"Stayin' Alive" is a disco song written and performed by the Bee Gees from the Saturday Night Fever motion picture soundtrack. The song was released on 13 December 1977 as the second single from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. The band co-produced the song with Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson. It is one of the Bee Gees' signature songs. In 2004, "Stayin' Alive" was placed at number 189 on the list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2004, it ranked No. 9 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. In a UK television poll on ITV in December 2011 it was voted fifth in "The Nation's Favourite Bee Gees Song".
On its release, "Stayin' Alive" climbed the charts to hit the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of 4 February 1978, remaining there for four weeks. In the process, it became one of the band's most recognisable tunes, in part because of its place at the beginning of Saturday Night Fever. In the US, it would become the second of six consecutive number-one singles, tying the record with the Beatles for most consecutive number ones in the US at the time (a record broken by Whitney Houston who achieved seven consecutive number-ones).
Video Stayin' Alive
Writing and recording
The executive producer of the Saturday Night Fever motion picture soundtrack and future Bee Gees manager Robert Stigwood asked the band to write a few songs for the soundtrack. At this point, the film was in early stages and it did not have a title; in fact, all Stigwood had to go on was a New York cover story about discomania.
They wrote "Stayin' Alive" over the course of a few days while sprawled on the staircase at the Château d'Hérouville studio near Paris. As with many other artists during the 1970s, the Bee Gees recorded a majority of the soundtrack in France for tax reasons. Due to the death of backing drummer Dennis Bryon's mother in the middle of the song's sessions, the group first looked for a replacement. The shortage of qualified drummers in the area prompted the group to try a drum machine, but it did not offer satisfactory results. After listening to the drum track of the already-recorded "Night Fever", the group and producer Albhy Galuten took two bars from that track, rerecorded them as a recurrent loop on a separate tape, and proceeded with sessions for "Stayin' Alive". This accounts for the unchanging rhythm throughout the song. As a joke, the group listed the drummer as "Bernard Lupe" (a takeoff on session drummer Bernard Purdie). Mr. Lupe became a highly sought-after drummer--until it was discovered that he did not exist.
RSO Records wanted the song to share the then-title of the film, "Saturday Night", but the Bee Gees refused a title change, insisting that there had been too many songs with "Saturday" in the title, and the album already had a song with the word "night" in the title--"Night Fever". Rather than change the name of the former song to match the film, Stigwood expanded the name of the film to encompass the title of the latter song. Over the years, the brothers have had mixed feelings about the song. On one hand, they admit it brought them tremendous fame; on the other, it led to their being pigeonholed as a disco act, despite a long and varied career before and after.
Several words from Robin Gibb's Concorde ticket inspired the Gibbs to write the lyrics for "Stayin' Alive". Robin recalls, "The subject matter of 'Stayin' Alive' is actually quite a serious one; It's about survival in the streets of New York, and the lyrics actually say that". Barry Gibb also recalls, "People crying out for help. Desperate songs. Those are the ones that become giants. The minute you capture that on record, it's gold. 'Stayin' Alive' is the epitome of that. Everybody struggles against the world, fighting all the bullshit and things that can drag you down. And it really is a victory just to survive. But when you climb back on top and win bigger than ever before, well that's something everybody reacts to everybody". "We'd also written a song called 'Saturday Night'", Maurice explains, "But there were so many songs called 'Saturday Night' even one by the Bay City Rollers, so when we rewrote it for the movie, we called it 'Stayin' Alive'.
Engineer Karl Richardson copied a choice few seconds of drumming from "Night Fever", cut out the piece of tape and glued the ends together, then fed it back into a recorder by a makeshift arrangement to create a new drum track. Drummer Dennis Bryon did not attend the recording of "Stayin' Alive". This track was finished at Criteria Studios, with Maurice laying down a bass line similar to the guitar riff, Barry and Alan on guitar riffs, while Blue Weaver added synthesizers, and the Boneroo Horns added their parts. Barry sings falsetto on the whole song, except on the line "life's going nowhere, somebody help me".
Albhy Galuten talks about the recording of "Stayin' Alive":
Barry and I listened carefully to find a bar that felt really good. Everyone knows that it's more about feel than accuracy in drum tracks. We chose a bar that felt so good that we ended up using that same loop on 'Stayin' Alive,' and 'More Than a Woman,' and then again on Barbra Streisand's song 'Woman in Love.' To make the loop, we copied the drums onto one-quarter-inch tape. Karl spliced the tape and jury rigged it so that it was going over a mic stand and around a plastic reel. At first, we were doing it just as a temporary measure. As we started to lay tracks down to it, we found that it felt really great-very insistent but not machinelike. It had a human feel. By the time we had overdubbed all the parts to the songs and Dennis came back, there was no way we could get rid of the loop.
