The 'List: "Saturday Night Fever" 40th Anniversary

Hello one and all.

As a child of only five years living in Brooklyn NY, I remember living next to a professional club disc jockey who had a killer sound system and whose collection was pretty vast with all types of music genres; salsa, merengue and pop being the main choices. But, around December of 1977, I distinctly remember being at his house as he unwrapped the latest album he was supposed to sample. The soundtrack to the new John Travolta movie, Saturday Night Fever. The film about young teenage ruffian Tony Manero, played by Travolta, who worked at a Brooklyn, NY, paint store by day; but danced like his life depended on it at a local discotheque on Saturday nights.

I had never heard of the Bee Gees, let alone had not known that the three brothers from the UK, who were also raised in Australia, were the hottest pop act of the 1970s along with ABBA, Peter Frampton, Wings, The Carpenters, Queen and Fleetwood Mac to name a few. I already had my introduction to disco music by the late disco queen Donna Summer and was finding disco to be quite the most enjoyable form of popular music. My tastes in music had to grow years later, but I was eventually caught up. The first song I had heard was "Stayin' Alive" and remember loving the bass line, the thumping back beat and the strings. Then, Barry Gibb began to sing and my mind went; "What am I listening to? The Chipmunks?!"

That bizarre memory aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the soundtrack album and the Bee Gees music began to become more familiar to me as radio and television were pretty much giving the trio ample airtime; and even their younger brother Andy Gibb was savoring chart success as well.

I was way too young to see Saturday Night Fever in the theaters which was already billed as "The Disco Movie." It was rated R, and for good reason. It had vast profanity, explicit sexual content, violence and yes, even overt racist undertones that were more for dramatic effect and to delineate the times back then. I was, however, very familiar with John Travolta as an actor, due to his immense popularity on TV as a high school "Sweathog" on the ABC-TV sitcom, Welcome Back, Kotter. But, this film would also give him a movie career as well as a career in music. He had already charted in 1976, with his own hit record, "Let Her In" going top ten that year. The film and its soundtrack would solidify disco music as a powerful musical force just as it had already reached its peak in 1976 and was quickly poised to become a passing fad. The film itself was actually based off of a 1976 New York Magazine article from journalist Nik Cohn about the rise of popularity of the NYC discotheque scene amongst the Madison Avenue crowd and city-dwellers. The soundtrack would become to the most successful movie soundtrack of all time, until in 1992 when the soundtrack to the Kevin Costner/Whitney Houston drama film, The Bodyguard would win the title 15 years later.

Saturday Night Fever was my hard-and-fast intro to Pop Music 101 and I'm beyond thankful to it and the movie. Without further adieu, the movie soundtrack rankings as best I can remember them.

Cherry Picks

This Providence, RI, family R&B/disco group did a cover version of the Bee Gees song which was also included in the 1977 movie soundtrack. The first use of the song is at a rehearsal between John Travolta and Karen Lynn Gorney at a local dance studio. It was known as the "out-of-control-spin" scene that showed them in ecstasy as they danced together.

This Hialeah, FL-based band, led by frontman Harry Wayne Casey, had recorded this hit in 1975; but found its way back to radio courtesy of the hit soundtrack and was featured many times in the Brooklyn Odyssey discotheque where the movie was shot.

Another song featured, and was in massive rotation in the film and radio, was by this Philly-based funk/R&B group which, despite being together for years and scoring hits on the Soul/R&B charts, it would appear that this still remains their signature song.

This one's a bit of a cheat as it does NOT appear on the actual movie soundtrack. But, this immensely popular 1976 novelty disco hit from the Jacksonville, FL-born disc jockey actually recorded the song as a poke-in-the-ribs to the actual genre and its popularity. The duck "voice" belongs to Dees' friend Ken Pruitt, although many believed it belonged to Clarence Nash who actually voiced Donald Duck in many Disney cartoons. It's featured in a dance class scene in the movie.

The film's soundtrack composer gave us a killer instrumental in a key scene at the Verrazano with his friends as well as the girl who had a massive crush on him (Donna Pescow who reportedly returned to her actual thick Brooklyn, NY accent for the role). Like much of disco music, it riffed classical music more regularly than most rock genres, not counting progressive rock.

This Hawaiian-born singer/actress who played Mary Magdalene in the film version of "Jesus Christ Superstar," would score a number one smash with this Gibb brothers' composition. It had the distinction of being heard in a key scene where Travolta and Pescow share a drink and a smoke and discuss the upcoming dance competition with a female stripper doing her routine in the background. It would be her only number one hit to date.

Already having been a number one smash in the summer of 1976, it was a song personally requested by Travolta for his pivotal scene on the dance floor and it became the film's most iconic scene. His dance moves make the song come alive as well as add depth and euphoria to the scene.

It would be the third track off the soundtrack as well as the third single release. It would peak at number one and hold the spot for eight consecutive weeks. It was featured early on in the film as part of a disco line dance.

This was the first release off the album and I will freely admit it confused the crap out of me. It didn't have the patented falsetto sound I had been familiar with, but it still remains the most popular and well-loved Bee Gees ballad to hit the airwaves since "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart," which became their first US number one back in 1971.

Finally...

The unofficial theme to the film, as it plays in the background as John Travolta's iconic character Tony Manero struts his way to a pizzeria, chows down two slices, puts a polyester shirt on layaway, attempts to flirt with a pretty Latina girl and keeps on strutting to the paint store he works. Lyrically, the song is about surviving the game of life. Robin, Maurice, and Barry Gibb gave it their all with their sexy, patented harmonies and of course, the unforgettable bass opening that became it's signature.

By the way, I was all caught up with the film years later. It's become one of my all-time favorite films and I even had the pleasure of seeing it on the big screen in the Ziegfeld Theater in Manhattan in 2007—when it celebrated its 30th anniversary!

The 1977 Album Cover!

Until next time...

Next List Pending.