Robin Gibb has confirmed in an English interview that he and brother Barry Gibb are in talks for Spielberg to tell the story of the Brothers Gibb.
Gibb also says that he has given permission for the original Bee Gees recordings to be used in the movie.
The Gibbs were born in England but the family moved to Brisbane, Australia when Barry, Maurice and Robin were children. Brother Andy Gibb was a baby when the family left England.
The Bee Gees made their first television appearance in Brisbane in 1960 when Barry was 14-years old and the twins were 10.
In 1963, the Bee Gees signed with Festival Records in Sydney and released three singles, but it wasn’t until 1965 when they had their first minor hit with ‘Wine and Women’.
In 1965, Festival Records released their first album ‘The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs”. Barry was 19, the twins were 15.
In 1966, the brothers went back to England and on the journey (by boat) back, they received word of their first number one single when ‘Spicks and Specks’ topped the Australian chart.
In England, they met and signed with Robert Stigwood, another Aussie. They had their first UK hit in 1967 with ‘New York Mining Disaster 1941’.
Before long, they broke into America and appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and Laugh In. Early US hits included ‘I’ve Gotta Get A Message To You’ and ‘I Started A Joke’.
In the USA, Ahmet Ertegun hooked the Bees Gees up with producer Arif Mardin who changed their sound to R&B. Songs like ‘Jive Talking’ and ‘Nights On Broadway’ resonated with the American audience and they became major stars.
The next album, ‘Children Of The World’ in 1976 made music history with the hit track ‘You Should Be Dancing’. It became the benchmark of the disco sound.
Stigwood used the musical success and wrapped it around a movie. The film was ‘Saturday Night Fever’. It made a star of John Travolta and made the Bee Gees the hottest musical act on the planet.
The last Bee Gees album was ‘This Is Where I Came In’ in 2001. On January 12, 2003, Maurice Gibb died suddenly from a heart attack and the Barry and Robin decided to never perform again as The Bee Gees.