In their work together, Gibb and Galuten had tried playing with click tracks as Galuten explained:
While today's musicians know how to get a good groove with the click, back then, if you used a click track you rarely got a good feel. The loop crossed the boundary giving us music that was in time with a good feel. If I had been working for a technology company then and knew what I was doing, I would have tried to patent the idea. Nonetheless, it changed a lot of things. That first loop was a watershed event in our life and times.
Maps Stayin' Alive
Release
The song was not initially scheduled for release, with "How Deep Is Your Love" selected as lead single, but fans called radio stations and RSO Records requesting the song immediately after seeing trailers for Saturday Night Fever, featuring the track over the aforementioned introductory scene. The single was eventually released in mid-December, a month after the album, and moved to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States in February, where it would stay for four weeks. Soon after, it would slide to number two, locking in a solid one-two punch with the Bee Gees's third smash hit from the album, "Night Fever". In the United Kingdom, "Stayin' Alive" was not as popular as it was in the United States, but was still a huge hit, topping out at number four.
Further demonstrating the Bee Gees's US chart domination in 1978, "Stayin' Alive" was replaced at number one with the group's younger brother Andy Gibb's single, "Love Is Thicker Than Water", followed by the Bee Gees's "Night Fever" for their longest run, seven weeks. This was then replaced by Yvonne Elliman's "If I Can't Have You". Barry Gibb had a hand in writing all four of these songs, becoming the only person in history to write four successive US number-one singles. Besides the version that appeared on the soundtrack album and the edited 45RPM single for Top 40 radio release, there was yet another version, from the same recording session but of a slightly different mix, that was distributed on twelve-inch vinyl to club DJs and radio stations that specialised in airing longer versions of hit songs. This "Special Disco Version", as it was called, featured all the same parts as the album version but had a horn rhythm section part interjected twice. Although twelve-inch "Disco Versions" were usually sped up, this version was slowed down slightly. This version was finally released on CD when Reprise re-issued Bee Gees Greatest in 2007 in an expanded and remastered edition. As for the message of the song, Robin Gibb was quoted as saying, "'Stayin' Alive' is about survival in the big city--any big city--but especially New York." The longest version of "Stayin' Alive" ever made was faded at 6:59, and that version was finally released on the remastered version of Bee Gees Greatest. The album edit is a still generous 4:43, but it was down to 3:29 for the single version.
Initial plans were for Yvonne Elliman, then known for ballads, to record "How Deep Is Your Love" for Saturday Night Fever, while the Bee Gees produced their own version of the more disco-oriented "If I Can't Have You" for the film. Robert Stigwood thought he would prefer the songs from different genders and directed the group to cut the ballad, while Elliman cut "If I Can't Have You" with her usual producer Freddie Perren. Satisfied with this switch, Elliman's interpretation made the soundtrack, while the Bee Gees's version was relegated to the B-side of the "Stayin' Alive" single. The brothers' version has since appeared on CD in hits compilations.
George Martin commented about this song saying: "The great thing about 'Stayin' Alive' is that it had a great guitar hook to start with which set up the theme, that pulsating beat. It's no coincidence, by the way, that the disco beat of 120 beats per minute coincides the heartbeat of your heart when you're excited. This was a key thing which underlined the whole tune, and when the vocals came in, the vocals were so designed that they pushed that beat further".
Music video
The music video for the song is of a completely different concept from Saturday Night Fever. It depicts the group singing the song on an abandoned subway terminal set at MGM Studios, directly adjacent to the one where Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was being filmed at the same time. This set featured buildings and a train station, among others.
The original three music videos for the movie Saturday Night Fever were shot on the soundstages and edited at the facilities of Video City, Inc., in North Miami, Florida. The European video for "Stayin' Alive" (with Barry sans facial hair) was one of these original three. These original music videos were scrapped and re-shot in California after Barry grew back his beard.
Personnel
- Barry Gibb - lead, harmony and backing vocals, rhythm guitar
- Robin Gibb - harmony and backing vocals
- Maurice Gibb - harmony and backing vocals, bass
- Alan Kendall - lead guitar
- Blue Weaver - keyboards, synthesizer
- Dennis Bryon (Bernard Lupe) - drums
- Joe Lala - percussion
Track listing
- "Stayin' Alive" - 3:29
- "If I Can't Have You" - 3:25
1989 reissue
- "Subway" - 4:20
- "Love So Right" - 3:33
Use in medical training
"Stayin' Alive" was used in a study to train medical professionals to provide the correct number of chest compressions per minute while performing CPR. The song has close to 104 beats per minute, and 100-120 chest compressions per minute are recommended by the British Heart Foundation and endorsed by the Resuscitation Council (UK). A study on medical professionals found that the quality of CPR is better when thinking about "Stayin' Alive". This was parodied in the Season 5 episode of comedy series The Office "Stress Relief" and the song itself was used in a season 11 episode of the medical drama Grey's Anatomy in 2015.
