm guitarist, and a bassist. However, the band has a touring drummer who is not an official band member. A similar scenario is with the band Phoenix, who follow the same format.
In some early rock bands, keyboardists were used, performing on piano (e.g. The Seeds and The Doors) with a guitarist, singer, drummer and keyboardist. Some bands will have a guitarist, bassist, drummer, and keyboard player (for example, Small Faces, King Crimson, The Guess Who, Pink Floyd, Queen, Coldplay, The Killers, The Monkees and Blind Faith).
Some bands will have the bassist on lead vocals, such as Thin Lizzy, The Chameleons, Pink Floyd, NOFX, +44, Slayer, The All-American Rejects or even the lead guitarist, such as Dire Straits and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Some bands, such as The Beatles, have a lead guitarist, a rhythm guitarist and a bassist that all sing lead and backing vocals, that also play keyboards regularly, as well as a drummer. Others, such as The Four Seasons, have a lead vocalist, a lead guitarist, a keyboard player, and a bassist, with the drummer not being a member of the band.
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Five-piece bands have existed in rock music since early times. The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, AC/DC, Oasis, Pearl Jam, Guns N' Roses, Radiohead, The Strokes, Styx, The Yardbirds, F.T. Island, 311 and The Hives are examples of the common vocalist, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass, and drums lineup. An alternative to the five-member lineup replaces the rhythm guitarist with a keyboard–synthesizer player (examples being the bands Journey, Nightwish, Maroon 5, Dream Theater, Genesis, Jethro Tull, The Zombies, The Animals, Bon Jovi, Yes, Snow Patrol, Fleetwood Mac, Marilyn Manson and Deep Purple, all of which consist of a vocalist, guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, and a drummer) or with a turntablist such as Hed PE, Incubus or Limp Bizkit. Alternatives include a keyboardist, guitarist, drummer, bassist, and saxophonist, such as The Sonics and Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. Another alternative is three guitarists, a bassist and a drummer, such as Radiohead, Foo Fighters (2010-today) and The Byrds. Some five-person bands feature two guitarists, a keyboardist, a bassist and a drummer, with one or more of these musicians (typically one of the guitarists) handling lead vocals on top of their instrument (examples being Children of Bodom, Sturm und Drang, Relient K and Ensiferum). In some cases, typically in cover bands, one musician plays either rhythm guitar or keyboards, depending on the song (one notable band being Firewind, with Bob Katsionis handling this particular role).
Other times, the vocalist will provide another musical voice to the table, most commonly a harmonica; Mick Jagger, for example, played harmonica and percussion instruments like maracas and tambourine. Ozzy Osbourne was also known to play the harmonica on some occasions (i.e. "The Wizard" by Black Sabbath). Vocalist Robert Brown of lesser known steampunk band Abney Park plays harmonica, accordion, and darbuka in addition to mandolin.
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Larger bands have long been a part of rock and pop music, in part due to the influence of the "singer accompanied with orchestra" model inherited from popular big-band jazz and swing and popularized by Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald.To create larger ensembles, rock bands often add an additional guitarist, an additional keyboardist, additional percussionists or second drummer, an entire horn section, and even a flutist. An example of a six-member rock band is Linkin Park with a lead vocalist, rap vocalist/keyboardist, lead guitarist, bassist, turntablist, and drummer. The American heavy metal band Slipknot is composed of nine members, with a vocalist, two guitarists, a drummer, a bassist, two custom percussionists, a turntablist, and a sampler.
In larger groups (such as The Band), instrumentalists could play multiple instruments, which enabled the ensemble to create a wider variety of instrument combinations. More modern examples of such a band are Arcade Fire and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. More rarely, rock or pop groups will be accompanied in concerts by a full or partial symphony orchestra, where lush string-orchestra arrangements are used to flesh out the sound of slow ballads.
Rhys Chatham and Glenn Branca started doing performances in the late 70s with orchestras consisting of ten to hundred (Branca) and even four hundred guitars (Chatham). Boredoms did performances with 77 drummers and 88 drummers in 2007 and 2008.[citation needed]
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The above line-up was used by Bon Jovi during the Lost Highway tour.[citation needed]
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Sung dramas such as operas and musicals usually have numbers where several of the principals are singing together, either on their own or with the chorus. Such numbers (duets, trios, etc.) are also referred to as 'ensembles'.
In the 20th century, the wind symphony or wind ensemble became popular, especially in academic circles. A wind ensemble consists entirely of wind instruments and percussion instruments, but may also include a double bass. Schools from elementary level onward often have a school band program which is usually centered around its wind ensemble, often known as a concert band.
A choir is a group of voices. By analogy, sometimes a group of similar instruments in a symphony orchestra are referred to as a choir. For example, the woodwind instruments of a symphony orchestra could be called the woodwind choir.
A group that plays popular music or military music is usually called a band. A group that plays while marching on a football field, without being a marching band, is called a drum and bugle corps.[awkward] These bands perform a wide range of music, ranging from arrangements of jazz orchestral, or popular music to military-style marches. Drum corps perform on brass and percussion instruments only. Some corps perform on bugles in the key of G, while others perform on brass instruments in multiple keys, depending on the group. Drum and Bugle Corps incorporate costumes, hats, and pageantry in their performances.
Other band types include:
Bee Gees | |
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![]() The Bee Gees performing on Dutch television in 1968. From left to right: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb |
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Background information | |
Genres | Pop, pop rock, disco, blue-eyed soul, soft rock |
Years active | 1958–2003 2009–2012 |
Labels | RSO, Warner Bros., Festival, Polydor, Atco |
Website | www.beegees.com |
Past members | |
Barry Gibb Robin Gibb Maurice Gibb Colin Petersen Vince Melouney Geoff Bridgford Alan Kendall Dennis Bryon Blue Weaver |
The Bee Gees were a musical group founded in 1958. The group's line-up consisted of brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were successful for most of their decades of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s/early 1970s, and as prominent performers of the disco music era in the late 1970s.
The group sang three-part tight harmonies that were instantly recognisable; Robin's clear vibrato lead was a hallmark of their earlier hits, while Barry's R&B falsetto became their signature sound during the late 1970s and 1980s. The brothers wrote all of their own hits, as well as writing and producing several major hits for other artists.
Born in the Isle of Man to English parents, the Gibb brothers lived their first few years in Chorlton, Manchester, England, then moved in the late 1950s to Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia, where they began their musical careers.[1] After achieving their first chart success in Australia with "Spicks and Specks" (their 12th single), they returned to the United Kingdom in January 1967 where producer Robert Stigwood began promoting them to a worldwide audience.
