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Stayin' Alive

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This article is about the Bee Gees song. For other uses, see Stayin' Alive (disambiguation).

"Stayin' Alive"
Song
B-side"If I Can't Have You"

"Stayin' Alive" is a disco song by the Bee Gees from the Saturday Night Fever motion picture soundtrack. The song was written by the Bee Gees members (Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb) and produced by the Bee Gees, Albhy Galuten, and Karl Richardson. It was released on 13 December 1977 as the second single from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. It is one of their signature songs. In 2004, "Stayin' Alive" was placed at number 189 on the list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[3] In 2004, it ranked No. 9 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. In a UK television poll on ITV in December 2011 it was voted fifth in "The Nation's Favourite Bee Gees Song".[4]

Upon release, "Stayin' Alive" climbed the charts to hit the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of 4 February 1978, remaining there for four weeks. In the process, it became one of the band's most recognisable tunes, in part because of its place at the beginning of Saturday Night Fever. In the US, it would become the second of six consecutive number-one singles, tying the record with the Beatles for most consecutive number ones in the US at the time (a record broken by Whitney Houston who achieved seven consecutive number-ones).

Beginnings

The executive producer of the soundtrack, Robert Stigwood (who was also the Bee Gees' manager), called them up and asked them to write a few songs for a soundtrack to a film he was planning. At this point, the film was in early stages and it did not have a title yet; in fact, all Stigwood had to go on was a New York cover story about discomania. They wrote "Stayin' Alive" over the course of a few days while sprawled on the staircase at the Château d'Hérouville studio in Paris. As with many other artists during the 1970s, the Bee Gees recorded a majority of the soundtrack in France for tax reasons. Due to the death of backing drummer Dennis Bryon's mother in the middle of the song's sessions, the group first looked for a replacement. The shortage of qualified drummers in this area of France prompted the group to try a drum machine—yet it did not offer satisfactory results.[2] After listening to the drum track of the already-recorded "Night Fever", the group and producer Albhy Galuten selected two bars from that track, re-recorded them as a recurrent loop on a separate tape, and proceeded with sessions for "Stayin' Alive". This accounts for the unchanging rhythm throughout the song. As a joke, the group listed the drummer as "Bernard Lupe" (a takeoff on session drummer Bernard Purdie). Mr. Lupe became a highly sought-after drummer—until it was discovered that he did not exist.[5]

RSO Records wanted the song to share the then-title of the film, "Saturday Night", but the Bee Gees refused a title change, insisting that there had been too many songs with "Saturday" in the title, and the album already had a song with the word "night" in the title—"Night Fever". Rather than change the name of the former song to match the film, Stigwood expanded the name of the film to encompass the title of the latter song. Over the years, the brothers have had mixed feelings about the song. On one hand, they admit it brought them tremendous fame; on the other, it led to their being pigeonholed as a disco act, despite a long and varied career before and after.[5]

Writing and recording

Several words from Robin Gibb's Concorde ticket inspired the Gibbs [how?] to write the lyrics for "Stayin' Alive". Robin recalls, "The subject matter of 'Stayin' Alive' is actually quite a serious one; It's about survival in the streets of New York, and the lyrics actually say that". Barry Gibb also recalls, "People crying out for help. Desperate songs. Those are the ones that become giants. The minute you capture that on record, it's gold. 'Stayin' Alive' is the epitome of that. Everybody struggles against the world, fighting all the bullshit and things that can drag you down. And it really is a victory just to survive. But when you climb back on top and win bigger than ever before, well that's something everybody reacts to everybody".[6] "We'd also written a song called 'Saturday Night'", Maurice explains, "But there were so many songs called 'Saturday Night' even one by the Bay City Rollers, so when we rewrote it for the movie, we called it 'Stayin' Alive'.[7]

Recording "Stayin' Alive" was not simple[vague]. Engineer Karl Richardson copied a choice few seconds of drumming from "Night Fever", cut out the piece of tape and glued the ends together, then fed it back into a recorder by a makeshift arrangement to create a new drum track. Drummer Dennis Bryon did not attend the recording of "Stayin' Alive". This track was finished at Criteria Studios, with Maurice laying down a bass line like Betty Wright's "Clean Up Woman", Barry and Alan on guitar riffs, while Blue Weaver added synthesizers, and the Boneroo Horns added their parts. Barry sings falsetto on the whole song, except on the line "life’s going nowhere, somebody help me".[5]

Albhy Galuten talks about the recording of "Stayin' Alive":

