Bee Gees - Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track
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Free Music Notes for Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track
Free Music Review: Ahhh to be 19 in 1977...
Hit: 5 Stars
The 1977 landmark film and this soundtrack that bore its name did the impossible - made Texas youngsters look at young people who lived in New York City as cultural role models, even if only for a brief period in time.
This soundtrack is not like listening to the other two albums of note from 1977 - "Rumors" by Fleetwood Mac or "Hotel California" by the Eagles, in the sense that the music from those two albums is somewhat timeless. The music of "Saturday Night Fever" is very much timestamped into the disco era, but then that is part of its appeal, especially to those of us who were college-aged at the time this film was released. Most of the tracks will still make almost anyone want to get up and dance - although minus the wide lepels and shoes with heels so high you'll get a nosebleed.
Many people think the music of this film was written for the movie, but that is not the case. "Jive Talking" was released in 1975 as part of the Bee Gees comeback as a retooled disco band, and "A Fifth of Beethoven" was released in 1976, for example. One of the most beautiful songs on the album, "How Deep is Your Love" is more like an Irish love ballad than anything else. "Disco Inferno", the last track on the album, and not even performed by the Bee Gees, has actually become the anthem of the disco era. "If I Can't Have You", by Yvonne Elliman, was the last song on the album to reach hit status, becoming a number one song in May 1979, a few months before the phenomena of disco disappeared as mysteriously as it appeared in 1975.
So, don't be embarrassed that your friends will find out you listen to this music. This soundtrack is really full of excellent music. If you are embarrassed, listen to it in your car, in your basement, somewhere where you won't be found out. You'll find yourself more upbeat and filled with the tunes of a time when college kids weren't considered the threat to public safety that they are considered to be today - smart enough for grand jury duty but too stupid to handle a beer.
Free Music Review: The famous soundtrack
Hit: 5 Stars
Soundtrack albums have always been something of a problem - either they stick closely to the movie (as they originally did), presenting a lot of music that makes no sense outside the context of the movie, or (as generally happens now) they gather together a collection of music that has little connection with the movie, except that bits of each song can be heard in the background of the movie. Occasionally, an old style soundtrack (such as West Side Story) had enough great music to sell in huge quantities, but such soundtracks were the exception. The Saturday night fever soundtrack marked the beginning of the shift to a more popular form of soundtrack album, although there are some weak tracks here.
The Bee Gees wrote most of the music for this album and recorded some of it themselves. They gave More than a woman to Tavares although their own version of the song also appears on the album. They gave If I can't have you to Yvonne Elliman although they had already released their own version of the song as the B-side to one of their hits. They also included a couple of their own oldies (Jive talking, You should be dancing) on the soundtrack, but the most important tracks here are the first three tracks - Staying alive, How deep in your love and Night fever - all of which were huge hits around the world although they were bigger hits in America than anywhere else. Of the other tracks, Boogie shoes (KC and the sunshine band), Disco inferno (Trammps) and Open sesame (Kool and the gang) are the best.
Those classic tracks can, of course, be found elsewhere. You would that an appearance on a successful album like this would make stars of the contributors that weren't already stars, but David Shire (for example) disappeared as quickly as he came.
If you only want the best songs, you may prefer to buy them by the individual artists, beginning with a Bee Gees compilation (there are plenty to choose from) but despite some weak tracks, this album is the soundtrack of an era.
Free Music Review: It's The Greatest For A Reason...