It has been estimated that the Bee Gees' career record sales total more than 220 million,[2] ranking them among the best-selling music artists of all time. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997;[3] the presenter of the award to "Britain's first family of harmony" was Brian Wilson, historical leader of the Beach Boys, a "family act" also featuring three harmonising brothers.[4] The Bee Gees' Hall of Fame citation says "Only Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks and Paul McCartney have outsold the Bee Gees".[3]
Following Maurice's sudden death in January 2003, Barry and Robin Gibb retired the group's name after 45 years of activity. In 2009, however, Robin announced that he and Barry had agreed that the Bee Gees would re-form and perform again.[5] Robin died in May 2012 after a prolonged bout of cancer.[6]
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Barry Gibb (b. 1946) and fraternal twin brothers Robin (1949–2012) and Maurice Gibb (1949–2003) were born on the Isle of Man, but the family returned to father Hugh Gibb's home town of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, England where they went to Oswald Road Primary School, in the early 1950s where the boys began to sing in harmony. The story is told that they were going to lip sync to a record in the local Gaumont cinema (as other children had done on previous weeks) and as they were running to the theatre, the heavy 78-RPM record broke. The brothers had to sing live and received such a positive response from the audience that they decided to pursue a singing career.[7]
In 1958 the Gibb family, including infant brother, Andy (1958–1988), emigrated to Redcliffe in Queensland, Australia. The young brothers began performing where they could to raise pocket money. First called the Rattlesnakes, later Wee Johnny Hayes & the Bluecats, they were introduced to radio DJ Bill Gates by racetrack promoter Bill Goode (who saw them perform at Brisbane's Speedway Circuit). Gates renamed them the "Bee Gees" after his and Goode's initials – thus the name was not specifically a reference to "Brothers Gibb", despite popular belief.[8]
By 1960 the Bee Gees were featured on television shows. In the next few years they began working regularly at resorts on the Queensland coast. For his songwriting, Barry sparked the interest of Australian star Col Joye, who helped them get a record deal with Festival Records subsidiary, Leedon Records, in 1963 under the name "Bee Gees." The three released two or three singles a year, while Barry supplied additional songs to other Australian artists. From 1963 to 1966 the Gibb family lived at 171 Bunnerong Road, Maroubra in Sydney.[9]
A minor hit in 1965, "Wine and Women", led to the group's first LP The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs. By 1966 Festival was, however, on the verge of dropping them from the Leedon roster because of their perceived lack of commercial success. It was at this time that they met American-born songwriter, producer and entrepreneur, Nat Kipner, who had just been appointed A&R manager of a new independent label, Spin Records. Kipner briefly took over as the group's manager and successfully negotiated their transfer to Spin in exchange for Festival being granted the Australian distribution rights to the group's recordings.[citation needed]
Through Kipner the Bee Gees met engineer-producer, Ossie Byrne. He produced (or co-produced with Kipner) many of the earlier Spin recordings, most of which were cut at his own small self-built St Clair Studio in the Sydney suburb of Hurstville. Byrne gave the Gibb brothers virtually unlimited access to St Clair Studio over a period of several months in mid-1966. The group later acknowledged that this enabled them to greatly improve their skills as recording artists. During this productive time they recorded a large batch of original material—including the song that would become their first major hit, "Spicks and Specks" (on which Byrne played the trumpet coda) – as well as cover versions of current hits by overseas acts such as The Beatles. They regularly collaborated with other local musicians, including members of beat band Steve & The Board, led by Steve Kipner, Nat's teenage son.
Frustrated by their lack of success, the Gibbs decided to return to England in late 1966. Ossie Byrne travelled with them, and Colin Petersen, who eventually became the group's drummer, followed soon after. While at sea in January 1967, they learned that "Spicks and Specks" had been awarded Best Single of the Year by Go-Set, Australia's most popular and influential music newspaper.
Before their departure from Australia to England, Hugh Gibb sent demos to Brian Epstein who managed The Beatles and was director of NEMS, a British music store and promoter. Brian Epstein had passed the demo tapes to Robert Stigwood, who had recently joined NEMS. After an audition with Stigwood in February 1967, the Bee Gees were signed to a five-year contract whereby Polydor Records would be their record label in the United Kingdom and ATCO Records would be the United States distributor. Work quickly began on the group's first international album, and Robert Stigwood launched a promotional campaign to coincide with its release.
Stigwood proclaimed that the Bee Gees were "The Most Significant New Talent Of 1967" and thus began the immediate comparison to The Beatles.[10] Their second British single (their first UK 45 rpm issued was "Spicks and Specks"), "New York Mining Disaster 1941", was issued to radio stations with a blank white label listing only the song title. Some DJs immediately assumed this was a new single by The Beatles and started playing the song in heavy rotation. This helped the song climb into the Top 20 in both the United Kingdom and the United States. No such chicanery was needed to boost the Bee Gees' second single, "To Love Somebody", into the US Top 20. Originally written for Otis Redding, "To Love Somebody" was a soulful ballad sung by Barry, which has since become a pop standard covered by hundreds of artists including Gram Parsons, Rod Stewart, Bonnie Tyler, Janis Joplin, The Animals, Nina Simone, Jimmy Somerville and Michael Bolton. Another single, "Holiday", was released in the United States, peaking at No. 16. The parent album, Bee Gees 1st (their first internationally), peaked at No. 7 in the United States and No. 8 in the United Kingdom.
Following the success of Bee Gees 1st, the band (which now consisted of Barry on rhythm guitar, Maurice on bass, Vince Melouney on lead guitar and Colin Petersen on drums),.[10] began work on the act's second album. Released in late 1967, Horizontal repeated the success of their first album, featuring the No. 1 UK single "Massachusetts" (a No. 11 US hit), and the No. 7 UK single "World". The sound of the album Horizontal had a more "rock" sound than their previous release, though ballads like "And The Sun Will Shine" and "Really And Sincerely" were also prominent. The Horizontal album reached No. 12 in the US, and No. 16 in the UK promoting the record, the Bee Gees made their first appearances in America, playing live concerts and television shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show and Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. Two more singles followed in early 1968, the ballad "Words" (No. 15 US, No. 8 UK) and the double A-sided single "Jumbo" b/w "The Singer Sang His Song". "Jumbo" was the Bee Gees' least successful single to date only reaching No. 57 in the US, and No. 25 in the UK. The Bee Gees felt that "The Singer Sang His Song" was the stronger of the two sides, an opinion shared by listeners in the Netherlands, who made it a No. 3 hit. Further Bee Gees chart singles followed: "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" (No. 8 US, No. 1 UK) and "I Started A Joke" (No. 6 US), both culled from the band's third album Idea. Idea was another Top 20 album in the US (No. 17) and the UK (No. 4). Following the tour and TV special to promote the album, Vince Melouney left the group, feeling that he wanted to play more of a blues style music than the Gibbs were writing. Melouney did achieve one feat while with the Bee Gees—his composition "Such A Shame" (from Idea) is the only song on any Bee Gees album not written by a Gibb brother.
By 1969, the cracks began to show within the group. Robin began to feel that Stigwood had been favouring Barry as the frontman. Their next album, which was to have been a concept album called Masterpeace, evolved into the double-album Odessa. Most rock critics felt this was the best Bee Gees album of the '60s, with its progressive rock feel on the title track, the country-flavoured "Marley Purt Drive" and "Give Your Best", and signature ballads such as "Melody Fair" and "First of May"; the last of which became the only single from the album, and was a minor hit. Feeling that the flipside, "Lamplight" should have been the A-side, Robin quit the group in mid-1969 and launched a solo career. Robin Gibb saw brief success in Europe with the No. 2 hit "Saved By The Bell" and the album Robin's Reign. Barry and Maurice continued as the Bee Gees, even recruiting their sister Lesley to appear with them on stage.
The first of many Bee Gees compilations, Best of Bee Gees was released, featuring the non-LP single "Words" plus the Australian hit "Spicks and Specks" The CD release replaces "Spicks and Specks" with another non-LP single "Tomorrow Tomorrow", because Polydor could no longer secure the rights to the Australian track. "Tomorrow Tomorrow" was a moderate hit in the UK reaching No. 23, but stalled at No. 54 in the US. The compilation reached the Top Ten in both the US and the UK.
While Robin was off on his own, Barry, Maurice, and Colin continued on as the Bee Gees, recording their next album, Cucumber Castle. There was also a TV special filmed to accompany the album, which aired on the BBC in 1971. Colin Petersen played drums on the tracks recorded for the album, but was fired from the group after filming began and his parts were edited out of the final cut of the film. After Colin was fired, Australian drummer Geoff Bridgford was recruited to complete the recording of songs for Cucumber Castle. The leadoff single, "Don't Forget to Remember" was a big hit in the UK reaching No. 2, but a disappointment in the US, only reaching No. 73. The next 2 singles, "I.O.I.O." and "If I Only Had My Mind on Something Else" barely scraped the charts, and following the release of the album, Barry and Maurice parted ways. It seemed that the Bee Gees were finished. Barry recorded a solo album which never saw official release, though "I'll Kiss Your Memory" was released as a single, without much interest. Meanwhile, Maurice released the single "Railroad", and starred in the West End musical Sing A Rude Song.
The three brothers reunited in the later part of 1970 penning a series of songs about heartache and loneliness. During this period they became a four piece band joined again by Australian drummer Geoff Bridgford who after playing on the 2 Years On album and Trafalgar album became the last non-Gibb brother to be a member of the Bee Gees. Although they had lost traction on the British charts, the Bee Gees hit No. 3 in America with "Lonely Days" (from the reunion LP 2 Years On) and had their first US No. 1 with "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" (from Trafalgar). The trio's talents were included in the soundtrack for the 1971 film Melody as they performed several songs for the title. In 1972, they hit No. 16 in America with the single "My World" and "Run To Me" from the LP To Whom It May Concern; the latter also returned them to the British top ten for the first time in three years.
