April 9, 2007

"How Deep Is Your Love"


In the U.S., the Bee Gees' single "How Deep Is Your Love" topped the Billboard Hot 100 on December 24, 1977 and stayed in the Top-10 for a then-record 17 weeks. It was a number three hit in the UK.

This video unfortunately starts just after most of the vocal intro, which alone should have earned them a Grammy. That part always reminds me of Saturday Night Fever and the summer of 1978 (the movie was still showing in Galveston, my hometown, during the summer of '78; it was one of those movies like Star Wars that people went back and saw over and over again). It must surely be the Bee Gees' finest vocal work laid down on tape. What else could rival it? Would the word "masterpiece" be out of order?


Bee Gees won Best Pop Vocal Performance, Group for "How Deep Is Your Love"

It's odd to see things like this live version from many years after the success of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack (I'd guess around 1990), where they make absolutely no effort at all to replicate the lush, layered vocal introduction of the recording. One would think they'd at least have used prerecorded tape or something.

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