Ten Albums “Everybody” Owned — Except Me: Saturday Night Fever

@FourWalls (86875)
United States
July 20, 2018 10:20am CST
Friday is off day for me in the summer. Today is under a cloud of the threat of severe weather. So with three eyes on the weather app I’ll use the fourth one (I wear glasses, so I’m a four-eyes) to give you another mega-selling album that never occupied my record collection. Saturday Night Fever (soundtrack) - Bee Gees/various artists I’ll be starting a “movies ‘everybody’ has seen — except me” countdown soon. I got the idea for that countdown from the inclusion of this album. There were two camps in the late 70s. I was in the “disco sucks” camp. (If you’ve seen Stripes one of the recruits has a “Death Before Disco” shirt on. My kinda guy.) And now, given how much I love Boz Scaggs, I have to explain the difference between “disco” music and “dance” music: if you like the song, it’s “dance;” if you don’t like it, it’s “disco.” And, speaking of the Boz man, an interesting footnote: his 1976 hit “Lowdown” was slated to be in this movie. Columbia Records, though, refused to license it to RSO Records. As a result, “Lowdown” ended up in “Looking for Mr. Goodbar.” Boz should’ve sued Columbia over that faux pas. But anyway....this isn’t “all” disco” (the ballad “How Deep Is Your Love” is on this album, as well as the pre-disco era “Jive Talkin’”), but you just couldn’t get away from you should be disco inferno night fevering in 1977. And 1978. And 1979. The soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever became, and to date remains, the biggest-selling movie soundtrack in history, with over 45 million copies sold worldwide. And, while I like the Bee Gees (and even love the scenes in Foul Play and Airplane! where “Stayin’ Alive” was used), I ran away from this soundtrack. Saturday Night Fever Recorded by various artists (Bee Gees, Yvonne Elliman, Walter Murphy, Tavares, David Shire, Ralph McDonald, Kool & the Gang, KC & the Sunshine Band, MFSB, and the Trammps) Various producers Released in 1977 This 1975 Bee Gees hit appeared again on the soundtrack:
''Jive Talkin''' from ''Main Course'' album, 1975.
7 people like this
7 responses
• Bournemouth, England
21 Jul 18
I am fascinated by the minority of non-Gibb Brothers songs which managed to find their way onto it. How were they chosen out of the huge number of disco songs around at that time? 'Boogie Shoes' must be Harry Wayne Casey's most-owned track.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86875)
• United States
22 Jul 18
I'm going to give you my personal opinion as to why. First, at the time, John Travolta was a "teen idol." His "success" at the time amounted to a woeful single ("Let Her In") and becoming the central figure on Welcome Back, Kotter. Teen idols had a horrible track record with success on the big screen (see: Robbie Benson). Secondly, disco was a dirty word, even at the height of its popularity. A lot of singers didn't want to be classified as "disco," even though (if you watch Soul Train) people had been dancing to funky music for years before they slapped a "disco" label on it. Put those two together, and there weren't a lot of people who thought the movie would be nearly as successful as it was. I found a snippet in a newspaper when the movie was announced that said a "disco-drenched musical" "could result in a Sunday hangover, or a Saturday nightmare." But the soundtrack came out a month or so before the movie, it took off, the movie took off, and the rest is blah blah blah. Plus, this was a watershed moment for soundtracks. Prior to Saturday Night Fever the biggest-selling soundtrack was West Side Story, which was a different type of "musical." Saturday Night Fever made the music in a movie almost as important as the actors. But, at that time, music in a movie wasn't all that important. Again, just my two cents' worth.
1 person likes this
• Bournemouth, England
25 Jul 18
@FourWalls I was watching a fairly recent interview on YouTube where KC said that his songs have been used in 200 movies so watershed is right.. He's still touring, has had a number of recent hits on the Billboard Dance charts and dances amazingly at 67, although he is no longer skinny and looks a bit more like Tony Soprano these days. Somebody did say it's more like KFC And The Sunshine Band!
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@andriaperry (118793)
• Anniston, Alabama
20 Jul 18
I was just a kid but yes I loved disco as much as dance and other rock. I think I had a choice and I bought an ELO album. I love jive talkin. Love those dorky clothes
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@FourWalls (86875)
• United States
20 Jul 18
I know. It’s terrible that we have so much visual evidence that those clothes existed. I posted a video of Gordon Lightfoot from the late 70s on my Facebook wall one day and asked people to ignore his bell bottom jeans.
@LeaPea2417 (40061)
• Toccoa, Georgia
20 Jul 18
Saturday Night Fever was my prized record album! I loved it so much! When I first heard the song "Stayin Alive", I fell in love with the song and disco and had to have the album. I also took Disco Dancing Lessons. I still have that album.
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@TheHorse (238361)
• Walnut Creek, California
21 Jul 18
I was in the "disco sucks" camp. Enough said.
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@db20747 (43419)
• Washington, District Of Columbia
20 Jul 18
I was just watching the Bee Gees soul train line to U should be dancin'!! One of the best disco hits ever especially when danced to by john travolta!!!
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@dgobucks226 (37621)
20 Jul 18
I am in the Disco Sucks group although I did like some of the songs the Bee Gees had on that soundtrack. And maybe out of temporary insanity I did like the movie
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@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
20 Jul 18
You mean you didn't love the nightlife beneath the glittering disco ball? Of course, I did not have this soundtrack. However, "Saturday Night Fever" was a good film with depth if anyone noticed beyond the music. Travolta was sensational even of not liking disco.
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