By 1973, however, the Bee Gees were in a rut. The album, Life in a Tin Can, released on RSO Records and its lead-off single, "Saw a New Morning," sold poorly with the single peaking at No. 94. This was followed by an unreleased album (known as A Kick in the Head Is Worth Eight in the Pants). A second compilation album, Best of Bee Gees, Volume 2 was released in 1973, though it did not repeat the success of Volume 1.
On the advice of Ahmet Ertegün, head of their US label Atlantic Records, Stigwood arranged for the group to record with famed soul music producer Arif Mardin. The resulting LP, Mr. Natural, included fewer ballads and foreshadowed the R&B direction of the rest of their career. But when it too failed to attract much interest, Mardin encouraged them to work with the soul music style.
The brothers attempted to assemble a live stage band that could replicate their studio sound. Lead guitarist Alan Kendall had come on board in 1971, but did not have much to do until Mr. Natural. For that album, they added drummer Dennis Bryon, and they later added ex-Strawbs keyboard player Blue Weaver, completing the late 1970s "Bee Gees band". Maurice, who had previously performed on piano, guitar, organ, mellotron, and bass guitar, as well as exotica like mandolin and Moog synthesiser, now confined himself to bass onstage.
At Eric Clapton's suggestion, the brothers relocated to Miami, Florida, early in 1975 to record. After starting off with ballads, they eventually heeded the urging of Mardin and Stigwood and crafted more rhythmic disco songs, including their second US No. 1, "Jive Talkin'", along with US No. 7 "Nights on Broadway." The band liked the resulting new sound, and this time the public agreed, sending the LP Main Course up the charts. This was their second album to have two US top-10 singles since 1968's Idea. Main Course also became their first charting R&B album. Mardin was unable to work with the group afterwards, but the Bee Gees enlisted Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson who had worked with Mardin during the Main Course sessions. This production team would carry the Bee Gees through the rest of the 1970s.
The next album, Children of the World, was drenched in Barry's newfound falsetto and Weaver's synthesiser disco licks. Led off by the single "You Should Be Dancing," it pushed the Bee Gees to a level of stardom they had not previously achieved in the US, though their new R&B/disco sound was not as popular with some die hard fans from the 1960s. The Bee Gees' band was now closer to a rock act, with rhythm guitar and real drums behind the falsetto.
Following a successful live album, Here at Last... Bee Gees... Live, the Bee Gees agreed with Stigwood to participate in the creation of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. It would be the turning point of their career. The cultural impact of both the film and the soundtrack was seismic, not only in the United States, but in the rest of the world as well, bringing the nascent disco scene mainstream.
The band's involvement in the film did not begin until post-production. As John Travolta asserted, "The Bee Gees weren't even involved in the movie in the beginning ... I was dancing to Stevie Wonder and Boz Scaggs."[11] Producer Robert Stigwood commissioned the Bee Gees to create the songs for the film. The brothers wrote the songs "virtually in a single weekend" at France's Château d'Hérouville studio.[11] Barry Gibb remembered the reaction when Stigwood and music supervisor Bill Oakes arrived and listened to the demos:
“ | They flipped out and said these will be great. We still had no concept of the movie, except some kind of rough script that they'd brought with them ... You've got to remember, we were fairly dead in the water at that point, 1975, somewhere in that zone–- the Bee Gees' sound was basically tired. We needed something new. We hadn't had a hit record in about three years. So we felt, Oh Jeez, that's it. That's our life span, like most groups in the late 60s. So, we had to find something. We didn't know what was going to happen.[11] | ” |
Bill Oakes, who supervised the soundtrack, asserts that Saturday Night Fever did not begin the disco craze; rather, it prolonged it: "Disco had run its course. These days, Fever is credited with kicking off the whole disco thing–-it really didn't. Truth is, it breathed new life into a genre that was actually dying."[11]
Three Bee Gees singles ("How Deep Is Your Love", "Stayin' Alive", and "Night Fever") reached No. 1 in the United States and many countries around the world, launching the most popular period of the disco era. They also penned the song "If I Can't Have You" which became a No. 1 hit for Yvonne Elliman, while the Bee Gees' own version was the B-Side of "Stayin' Alive." Such was the popularity of Saturday Night Fever that two different versions of the song "More Than a Woman" received airplay, one by the Bee Gees, which was relegated to album track, and another by Tavares, which was the hit. The Gibb sound was inescapable. During an eight-month period beginning in the Christmas season of 1977, six songs written by the brothers held the No. 1 position on the US charts for 25 of 32 consecutive weeks—three of their own releases, two for brother Andy Gibb, and the Yvonne Elliman single.
Fueled by the movie's success, the soundtrack broke multiple industry records, becoming the highest-selling album in recording history to that point. With more than 40 million copies sold, Saturday Night Fever is among music's top five best selling soundtrack albums. It is currently calculated as the 4th highest-selling album worldwide.[12]
During this era, Barry and Robin also wrote "Emotion" for an old friend, Australian vocalist Samantha Sang, who made it a Top Ten hit (the Bee Gees sang backing vocals). Barry also wrote the title song to the movie version of the Broadway musical Grease for Frankie Valli to perform, which went to No. 1. During this period, the Bee Gees' younger brother Andy followed his older siblings into a music career, and enjoyed considerable success. Produced by Barry, Andy Gibb's first three singles all topped the US charts. In March 1978, the Bee Gees held the top 2 positions on the US Charts with "Night Fever" and "Stayin' Alive", the first time this had happened since The Beatles. On the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for 25 March 1978, five songs written by the Gibbs were in the US top ten at the same time: "Night Fever", "Stayin' Alive", "If I Can't Have You", "Emotion" and "Love is Thicker Than Water". Such chart dominance hadn't been seen since April 1964, when The Beatles had all five of the top five American singles. Barry Gibb became the only songwriter to have four consecutive number one hits in the US breaking the John Lennon and Paul McCartney 1964 record. These songs were "Stayin' Alive", "Love Is Thicker Than Water", "Night Fever", "If I Can't Have You".
The Bee Gees also co-starred with Peter Frampton in the movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) loosely inspired by the classic 1967 album by The Beatles. The film had been heavily promoted prior to release, and was expected to enjoy great commercial success. However, the disjointed film was savaged by the movie critics, and ignored by the public. Though some of its tracks charted, the soundtrack too was a high-profile flop. The single "Oh! Darling", credited to Robin Gibb, reached No. 15 in the US. Previously, the Bee Gees had recorded three Beatles covers—"Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight", "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" and "Sun King" – for the transitory musical documentary All This and World War II.
The Bee Gees' follow-up to Saturday Night Fever was the Spirits Having Flown album. It yielded three more No. 1 hits: "Too Much Heaven", "Tragedy", and "Love You Inside Out." This gave the act six consecutive No. 1 singles in America within a year and a half (a record surpassed only by Whitney Houston). "Too Much Heaven" ended up as the Bee Gees' musical contribution to the Music for UNICEF Concert at the United Nations General Assembly in January 1979, a benefit organised by the Bee Gees, Robert Stigwood, and David Frost for UNICEF that was broadcast worldwide. The brothers donated the royalties from the song to the charity. Up to 2007, this song has earned over $11 million for UNICEF. During the summer of 1979, the Bee Gees embarked on their largest concert tour covering the US and Canada. The Spirits Having Flown tour capitalised on Bee Gees fever that was sweeping the nation, with sold out concerts in 38 cities. The Bee Gees produced a video for the title track of "Too Much Heaven" directed by Miami-based film-maker, Martin Pitts and produced by Charles Allen. With this video, Pitts and Allen began a long association with the brothers.
The Bee Gees even had a country hit in 1979 with "Rest Your Love On Me", the flip side of their pop hit "Too Much Heaven", which made Top 40 on the country charts. In 1981, Conway Twitty's version of "Rest Your Love On Me" topped the country charts.
