Saturday, October 1, 2011

Anatomy of a music video - Bee Gees Edition Volumes 1 and 2

The music videos made in the late 1970s for two of the hits by the Bee Gees off of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack are a study in contrasts.
Let's examine the contrasts between the videos for "How Deep Is Your Love" and "Staying Alive".

We'll start with "Staying Alive" -


  • I dare you to pull your eyes away from the moose knuckle that Barry Gibb is sporting in those TIGHT white pants of his. You can't do it can you? His junk is mesmerizing.
  • Umm, where was this filmed? The words on the old train car looks like it says Cork? But would there really have been an area in that part of England that was that run-down and abandoned looking?
  • Can we just all agree that Barry Gibb had fucking fabulous hair? Feathered, bouncin' and behavin' perfection.
  • Maurice and Robin on the other hand...no. Those twins definitely got the raw end of that deal.
  • Actually Maurice had a nice face, and his beard is neat and trimmed here, unlike some people, Barry.
  • When I was 11 my two friends and I would imitate the moves the Gibbs make when they pop into the open window and door frames during the "ah ha ah ha stayling alive" part.
  • What is with Barry's silver jacket? And does he really need a gold necklace and a larger chain with a medalion? Or his cuban-heeled ankle boots? He's a tall dude. All this is still not enough to distract me from looking at his crotch.
  • I think my dad had the same shirt as the one Maurice is wearing.
  • Seriously, where was this filmed? Were there still war-torn parts of Eastern Europe in the 70s? What is with all of the empty and destroyed houses?

Now comparatively the video for "How Deep Is Your Love" is on a whole other level. And it's not necessarily a better one.

  • The budget was considerably lower for this one obviously. They're on some studio soundstage with random lights set up and the camera is following the Gibb brothers as they alternately walk around in a circle, or stand in a circle as the camera pans around them.
  • Seriously, more than half of the video is them WALKING AROUND IN A CIRCLE. They could've filmed this in my garage.
  • And who are those random handful of faceless people standing around in the center of the circle? Party guests? Electricians and best boys that work at the studio who didn't realize they were in the shot?
  • Robin Gibb really is unfortunate looking, isn't he.
  • Barry on the other hand is looking his most fantastic. His hair was never more lustrous and his beard is neat this time around. Also, while I'm sure he's wearing the tightest possible trousers, the camera never pans down past his mid chest until the end of the video, and then it's only his butt that we see  so we're not nearly as distracted.
  • BTdubs, check out the top of the comment thread from the link above for a gem from some dude named serq199113. I admire his sentiment.

1 comment:

Carras said...

You know I love Barry too, but show me some Andy!