Meanwhile, Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb are debating with their mother, Barbara, how
to mark the upcoming 10th anniversary of Andy Gibb's death. "We're not doing anything
very morbid or anything like that," Maurice Gibb told Reuters. "We'd just like
to do a celebration of some kind." He said "(Our Love) Don't Throw It All
Away," which Andy and Barry Gibb co-wrote in 1978, was one of Andy's most beautiful
songs.
The new version is actually an "electronic duet," mixing the original version
with Bee Gees overdubs. The concert special features old video footage of Andy Gibb.
"We wanted to do it very tastefully and pay tribute to him because we have a lot of
fans of ours that are fans of him too," Maurice Gibb said.He said Andy's death
brought the brothers and their mother closer together, but that their father, Hugh, never
got over it. "He had three years after Andy passed away, and he was so bitter. He
basically died of a broken heart. He was never the same after Andy passed away. He
wouldn't talk. He was just very angry all the time."
The Bee Gees are spending the next six weeks in their adopted Miami hometown writing and
recording songs for a slew of other artists, including BetteMidler and country siren Deana
Carter, and are also planning what Maurice described as "six major events around the
world." These will consist of one-off concerts in Japan, Australia, Europe and South
America, including a possible show at Berlin's Olympic Stadium. In Australia, they hope to
catch up with Andy Gibb's daughter, Peta. In any case, Maurice Gibb says the group's days
of grueling tours are over."We're not going to go and slog our guts out and not have
fun. We want to do big events, major events, always get into that country a week before
the show, get it in incredible shape, and that way also the people get a good show."
The past year has been one of their busiest ever, with a career resurrection consisting of
a new album, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and several lifetime
achievement awards. The album "Still Waters" sold a satisfying 5 million copies
around the world, according to Maurice, but performed somewhat modestly in the United
States, with sales of just over 500,000.
He was disappointed that the group's U.S. label, A&M Records, did not market the album
more aggressively. "They know it's a safe bet, and they didn't take as many chances
as they should have (by releasing more singles). When you don't have the (label) support,
it's a bit difficult." Still, the Bee Gees stay out of record label politics, and
Maurice noted that none of the Bee Gees had met A&M chairman Al Cafaro.
The Bee Gees hope to have a new album out by year-end, but Maurice said he did not know if
it would be on A&M. (An A&M spokesman did not return a call seeking comment.).
More importantly, though, was the fact that the Bee Gees have finally garnered some
respect in the music business, Maurice said, after getting a hard time over the years
because of the group's unforgettable links to disco via the "Saturday Night
Fever" soundtrack. "We've been slapped around a bit for a few years. It was just
nice not to be anymore and not have any negative questions or things like that, because
now everyone seems to want to enjoy that (1970s) culture. It was great fun for us."