Hit: 5 Stars
It's been more than 20 years since "Saturday Night Fever," the record AND the movie, took the pop world by storm. Movie and record producers have been trying ever since to produce as successful a soundtrack for a film, and they've yet to do it. Beyond the whopping 7 #1 pop hits that grace the album, I think its success owes to the times in which its was released. And how well an album like this fit those times. The year was 1978. I was a senior in high school. This was before theera of the music video. To a teenager, much of what went on at a night club was a mystery. Okay, you knew people drank and danced there, and you at least suspected that sex played some kind of role. But what did going out night after night really mean, to those who chose to do it? The movie SNF asked (and answered) that question, and did so in a style that made a discotheque seem like the most exciting place one could go on this earth. And the soundtrack more than fit the bill: It was much more successful, from both a critical and a commercial standpoint, than was the movie. Besides those chart-toppers, it contains memorable tracks like "More Than A Woman," "Calypso Breakdown," "Salsation," "K-Gee," and "Disco Inferno." Listen to the entire album, and what strikes you is how soulful the conglomeration of sounds is. "Saturday Night Fever" was a never-to- be-repeated phenomenon. It is the definitive record of the explosion that took over Pop culture, that has come to be known as Disco. Disco lives on today under different names like Club, House, Trance, Rave, and others. As such, it is fragmented, and not nearly as powerful. Such was not the case in 1978. This soundtrack obliterated everything in its path and changed Pop music for good.
Free Music Review: A time machine back to the disco era
Hit: 5 Stars
"Saturday Night Fever" was one of those movies which really captured the spirit of its times (in this case, the late 1970s). "SNF" told the story of a working class Italian-American guy with a passion for disco dancing. John Travolta's charismatic performance as the film's main character was certainly a key to the film's success, as were the great dance sequences. And of course, there's the film's soundtrack. Packed with memorable hits from the disco era, this soundtrack still holds up as great entertainment in its own right.Many of the songs on the "SNF" soundtrack were written and performed by the Bee Gees, the pop trio with an uncanny knack for creating hits. The Bee Gees bring both their trademark soulful falsetto and an irresistible enthusiasm to their performances. Although all the Bee Gees' songs are great, my favorite is the tender love song "How Deep Is Your Love."
A number of other artists contributed songs to this soundtrack. A special commendation should be made of the best non-Bee Gee performance on the disc: Yvonne Elliman's passionate performance of the love song "If I Can't Have You" (also written by the Bee Gees). There are also some interesting instrumental compositions, most notably by David Shire.
Yes, some will view the songs on this disc as dated and cheesy. And let's face it, some of the song's titles sound a little silly today: "Night on Disco Mountain," "Boogie Shoes," etc. But if you suspend any anti-70s or anti-disco prejudices you may harbor, the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack might help you get in touch with your inner disco dancer.
Free Music Review: ENDURING ANTHEMS OF AN ERA
Hit: 5 Stars
This masterpiece has lost none of its appeal after 25 years, proving the critics wrong and the BeeGees right. Part of its popularity must be due to the clever mix of fast dance numbers and lovely soaring ballads. The frenetic pace of e.g. Staying Alive and Night Fever is balanced by the serene pace of How Deep Is Your Love. For fans of the old-style BeeGees ballads, this new direction with the edgy falsetto vocals and the nervous beat came as a shock initially, but those hits like Jive Talkin' and You Should Be Dancing soon enough swept one up in the disco fever. I love Yvonne Elliman's poignant ballad If I Can't Have You, while the tracks by Kool & The Gang, MFSB and KC & The Sunshine Band are great too. But the real underground classic here is Disco Inferno by Trammps, nine minutes of burbling, bubbling, stomping, storming, gripping funk that is as anthemic as any great rock song by for example Bruce Springsteen. Come to think of it, most of the BeeGees tracks here can also be considered as anthems of the disco generation. Besides serving as bridges between the classic hits, the filler tracks like A Fifth Of Beethoven and Salsation add authenticity to the overall listening experience and serve to strengthen the ambience. This album and the movie took disco out of the underground and reinvented it as a mainstream phenomenon. While rock music was going through the convulsions of the punk and new wave revolutions, disco was having the party of the decade. And this album, along with the music of Donna Summer, Grace Jones, Chic, Giorgio Moroder, Boney M, Village People and others, provided the soundtrack to an era.