The Bee Gees' overwhelming success rose and fell with the disco bubble. By the end of 1979, disco was rapidly declining in popularity, and the backlash against disco put the Bee Gees' American career in a tailspin. Radio stations around America began promoting "Bee Gee Free Weekends". Following their remarkable run from 1975 to 1979, the act would have only one more top ten single in the US, and that would not come until 1989. The Bee Gees' international popularity sustained somewhat less damage. Barry Gibb considered the success of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack both a blessing and a curse:
“ | Fever was No. 1 every week ... It wasn't just like a hit album. It was No. 1 every single week for 25 weeks. It was just an amazing, crazy, extraordinary time. I remember not being able to answer the phone, and I remember people climbing over my walls. I was quite grateful when it stopped. It was too unreal. In the long run, your life is better if it's not like that on a constant basis. Nice though it was.[11] | ” |
Robin and Barry Gibb released various solo albums in the 1980s but only with sporadic and moderate chart success. The brothers had continuing success behind the scenes, however, writing and producing for several artists. In 1980 Barry Gibb worked with Barbra Streisand on her album Guilty. He co-produced and wrote or co-wrote all nine of the album's tracks (four of them written with Robin and the title track with both Robin and Maurice). Barry also appeared on the album's cover with Streisand, and duetted with her on two tracks. The album reached No.1 in both the US and the UK, as did the single "Woman in Love" (written by Barry and Robin), becoming Streisand's most successful single and album to date.
In 1981 the Bee Gees released the album Living Eyes, their last release on RSO. This album was the first CD ever played in public, when it was played to viewers of the BBC show Tomorrow's World.[13] With the disco backlash still running strong, the album failed to make the UK or US Top 40. Two singles from the album fared little better – "He's a Liar" reached No. 30 in the US and "Living Eyes" reached No. 45, breaking the Bee Gees' Top 40 streak which started in 1975 with "Jive Talkin'".
In 1982 Dionne Warwick enjoyed a UK No.2 and US Adult Contemporary No. 1 with her comeback single, "Heartbreaker", taken from her album of the same name written largely by the Bee Gees and co-produced by Barry Gibb. The album reached No.3 in the UK and the Top 30 in the US where it was certified Gold.
A year later Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers recorded the Bee Gees-penned track "Islands in the Stream", which became a US No. 1 hit and Top 10 in the UK. Rogers' 1983 album, Eyes That See In The Dark, was written entirely by the Bee Gees and co-produced by Barry. The album was a Top 10 hit in the US and was certified Double Platinum.
The Bee Gees had greater success with the soundtrack to Staying Alive in 1983, the sequel to Saturday Night Fever. The soundtrack was certified platinum in the US, and included their Top 30 hit "The Woman in You".
Also in 1983 the band were sued by Chicago songwriter Ronald Selle, who claimed that the brothers stole melodic material from one of his songs, "Let It End", and used it in "How Deep Is Your Love". At first, the Bee Gees lost the case; one juror said that a factor in the jury's decision was the Gibbs' failure to introduce expert testimony rebutting the plaintiff's expert testimony that it was "impossible" for the two songs to have been written independently. However, the verdict was overturned a few months later.
In 1985 Diana Ross released the album Eaten Alive, written by the Bee Gees, with the title track co-written with Michael Jackson (who also performed on the track). The album was again co-produced by Barry Gibb and the single "Chain Reaction" gave Ross a UK and Australian No.1 hit.
The Bee Gees released the album E.S.P. in 1987, which sold over 3 million copies. It was their first album in six years, and their first for Warner Bros. Records. The single "You Win Again" went to No. 1 in numerous countries, including the UK,[14] and made the Bee Gees the first group to score a UK No. 1 hit in each of three decades: the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.[15] The single was a disappointment in the US, charting at No. 75, and the Bee Gees voiced their frustration over American radio stations not playing their new European hit single, an omission which the group felt led to poor sales of their current album in the States.
On 10 March 1988, younger brother Andy died, aged 30, as a result of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle due to a recent viral infection. His brothers acknowledge that Andy's past drug and alcohol use probably made his heart more susceptible to this illness. Just before Andy's death, it had been decided by the group that Andy would join them, which would have made the group a four-piece group. The Bee Gees' following album, One (1989), featured a song dedicated to Andy, "Wish You Were Here". The album also contained their first US top ten hit (No. 7) in a decade, "One". After the album's release, they embarked on their first world tour in ten years.
In 1990, Polydor Records issued the box set Tales from the Brothers Gibb: A History in Song, which contained all of the group's singles (except 1981's "Living Eyes"), rare B-sides, unreleased tracks, solo material, and live performances. Many songs received new stereo mixes by Bill Inglot with some songs making their CD debut. At the time of its release, Tales was one of the first box sets issued in the music business and it was considered an honour for a group to have one. In the UK, Polydor issued a single disc hits collection from Tales called The Very Best of the Bee Gees, which contained their biggest UK hits. The album became one of their best selling albums in that country, eventually being certified Triple Platinum.
Following their next album, High Civilization (1991), which contained the UK top five hit "Secret Love", the Bee Gees went on a European tour. After the tour, Barry Gibb began to battle a serious back problem, which required surgery. In addition, he also suffered from arthritis, and at one point, it was so severe that it was doubtful that he would be able to play guitar for much longer. Also in the early 1990s, Maurice Gibb finally sought treatment for his alcoholism, which he had battled for many years, with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous.
In 1993, the group returned to the Polydor label, and released the album Size Isn't Everything, which contained the UK top five hit "For Whom the Bell Tolls". Success still eluded them in the US, however, as the first single released, "Paying the Price of Love" only managed to reach No. 74 on the Billboard Hot 100 while the parent album stalled at No. 153.
In 1997, they released the album Still Waters, which sold over four million copies, and reached No.2 in the UK (their highest album chart position there since 1979) and No.11 in the US. The album's first single, "Alone", gave them another UK Top 5 hit and a top 30 hit in the US. Still Waters would be the band's most successful US release of their post-RSO era.
At the 1997 BRIT Awards held in Earls Court, London on 24 February, the Bee Gees received the award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.[16] On 14 November 1997, the Bee Gees performed a live concert in Las Vegas called One Night Only. The show included a performance of "Our Love (Don't Throw It All Away)" synchronised with a vocal by their deceased brother Andy and a cameo appearance by Celine Dion singing "Immortality". The CD of the performance sold over 5 million copies. The "One Night Only" name grew out of the band's declaration that, due to Barry's health issues, the Las Vegas show was to be the final live performance of their career. After the immensely positive audience response to the Vegas concert, Barry decided to continue despite the pain, and the concert expanded into their last full-blown world tour of "One Night Only" concerts.[17] The tour included playing to 56,000 people at London's Wembley Stadium on 5 September 1998 and concluded in the newly built Olympic Stadium in Sydney, Australia on 27 March 1999 to 72,000 people.[17]
In 1998, the group's soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever was incorporated into a stage production produced first in the West End and then on Broadway. They wrote three new songs for the adaptation. Also in 1998 the brothers recorded Ellan Vannin for Isle of Man charities. Known as the unofficial national anthem of the Isle of Man, the brothers performed the song during their world tour to reflect their pride in the place of their birth.[18]
The Bee Gees closed the decade with what turned out to be their last full-sized concert, known as BG2K, on 31 December 1999.
In 2001, the group released what turned out to be their final album of new material as a group, This Is Where I Came In. The album was another success, reaching the Top 10 in the UK (being certified Gold), and the Top 20 in the US. The title track was also a UK Top 20 hit single. The album gave each member of the group a chance to write in his own way, as well as composing songs together. For example, Maurice's compositions and leads are the "Man in the Middle" and "Walking on Air," while Robin contributed "Déjà Vu," "Promise the Earth," and "Embrace," and Barry contributed "Loose Talk Costs Lives," "Technicolour Dreams", and "Voice in the Wilderness". The other songs are collaborative in writing and vocals. They performed many tracks from This Is Where I Came In, plus many of their biggest hits, on the live televised concert series Live by Request, shown on the A&E Network. The last concert of the Bee Gees as a trio was at the Love and Hope Ball in 2002.
Maurice, who had been the musical director of the Bee Gees during their final years as a group, died unexpectedly on 12 January 2003 at the age of 53 from a heart attack, while awaiting emergency surgery to repair a strangulated intestine.[19] Initially, his surviving brothers announced that they intended to carry on the name "Bee Gees" in his memory. But as time passed they decided to retire the group name, leaving it to represent the three brothers together.[20]
The same week that Maurice died, Robin's solo album Magnet was released. On 23 February 2003, the Bee Gees received the Grammy Legend Award. Barry and Robin accepted as well as Maurice's son, Adam, in a tearful ceremony.