Barry and I listened carefully to find a bar that felt really good. Everyone knows that it's more about feel than accuracy in drum tracks. We chose a bar that felt so good that we ended up using that same loop on 'Stayin' Alive,' and 'More Than a Woman,' and then again on Barbra Streisand's song 'Woman in Love.' To make the loop, we copied the drums onto one-quarter-inch tape. Karl spliced the tape and jury rigged it so that it was going over a mic stand and around a plastic reel. At first, we were doing it just as a temporary measure. As we started to lay tracks down to it, we found that it felt really great-very insistent but not machinelike. It had a human feel. By the time we had overdubbed all the parts to the songs and Dennis came back, there was no way we could get rid of the loop.[8]

In their work together, Gibb and Galuten had tried playing with click tracks as Galuten explained:

While today's musicians know how to get a good groove with the click, back then, if you used a click track you rarely got a good feel. The loop crossed the boundary giving us music that was in time with a good feel. If I had been working for a technology company then and knew what I was doing, I would have tried to patent the idea. Nonetheless, it changed a lot of things. That first loop was a watershed event in our life and times.[8]

Release

The song was not initially scheduled for release, with "How Deep Is Your Love" selected as lead single, but fans called radio stations and RSO Records requesting the song immediately after seeing trailers for Saturday Night Fever, featuring the track over the aforementioned introductory scene. The single was eventually released in mid-December, a month after the album, and moved to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States in February, where it would stay for four weeks. Soon after, it would slide to number two, locking in a solid one-two punch with the Bee Gees's third smash hit from the album, "Night Fever". In the United Kingdom, "Stayin' Alive" was a solid seller but not as popular as it was in the United States, topping out at number four.

Further demonstrating the Bee Gees's US chart domination in 1978, "Stayin' Alive" was replaced at number one with the group's younger brother Andy Gibb's single, "Love Is Thicker Than Water", followed by the Bee Gees's "Night Fever" for their longest run, seven weeks. This was then replaced by Yvonne Elliman's "If I Can't Have You". Barry Gibb had a hand in writing all four of these songs, becoming the only person in history to write four successive US number-one singles. Besides the version that appeared on the soundtrack album and the edited 45RPM single for Top 40 radio release, there was yet another version, from the same recording session but of a slightly different mix, that was distributed on twelve-inch vinyl to club DJs and radio stations that specialised in airing longer versions of hit songs. This "Special Disco Version", as it was called, featured all the same parts as the album version but had a horn rhythm section part interjected twice. Interestingly, where twelve-inch "Disco Versions" were usually sped up, this version was slowed down slightly. This version was finally released on CD when Reprise re-issued Bee Gees Greatest in 2007 in an expanded and remastered edition. As for the message of the song, Robin Gibb was quoted as saying, "'Stayin' Alive' is about survival in the big city—any big city—but especially New York." The longest version of "Stayin' Alive" ever made was faded at 6:59, and that version was finally released on the remastered version of Bee Gees Greatest. The album edit is a still generous 4:43, but it was down to 3:29 for the single version.[5]

Initial plans were for Yvonne Elliman, then known for ballads, to record "How Deep Is Your Love" for Saturday Night Fever, while the Bee Gees produced their own version of the more disco-oriented "If I Can't Have You" for the film. Robert Stigwood thought he would prefer the songs from different genders and directed the group to cut the ballad, while Elliman cut "If I Can't Have You" with her usual producer Freddie Perren. Satisfied with this switch, Elliman's interpretation made the soundtrack, while the Bee Gees's version was relegated to the B-side of the "Stayin' Alive" single. The brothers' version has since appeared on CD in hits compilations.

George Martin commented about this song saying: "The great thing about 'Stayin' Alive' is that it had a great guitar hook to start with which set up the theme, that pulsating beat. It's no coincidence, by the way, that the disco beat of 120 beats per minute coincides the heartbeat of your heart when you're excited. This was a key thing which underlined the whole tune, and when the vocals came in, the vocals were so designed that they pushed that beat further".[6]

Music video

The music video for the song is of a completely different concept from Saturday Night Fever. It depicts the group singing the song on an abandoned subway terminal set at MGM Studios, directly adjacent to the one where Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was being filmed at the same time. This set featured buildings and a train station, among others.

The original three music videos for the movie Saturday Night Fever were shot on the soundstages and edited at the facilities of Video City, Inc., in North Miami, Florida. The European video for "Stayin' Alive" (with Barry sans facial hair) was one of these original three. These original music videos were scrapped and re-shot in California after Barry grew back his beard.