Although there was talk of a memorial concert featuring both surviving brothers and invited guests,[21] nothing materialised. Barry and Robin continued to work independently, and both released recordings with other artists, occasionally coming together to perform at special events.
In late 2004, Robin embarked on a solo tour of Germany, Russia and Asia. During January 2005, Barry, Robin and several legendary rock artists recorded "Grief Never Grows Old," the official tsunami relief record for the Disasters Emergency Committee. Later that year, Barry reunited with Barbra Streisand for her top-selling album Guilty Pleasures, released as Guilty Too in the UK as a sequel album to the previous Guilty. Robin continued touring in Europe. Also in 2004, Barry recorded his song "I Cannot Give You My Love" with Cliff Richard, which became a UK top 20 hit single.[22]
In February 2006, Barry and Robin reunited on stage for a Miami charity concert to benefit the Diabetes Research Institute. It was their first public performance together since the death of brother Maurice. Barry and Robin also played at the 30th annual Prince's Trust Concert in the UK on 20 May 2006.
In October 2008, Robin performed a couple of songs in London as part of the BBC Electric Proms Saturday Night Fever performance. This involved various other performers and the BBC Concert Orchestra and was screened on the BBC and BBC interactive services.
On 1 September 2009, Barry's 63rd birthday, he, in an interview with Easy Mix radio host Tim Roxborough, mentioned on the subject of future tours that "they will be back"; but in an agreement with Warner/Rhino they would not make an announcement at that time.[23][24] On 7 September 2009, Robin Gibb disclosed to Jonathan Agnew that he had been in touch with Barry Gibb and that they had agreed that the Bee Gees would re-form and "perform again".[25]
Barry and Robin performed on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing on 31 October 2009[26] and appeared on ABC-TV's Dancing with the Stars on 17 November 2009.[27] On 15 March 2010, Barry and Robin inducted the Swedish group ABBA into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[28] On 26 May 2010, the two made a surprise appearance on the ninth season finale of American Idol.
In October 2010, Robin Gibb was interviewed by the Daily Mail, and confirmed that the story of the Bee Gees is to be made into a Hollywood movie by Steven Spielberg. The Oscar-winning director believes the group's journey from unknowns in Manchester to worldwide fame will prove box-office gold. Robin told the Daily Mail: "The movie is going to be done by some very important people. It will be our life story. Barry and I will be involved in the technical side". One of the challenges for Spielberg will be replicating the brothers' distinctive three-part harmonies and Barry's falsetto voice. Robin said: "I'd like our original recordings to be used because it's very hard to emulate them."[29]
On 13 February 2012, Robin joined British military trio The Soldiers for the Coming Home charity concert at the London Palladium, in support of injured servicemen. It was his first public appearance for almost five months, and his final.
On 20 November 2011 it was announced that Robin Gibb, at 61 years old, was diagnosed with liver cancer, a condition he became aware of several months earlier. He had become noticeably thinner in previous months and had to cancel several appearances due to issues with severe abdominal pain.[30] On 14 April 2012, it was reported that Gibb had contracted pneumonia[31] in a Chelsea hospital and was in a coma.[32] Gibb came out of his coma on 20 April 2012.[33] He died on 20 May 2012.[34] With Robin's death, Barry became the last surviving Gibb brother.
The Bee Gees have sold in excess of 200 million records worldwide.[35] At one point in 1978, the Gibb brothers were responsible for writing and/or performing nine of the songs in the Billboard Hot 100.[36] In all, the Gibbs placed 13 singles onto the Hot 100 in 1978, with 12 making the Top 40. The Gibb brothers are fellows of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA).[37]
At least 2,500 artists have recorded their songs.[38] Their most popular composition is "How Deep Is Your Love", with 400 versions by other artists in existence.[39] Among the artists who have covered their songs are Ardijah, Michael Bolton, Boyzone, Eric Clapton, Billy Corgan, Destiny's Child, Faith No More, Feist, The Flaming Lips, Al Green, Jinusean, Elton John, Tom Jones, Janis Joplin, Lulu, Elvis Presley, Nina Simone, Percy Sledge, Robert Smith, Take That, and John Frusciante (who has covered "How Deep Is Your Love" during Red Hot Chili Peppers concerts). The band's music has also been sampled by dozens of hip hop artists.
Songs written by the Gibbs, but largely better known through versions by other artists, include:
The Bee Gees' major non-UK/US breakthrough hit "Spicks and Specks"—a 1966 chart success in Australia (top five) and New Zealand (number one), and in Holland (top five) in 1967—was covered by British rock-pop band Status Quo for their 1968 debut album. And Al Green's 1972 non-single cover of the Bee Gees' massive 1971 North American number one "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" enjoys a certainly critical and popular following, particularly in the UK.
In October 1999 the Isle of Man Post Office unveiled a set of 6 stamps honouring their native sons' music. The official launch took place at the London Palladium where the stage show of Saturday Night Fever was playing. A similar launch was held in New York shortly after to coincide with the show opening across the Atlantic. The songs depicted on the stamps are "Massachusetts", "Words", "I've Gotta Get A Message To You", "Night Fever", "Stayin' Alive" and "Immortality".
In 1978, following the success of Saturday Night Fever, and the single "Night Fever" in particular, Reubin Askew, the Governor of the US state of Florida, named the Bee Gees honorary citizens of the state, since they resided in Miami at the time.[41]
All three brothers (including Maurice, posthumously) were appointed Commanders in the Order of the British Empire in December 2001 with the ceremony taking place at Buckingham Palace on 27 May 2004.[42][43]
On 10 July 2009, the Isle of Man's capital bestowed the Freedom of the Borough of Douglas honour on Barry and Robin, as well as posthumously on Maurice.[44] On 20 November 2009, Douglas Borough Council released a limited edition commemorative DVD to mark their naming as Freemen of the Borough.[45]
Year | Title | US Chart |
UK Chart |
---|---|---|---|
1965 | The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs | — | — |
1966 | Spicks and Specks | — | — |
1967 | Bee Gees 1st | 7 | 8 |
1968 | Horizontal | 12 | 16 |
1968 | Idea | 17 | 4 |
1969 | Odessa | 20 | 10 |
1970 | Cucumber Castle | 94 | 57 |
1970 | 2 Years On | 32 | — |
1971 | Trafalgar | 34 | — |
1972 | To Whom It May Concern | 35 | — |
1973 | Life in a Tin Can | 69 | — |
1974 | Mr. Natural | 198 | — |
1975 | Main Course | 14 | — |
1976 | Children of the World | 8 | — |
1979 | Spirits Having Flown | 1 | 1 |
1981 | Living Eyes | 41 | 73 |
1987 | E·S·P | 96 | 5 |
1989 | One | 68 | 29 |
1991 | High Civilization | — | 24 |
1993 | Size Isn't Everything | 153 | 23 |
1997 | Still Waters | 11 | 2 |
2001 | This Is Where I Came In | 16 | 6 |
Year | Title | US Chart |
UK Chart |
---|---|---|---|
1977 | Here at Last... Bee Gees... Live | 8 | — |
1998 | One Night Only | 72 | 4 |
Year | Title | US Chart |
UK Chart |
---|---|---|---|
1977 | Saturday Night Fever | 1 | 1 |
1978 | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band | 5 | 38 |
1983 | Staying Alive | 6 | 14 |
The Gibbs recently gained ownership rights to their back catalogue, and set up a new distribution arrangement with Warner/Rhino/Reprise Records where they have since reissued digitally remastered versions of Saturday Night Fever, their later Bee Gees Greatest album, and a new boxed set: The Studio Albums: 1967–1968.
Additionally, more recent titles such as Still Waters and This Is Where I Came In were among the first batch of re-releases. The band's three Warner Bros. releases, E. S. P., One and High Civilisation were also made available on iTunes for the first time since the albums went out of print in North America in the mid-90s.
According to Robin Gibb's website, three more reissues were planned for the 2008 holiday season: Best of Bee Gees, Best of Bee Gees, Volume 2 and Love Songs. The double album Odessa was released on 13 January 2009 in a special 3-disc deluxe edition complete with the original red velvet cover with remastered stereo and mono versions of the album as well as alternate versions and unreleased tracks.
Since the remastered release of Odessa, Rhino has stopped reissuing original Bee Gees albums and there has not been any announcement as to when the remaining albums will be remastered.
Ellan Vannin was recorded in 1997 as a 1,000 quantity limited edition single for Isle of Man charities. The song was featured in the Bee Gees World Tour and on ITV's "An Evening With ..." but to date has not been released generally. The single was subsequently also available as part of the 1999 Bee Gees Stamp issue.
In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Bee Gees (when they started calling themselves "Bee Gees" in 1959), Rhino Records have released two new collections. Mythology is a four-disc collection highlighting each brother, including Andy, with tracks personally selected by Barry, Robin, Maurice's wife Yvonne (with his children Adam and Samantha), and Andy's daughter Peta. Maurice's disc contains two unreleased tracks called "Angel Of Mercy" and "The Bridge". Andy's disc contains the unreleased track "Arrow Through The Heart". Mythology also features a scrapbook of family photos, many never-before published, along with tributes from artists such as George Martin, Brian Wilson, Elton John, Graham Nash and the band's longtime manager Robert Stigwood.
The second collection, The Ultimate Bee Gees, is a more modest two-disc 40-track collection highlighting their biggest hits and includes a bonus DVD of unreleased videos, previously unreleased television appearances, live performances, and promo videos. Each disc is themed, with the first disc being the more upbeat songs called "A Night Out" and the second disc being more ballad-focused called "A Night In".[46]
Barry Gibb played rhythm guitar.
During the early 1970s, Robin Gibb played piano and violin occasionally, but most of the time he only sang. Although he kept on playing strings and keyboards privately, he had not played any instrument on stage since mid-'70s.
Maurice Gibb played bass guitar, rhythm and lead guitar, piano, organ, harpsichord, electric piano, mellotron, and electronic keyboards, synthesisers and drum tracks. From 1966 to 1972 he played multiple instruments on many records. During the late 1970s he played mainly bass guitar. From about 1986 onward he usually played keyboards and guitars. Maurice was credited by the brothers as being the most technologically savvy member of the band, and had built his own home studio. The bootleg CD ESP Demos allegedly includes rough versions of tracks from the album of the same name that were recorded at that studio.[citation needed]
These musicians were considered members of the band:[citation needed]
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Robin Gibb | |
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![]() Robin Gibb at the meet-and-greet after the Dubai Jazz Festival on 1 March 2008 |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Robin Hugh Gibb |
Born | (1949-12-22)22 December 1949 Douglas, Isle of Man |
Died | 20 May 2012(2012-05-20) (aged 62) London, England |
Genres | Pop Soft rock Adult contemporary Disco[1] Synthpop[2][3][4][5] |
Occupations | Singer-songwriter |
Instruments | Vocals, piano, violin, guitar, bass |
Years active | 1958–2012 |
Labels | Polydor, RSO, Mirage |
Associated acts | Bee Gees |
Website | Official website |
Robin Hugh Gibb, CBE (22 December 1949 – 20 May 2012) was a singer and songwriter, best known as a member of the Bee Gees, co-founded with his fraternal twin brother Maurice and older brother Barry. Their younger brother Andy was also a singer.
Born in the Isle of Man to English parents, the family later moved to Manchester before settling in Brisbane, Australia. Gibb began his career as part of the family trio and when the group found their first success they returned to the United Kingdom where they achieved worldwide fame. In 2004, the Bee Gees received their CBEs from the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace for their "contribution to music".[6] With record sales estimated in excess of 200 million units, the Bee Gees became one of the most successful pop groups of all time.[7] Music historian Paul Gambaccini described Gibb as "one of the major figures in the history of British music" and "one of the best white soul voices ever".[8]
After a career spanning six decades, Gibb last performed on stage in February 2012 supporting injured British servicemen and women at a charity concert at the London Palladium.[9] On 20 May 2012, Gibb died at the age of 62 from liver and kidney failure.[10]
Contents |
Born to Barbara and Hugh Gibb[11] (d. 1992)[12] on the Isle of Man, Robin was the fraternal twin of Maurice Gibb, and the older of the two by 35 minutes. The third-born of five children, Gibb had one older sister, Lesley (b. 1945), and three brothers: Barry (b. 1946), fraternal twin Maurice (1949–2003), and Andy (1958–1988).
Gibb was the subject of an edition of the BBC genealogy documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? first broadcast on 21 September 2011. The programme revealed that Gibb's paternal great-grandfather was born into poverty in Paisley and went on to become a decorated soldier and his paternal great-grandmother was a midwife.[13]
Gibb's mother Barbara was born in Worsley, Salford, and in 1953 the family returned to Manchester, England.[14] The family lived on Keppel Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy and it was here that the young Gibb brothers sang together and performed in local theatres.[14] In late 1958, the family moved to Brisbane, Australia. The family travelled to Australia on the same ship as Australian musician Red Symons. The brothers' music careers began in Australia and flourished when they returned to England in 1967.[15]
Traditionally, Gibb's role in the Bee Gees was lead singer, for which he vied with Barry during the group's first period of British success in the late 1960s. This rivalry eventually prompted Gibb to leave the group and begin a solo career.[citation needed] The final irritant was when his song "Lamplight" was relegated to the B-side of Barry's song "First of May". Meanwhile, there were rumours during this period that Gibb was dealing with drug abuse problems, leading Gibb's parents to allegedly threaten legal action to make him a ward of court (the UK age of majority at that time being 21, and Gibb was only 19).[16]
In his solo career, Gibb was initially successful with a number 2 UK hit, "Saved by the Bell", which sold over one million copies and received a gold disc.[17] However, Gibb's first solo album, Robin's Reign, was less successful and he soon found that being a solo artist was unsatisfying. Maurice played bass guitar on the song "Mother and Jack", but was subsequently removed from the project by producer Robert Stigwood. Despite having almost completed a second solo album, Sing Slowly Sisters, Gibb reunited with his brothers, who then revived the Bee Gees. The group came back on a high note, reaching No. 3 on the US charts with the song "Lonely Days" in 1970. In 1971, the Bee Gees had their first US No.1 hit, "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart", but after that their popularity started to ebb.
In 1974, with new producer Arif Mardin, the Bee Gees reinvented themselves with the song "Blue-Eyed Soul". The group now entered their second period of phenomenal success in the disco-era late 1970s.[18]
In 1978, Gibb performed on the Sesame Street Fever album for the Sesame Street children's TV program. He was one of the singers on the "Sesame Street Fever" title track, he sang a song called "Trash" for the character Oscar the Grouch, and spoke with Cookie Monster at the beginning of "C is for Cookie".
While continuing in the Bee Gees, Gibb also promoted his new solo career. During the 1980s, Gibb released three solo albums (How Old Are You?, Secret Agent, and Walls Have Eyes). These three albums were more successful in Europe than in the UK or US, with How Old Are You? spawning the hit single "Juliet". However, Gibb's 1984 single "Boys Do Fall in Love" did reach the Billboard Magazine top 40 list of hits. Gibb also recorded several extended versions of dance songs, including "Boys Do Fall in Love", "Secret Agent", "Like a Fool" and the rarest, "You Don't Say Us Anymore"; many of these extended versions were released to radio disc jockeys only.
On 27 January 2003, fifteen days after Maurice died, Gibb released a new solo album, Magnet in Germany on SPV GmbH, and worldwide shortly afterwards. Magnet featured the Bee Gees song "Wish You Were Here" (from the 1989 album One) in a new acoustic version. The lead single, "Please", had coincidental lyrics about "loss". After Maurice's death, Gibb and Barry again disbanded the Bee Gees; however, in late 2009, the two brothers announced that they would reform and perform again as the Bee Gees whenever they could. In recent years, Gibb sang the vocals to the opening titles to the British ITV show The Dame Edna Treatment.[19]
On 18 May 2008, Gibb released the song "Alan Freeman Days" in tribute to the Australian DJ Alan Freeman. The song was issued as a download only track, although a promotional CD was issued by Academy Recordings. In December 2008, "Alan Freeman Days" was followed by another downloadable song titled "Wing and a Prayer", which shared the same name as a song from the 1989 One album. However, the new song was actually a reworking of the song, "Sing Slowly Sisters", that had remained unreleased since 1970.[20] Later in December, Gibb issued another song, "Ellan Vannin (Home Coming Mix)", featuring the King William's College Choir from the Isle of Man. ("Ellan Vannin" is the Manx name for the Isle of Man.)