Personnel

Track listing

  • "Stayin' Alive" – 3:29
  • "If I Can't Have You" – 3:25

1989 reissue

  • "Subway" – 4:20
  • "Love So Right" – 3:33

Use in medical training

"Stayin' Alive" was used in a study to train medical professionals to provide the correct number of chest compressions per minute while performing CPR. The song has close to 104 beats per minute, and 100-120 chest compressions per minute are recommended by the British Heart Foundation[9] and endorsed by the Resuscitation Council (UK).[10] A study on medical professionals found that the quality of CPR is better when thinking about "Stayin' Alive".[11] This was parodied in the Season 5 episode of comedy series The Office "Stress Relief" and the song itself was used in a season 10 episode of the medical drama Grey's Anatomy in 2015.

On 15 June 2011, the song was featured in a Hands Only CPR PSA campaign video from the American Heart Association and featured actor and medical doctor Ken Jeong in the classic John Travolta outfit from Saturday Night Fever.[12]

Vinnie Jones stars in a UK version of this CPR video in association with the British Heart Foundation shown on TV circa January 2012.[13]

Accolades

Year Publisher Country Accolade Rank
1981 Dave Marsh & James Bernard United States "Singles Of The Year 1978"[14] 1
1989 Dave Marsh United States "The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made"[15] 716
1989 Rolling Stone United States "The 100 Best Singles Of The Last 25 Years"[16] 50
1995 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame United States "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll"[17] *
2000 Rolling Stone United States "100 Greatest Pop Songs"[18] 93
2000 VH1 United States "100 Greatest Dance Songs"[19] 10
2001 Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) United States "Songs of the Century" (365)[20] 94
2003 PopMatters United States "The 100 Best Songs Since Johnny Rotten Roared"[21] 65
2003 Q United Kingdom "100 Songs That Changed The World"[22] 17
2003 Q United Kingdom "The 1001 Best Songs Ever"[23] 280
2004 Rolling Stone United States "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time"[3] 189
2009 VH1 United States "100 Greatest Rock Songs"[24] 54
2010 Rolling Stone United States "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time"[25] 191
2011 Robert Dimery United Kingdom "1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die"[26] *
2011 Time United States "All-TIME 100 Songs"[27] *

(*) indicates the list is unordered.

Charts and certifications

Order of precedence
Preceded by Australian number-one single
3 April 1978 – 15 May 1978 (7 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Eurochart Hot 100 number-one single (first run)
5 April 1978 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Eurochart Hot 100 number-one single (second run)
19 April 1978 – 26 April 1978 (2 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Dutch Top 40 number-one single
8 April 1978 – 22 April 1978 (3 weeks)
Preceded by South African number-one single
28 April 1978 – 16 June 1978 (8 weeks)
Preceded by
"Figli delle stelle" by Alan Sorrenti
"Sotto il segno dei pesci" by Antonello Venditti
 Italian number-one single
6 May 1978 – 10 June 1978 (6 weeks)
24 June 1978 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
"Sotto il segno dei pesci" by
Antonello Venditti
"Tu" by Umberto Tozzi
Preceded by Canadian RPM 100 Singles number-one single
18 February 1978 – 11 March 1978 (4 weeks) 		Succeeded by
US Billboard Hot 100 number one single
4 February 1978 – 25 February 1978 (4 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by US Cash Box number-one single
4 February 1978 – 25 February 1978 (4 weeks)
Preceded by Canadian CHUM number-one single
11 February 1978 – 25 March 1978 (6 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by New Zealand number-one single
26 March 1978 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
"Tania" by John Rowles
Preceded by
"Amarsi un po'" by Lucio Battisti
1977
 Italian best-selling single of the year
1978 		Succeeded by
"Tu sei l'unica donna per me" by Alan Sorrenti
1979

Cover versions and samples

Appearances in other media

Though "Stayin Alive" is heavily guarded by the Bee Gees for licensing, it has appeared in numerous movies, television shows and video games including:

See also

References

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  3. ^ a b Archived 2006-08-20 at the Wayback Machine. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  4. ^ "The Nation's Favourite Bee Gees Song". ITV. 9 December 2011.
  5. ^ a b c d Brennan, Joseph. "Gibb Songs: 1977". Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  6. ^ a b Hughes, Andrew Môn (2009). The Bee Gees: Tales Of The Brothers Gibb. Music Sales Group. ISBN 978-0-85712-004-5.
  7. ^ Bilyeu, Melinda; Cook, Hector; Hughes, Andrew Môn (2013). The Ultimate Biography of the Bee Gees: Tales Of The Brothers Gibb. Music Sales Group. ISBN 978-0-85712-004-5.
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  13. ^ "Vinnie Jones Hands-Only CPR video". YouTube. 10 January 2012.
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