In 2008, Gibb completed a new solo album entitled 50 St. Catherine's Drive, but it was never released. However, in August 2009, a 50-second video clip of "Instant Love" from 50 St. Catherine's Drive appeared as a preview. "Instant Love" was a collaboration with Gibb's son Robin-John. A second version of "Instant Love" featuring Robin-John on vocals appeared in a short film called Bloodtype: The Search in which Robin-John appeared.[21]
Gibb and Robin-John also wrote the score for The Titanic Requiem, recorded by Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for the 2012 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.[22] Gibb was due to attend the piece's premier on 10 April 2012 at the Central Hall, Westminster, London but his failing health kept him away.[23]
In 2010, Gibb was also a guest mentor on the Australian version of The X Factor, alongside TV host Kyle Sandilands, actress/singer Natalie Imbruglia, and singers Ronan Keating and Guy Sebastian.[24]
In August 2003, Gibb announced the release of a new single of "My Lover's Prayer", a song first recorded by the Bee Gees in 1997, with vocals by Gibb and singers Wanya Morris and Lance Bass. "My Lover's Prayer" was played on the radio, but was never actually released. In October 2003, Gibb recorded a second version of this song as a duet with singer Alistair Griffin, a runner-up in the UK television program Fame Academy on which Gibb had appeared as a judge. In January 2004, the new "My Lover's Prayer" was released in the UK as a double A side CD single. It eventually reached number 5 in the UK music charts.
In January 2005, Gibb joined his brother Barry and several other artists under the name One World Project to record a charity single in aid of Asian tsunami relief, titled "Grief Never Grows Old". Other artists who performed on the single included Boy George, Steve Winwood, Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman, Sir Cliff Richard, Bill Wyman, America, Kenny Jones, Chicago, Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, Russell Watson and Davy Spillane.
In June 2005, Gibb joined X Factor runner up band G4 at a sell-out concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, singing the Bee Gees song "First of May". In December 2005, a recording of this performance was released as part of a double A side single, credited as "G4 feat Robin Gibb" together with G4's cover version of the Johnny Mathis song "When a Child is Born". "First of May" also appeared on the platinum selling album G4 & Friends, which reached number 6 in the UK album charts.
In November 2006, Gibb released an album of Christmas carols called Robin Gibb – My Favourite Carols, backed by The Serlo Consort, a London choir. The Serlo Consort. The album also featured a new song by Gibb called "Mother of Love", which was released in Europe as a download single. The song was inspired by Maurice and was Gibb's first new composition since Maurice died. Gibb donated all royalties from "Mother of Love" to the "Janki Foundation for Global Healthcare", and dedicated the song to Dadi Janki, the organisation's spiritual leader. Gibb dedicated the album to his mother, Barbara Gibb. Robin Gibb – My Favourite Carols has a bonus DVD disc titled A Personal Christmas Moment with Robin Gibb.
Gibb went back to the top of the UK charts in 2009 when he collaborated with singers Ruth Jones, Rob Brydon, and Tom Jones on a new version of "Islands in the Stream", written by Gibb, Barry, and Maurice. The new version, inspired by the BBC comedy TV show Gavin & Stacey, was created to benefit the charity Comic Relief.[25]
In September 2011, Gibb recorded the Bee Gees classic "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" with British Army men The Soldiers for a charity single in the UK, the video for which was produced by Vintage TV.[26]
In late 2004, Gibb embarked on a solo tour of Germany, Russia and Asia, with singer Alistair Griffin as the opening act. On his return to the UK, Gibb released a CD and DVD of live recordings from the German leg of the tour, backed by the Frankfurt Neue Philharmonic Orchestra of Frankfurt, Germany. In 2005, Gibb made a solo tour of Latin America.
On 20 February 2006, Gibb and Barry performed at a concert for the Diabetes Research Institute of the University of Miami in Hollywood, Florida. This was their first joint performance since Maurice's death.[27] In March 2006, Gibb announced plans for more solo concerts in Shanghai, China and Portugal. In May 2006, Gibb took part in the Prince's Trust 30th Birthday Concert at the Tower of London along with Barry. They sang three songs: "Jive Talkin'", "To Love Somebody" and "You Should Be Dancing". In September 2006, Gibb performed "Stayin' Alive" at the Miss World 2006 contest finals in Warsaw, Poland. In November 2006, Gibb performed a solo concert, entitled "Bee Gees – Greatest Hits", at the Araneta Coliseum in Manila, Philippines.
Gibb marked his return to his birthplace by playing a concert at the Isle of Man TT festival in 2007. Gibb donated all of his share of the money from this concert to the children's ward at Noble's Hospital, Isle of Man, and invited all emergency service staff and marshals for the TT to attend for free.
On 8 September 2007, Gibb performed a concert in Salt Lake City, Utah at EnergySolutions Arena for the Nu Skin Enterprises Convention, singing a set of Bee Gees hits. On 25 October 2007, Gibb performed a concert at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, Bulgaria and sang the Bee Gees' most famous songs. On 25 October 2008, to mark the 30th anniversary of the song "Saturday Night Fever" topping the UK charts, Gibb performed with special guests including Ronan Keating, Stephen Gateley, Sam Sparro, Sharleen Spiteri, Gabriella Cilmi and Bryn Christopher at the London music festival BBC Electric Proms. In 2010, Gibb toured Australia with Bonnie Tyler as his supporting guest.[28] Together they performed at Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.[29] On 30 January 2012, Gibb announced his intention to appear on stage at the Coming Home Concert at the London Palladium in February to benefit British soldiers returning home from Afghanistan.[30][31] It would be his last performance on stage.[9]
In 1968 Gibb married Molly Hullis, a secretary in Robert Stigwood's organisation. The couple had both survived the Hither Green rail crash, which killed 49 people on 5 November 1967.[32] They had two children together, Spencer (b. 1972) and Melissa (b. 1974). The couple divorced in 1980 after years of living separate lives, with Gibb almost permanently in the U.S. and Hullis remaining in the UK.[33]
Gibb's second marriage, from 1985 until his death,[34] was to Dwina Murphy Gibb, an author and artist. She is interested in the Druidry religion and is a follower of the neo-Hindu Brahma Kumaris movement. The couple has a son, Robin-John (known as RJ (b. 1983). Gibb and his wife divided their time between their homes in Peel, Isle of Man, their mansion in Miami, Florida (which was as of November 2011 up for sale[35]) and their main residence in Thame, Oxfordshire.[36]
On 10 March 1988, Andy Gibb died in Oxford, England, of myocarditis.[37] On 12 January 2003, Maurice Gibb died in Miami Beach, Florida of complications from a twisted intestine.
On 4 November 2008, he had a fourth child, Snow Evelyn Robin Juliet Gibb, born out of a private relationship with a housekeeper,[38] Claire Yang.[34]
Gibb was "an ardent vegan and teetotaller".[39]
In politics, Gibb was a vocal supporter of the British Labour Party and launched a rally in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, ahead of the 2005 General Election.[40] He was a close friend of the former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was criticised for staying over at Gibb's Miami mansion during Christmas 2006.[41] In 2008 Gibb publicly stated that he continued to get on "like a house on fire" with Blair, and claimed that the then Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown regularly listened to the Bee Gees.[42] "He listens to our music every day. Gordon likes our music and I like Gordon," he told The Times.[43] In a tribute upon his death, longtime friend Tony Blair said: "Robin was not only an exceptional and extraordinary musician and songwriter, he was a highly intelligent, interested and committed human being. He was a great friend with a wonderful open and fertile mind and a student of history and politics."[44][45]
On 14 August 2010, while performing in Belgium, Gibb began to feel abdominal pains. On 18 August, he was rushed to a hospital in Oxford, England and underwent emergency surgery for a blocked intestine, the same condition that killed Maurice.[46] Gibb recovered and returned to perform concerts in New Zealand and Australia. During this time, Gibb was also involved in promoting fund-raising for the memorial dedicated to RAF Bomber Command in Green Park, London. Gibb also wrote The Titanic Requiem with his son Robin-John, which was recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic in 2012.[47] Gibb continued to make television appearances and other events following his surgery, but in April 2011 he was forced by health problems to cancel his tour of Brazil.[46] Another concert in Paris was cancelled in October 2011. On 14 October, Gibb was due to perform the charity single with The Soldiers, but was again rushed to hospital with severe abdominal pains.[48] On 18 October, following his release from the hospital, Gibb appeared on ITV's The Alan Titchmarsh Show looking gaunt and frail.[49]
On 27 October 2011, Gibb cancelled an appearance only minutes before he was due to perform at the Poppy Appeal Concert in London.[50] Later the same week however, Gibb was seen in London and quoted as saying he felt "absolutely great".[51]
In November 2011, Gibb said he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer which metastasised to his liver several months earlier. A source close to the singer stated that his condition was "not good" and that his family rushed to the UK to be with him.[52] In an interview published in The Mail on Sunday on 22 January 2012, Gibb spoke for the first time of the cancer.
"For more than 18 months, I had lived with an inflammation of the colon; then I was diagnosed with colon cancer, which spread to the liver. I have undergone chemotherapy, however, and the results — to quote my doctor — have been 'spectacular'. It’s taken a toll, naturally, but the strange thing is that I've never felt seriously ill. I’ve mostly felt great. There have been many false claims around, which I'd like to dispel. I am not and have never been 'at death's door'. Nor do I have a team of alternative doctors working on my health. That's not true, although I'm not averse to healthy remedies for any illness. I feel they can go together with conventional medicine. I do eat health foods and drink herbal teas made for me by Dwina, my wife and RJ's mother. Other than that, I am under the care of Dr. Peter Harper at The London Clinic".[53]
In March 2012, Gibb was hospitalised for intestinal surgery and cancelled scheduled appearances while recovering.[54][55] In April, however, he contracted pneumonia and fell into a coma.[56][57] Although he came out of his coma later in April,[58] his colorectal cancer had advanced[59] and he died suddenly in London on 20 May 2012 at the age of 62 from liver and kidney failure.[8][60][61]
His funeral will be held near his home in Thame, Oxfordshire, and a memorial service will take place at St Paul's Cathedral, London.[62]
In 1994, Gibb was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, California. In 1997, the Bee Gees were inducted as a group into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, US. At the 1997 BRIT Awards held in Earls Court, London on 24 February, the Bee Gees received the award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.[63]
In 2002, Gibb was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2002 New Year Honours, along with his brothers Maurice and Barry. However, the official presentation ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London was delayed until 2004 due to Maurice's death.[6]
In May 2004, Gibb and his brother Barry both received honorary doctorates of music from The University of Manchester, England.[64] In 2005, Gibb received the Steiger Award (Miner Award) in Bochum, Germany for accomplishments in the arts. On 10 July 2009, both Gibb and Barry were made Freemen of the Borough of Douglas, Isle of Man. The award was also bestowed posthumously on Maurice, therefore confirming the freedom of the town of their birth to Gibb, Barry and Maurice.[65]
The radio and television presenter, Paul Gambaccini has stated that the Bee Gees were "second only to Lennon and McCartney as the most successful songwriting unit in British popular music", and recognised Gibb as "one of the major figures in the history of British music [and] one of the best white soul voices ever".[8] Gibb was a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA).[66]
Gibb's entire song catalogue is published by Universal Music Publishing Group.
Year | Title | United Kingdom |
Germany | United States |
Switzerland | Canada | New Zealand |
Italy |
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1970 | Robin's Reign | – | 19 | – | – | 77 | – | – |
1983 | How Old Are You? | – | 6 | – | 26 | – | 22 | 13 |
1984 | Secret Agent | – | 31 | 97 | 20 | – | – | – |
1985 | Walls Have Eyes | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
2003 | Magnet | 43 | 10 | – | – | – | – | – |
2005 | Live with the Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt Orchestra | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
2006 | My Favourite Christmas Carols | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
2012 | Titanic Requiem | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Year | Title | United Kingdom |
Germany | United States |
Austria | Switzerland | South Africa |
New Zealand |
Italy |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1969 | "Saved by the Bell" | 2 | 3 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | – |
1969 | "One Million Years" | – | 14 | – | – | 6 | – | – | – |
1970 | "August October" | 45 | 12 | – | – | – | – | 11 | – |
1978 | "Oh! Darling" | – | – | 15 | – | – | – | – | 5 |
1980 | "Help Me!" (Robin Gibb with Marcy Levy) |
– | – | 50 | – | – | – | – | – |
1983 | "Juliet" | 94 | 1 | 104 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 1 |
1983 | "How Old Are You" | 92 | 37 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
1983 | "Another Lonely Night in New York" | 71 | 16 | – | – | 19 | – | – | – |
1984 | "Boys Do Fall in Love" | 70 | 21 | 37 | 36 | – | 7 | – | 10 |
1984 | "Secret Agent" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
1984 | "In Your Diary" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
1985 | "Like a Fool" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
1986 | "Toys" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
2002 | "Please" | 23 | 51 | – | – | – | – | 48 | – |
2003 | "Don't Wanna Wait Forever" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
2004 | "My Lover's Prayer" (Robin Gibb and Alistair Griffin) |
5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
2005 | "First of May" (G4 feat. Robin Gibb) |
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
2006 | "Mother of Love" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
2007 | "Too Much Heaven" (Robin Gibb and US5) |
– | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
2009 | "Islands in the Stream" (Comic Relief with Robin Gibb) |
1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
2011 | "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" (The Soldiers with Robin Gibb) |
75 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
2012 | "Don't Cry Alone" (promotional video only) |
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
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Persondata | |
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Name | Gibb, Robin Hugh |
Alternative names | Robin Gibb |
Short description | Singer-songwriter |
Date of birth | 1949-12-22 |
Place of birth | Douglas, Isle of Man |
Date of death | 2012-05-20 |
Place of death | London, England, United Kingdom |
The Ready Set | |
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Jordan Witzigreuter in 2009. |
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Background information | |
Origin | Fort Wayne, Indiana |
Genres | Pop, pop rock, electronica, electronic rock, electropop, synthpop, dance, dance-pop, techno, alternative rock, emo |
Years active | 2007–present |
Labels | Decaydance, Sire, Beluga Heights |
Associated acts | Fall Out Boy, All Time Low, Never Shout Never, Allstar Weekend, Breathe Carolina |
Website | www.thereadyset.com |
Members | |
Jordan Witzigreuter |
The Ready Set was formed on November 17, 2007 in the basement of Witzigreuter's childhood home. Jordan Witzigreuter is the lead vocalist and sole member of the act. Witzigreuter generally writes and records on his own, using a backup band when on tour. He has once stated, "The Ready Set is, always has been, and always will be just me." The name was adopted due to the artist's concerns that his last name, Witzigreuter, would be difficult for people to pronounce. Jordan resides in his hometown, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Pete Wentz signed The Ready Set to his label Decaydance Records on November 24, 2009.[1][2] Wentz assisted Jordan in releasing his debut full-length I'm Alive, I'm Dreaming.
It was announced on September 3rd, 2011 that a new EP, [1], would be released on October 11, 2011, but the date was later pushed back to November, 2011.[3]
In an interview with Just So You Know, he stated he hopes to release a full length album in Fall of 2012. He also said he will have some other things being released before that.[4]
Contents |
Title | Details | Peak positions | |||||||
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US Heat [5] |
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Syntax and Bright Lights |
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Tantrum Castle |
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I'm Alive, I'm Dreaming |
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3 | |||||||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart |
Title | Details |
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Cascades EP |
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Feel Good Now |
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Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
Album | |||||
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US [6] |
US Adult [7] |
US Pop [8] |
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2010 | "Love Like Woe" | 27 | 35 | 15 | I'm Alive, I'm Dreaming | ||||
"More Than Alive" | — | — | — | ||||||
2011 | "Young Forever" | — | — | 39 | Feel Good Now | ||||
"Hollywood Dream" | — | — | — | ||||||
2012 | "Give Me Your Hand (Best Song Ever)" | TBA | |||||||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: The Ready Set |
Persondata | |
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Name | Ready Set, The |
Alternative names | Witzigreuter, Jordan, Jwitz |
Short description | The Ready Set is the name of a one man pop group formed by Jordan Mark Witzigreuter =D |
Date of birth | November 14, 1989 |
Place of birth | Fort Wayne, Indiana |
Date of death | |
Place of death |