On 15 June 2011, the song was featured in a Hands Only CPR PSA campaign video from the American Heart Association and featured actor and medical doctor Ken Jeong in the classic John Travolta outfit from Saturday Night Fever. Vinnie Jones stars in a UK version of this CPR video in association with the British Heart Foundation shown on TV in January 2012.
Accolades
(*) indicates the list is unordered.
Charts and certifications
N-Trance version
In 1995, British electronic music group N-Trance recorded a dance version of the song, with new lyrics and rapping by Ricardo da Force. This cover reached number one on Australia's ARIA Singles Chart and Canada's RPM Dance Chart. Although it only spent one week at number one in Australia, it ended 1995 as the country's second best-selling single, after Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise", which kept "Stayin' Alive" at number two for five weeks. The song was also a major hit in Europe, reaching number 2 in Finland, Iceland, Italy, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, and reached the top 5 in several other countries.
Critical reception
Billboard wrote about the song: "U.K. import enthusiasts are already aware of this jumpy rap interpretation of the Bee Gees disco classic. Early radio reaction holds promise for a quick and successful ride up the Hot 100. There is not a whole lot of substance in TLK's rap, but he certainly has a rousing, infectious style that makes the track spark. Singer Kelly Llorenna injects some bright diva flash during the bridge and chorus."
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Stayin' Alive (Serban mix)
On 10 February 2017, Capitol Records released a new version of the song entitled "Stayin' Alive" (Serban mix). The song was mixed by Serban Ghenea from "hi-resolution audio files" from the original recording session of "Stayin' Alive", and it was mastered by Tom Coyne. The single was released in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Saturday Night Fever (1977) soundtrack.
Track listing
- Digital download
- "Stayin' Alive (Serban mix)" - 4:57
Other cover versions and samples
- In 1979, Paul Weston and Jo Stafford released a cover of the song as Jonathan and Darlene Edwards. It was backed with "I Am Woman".
- In 1991, Madchester group Happy Mondays covered it in two different versions for the non-album single "Judge Fudge".
- "Stayin' Alive" was sampled in the single "We Trying to Stay Alive" by Wyclef Jean (featuring Pras and John Forté), from the album The Carnival (1997).
- In 2006, The Sleeping covered this song for the Crank soundtrack.
- In 2016, Barry Gibb joined Coldplay during their headline set at Glastonbury Festival to perform the song.
- In 2017, Demi Lovato, Tori Kelly, Andra Day and Little Big Town covered the song for the tribute program Stayin' Alive: A Grammy Salute to the Music of the Bee Gees, where they performed at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.
Appearances in other media
Though "Stayin Alive" is heavily guarded by the Bee Gees for licensing, it has appeared in numerous movies, television shows and video games including:
- The 1978 Chevy Chase/Goldie Hawn film Foul Play.
- A 1978 episode of Hawaii Five-O entitled "Number One with a Bullet", along with "Night Fever" and "More Than a Woman".
- Two 1979 episodes of Mork & Mindy.
- The 1980 comedy film Airplane!.
- The 1980 Indonesian comedy film Pintar Pintar Bodoh (id).
- The 1980 film The Last Married Couple in America.
- The 1981 John Belushi comedy Neighbors.
- The 1983 Indonesian comedy film Dongkrak Antik (id).
- The 1983 Indonesian comedy film Maju Kena Mundur Kena (id).
- A 1987 Disney special DTV Doggone Valentine, which set to clips featuring the cats of Disney.
- The 1989 movie Look Who's Talking featuring John Travolta.
- The 1991 David Tyler CKBE-FM.
- The 1992 Rick Moranis comedy Honey, I Blew Up the Kid.
- The 1993 Jack Lemmon/Walter Matthau film Grumpy Old Men.
- A 1994 episode of The Simpsons entitled "Bart's Girlfriend", in which Bart struts down the street in a manner similar to John Travolta in the opening sequence of Saturday Night Fever. Homer also performs a parody version of the song highlighting 'Table Five' in a neighbourhood garage sale in the episode "Two Bad Neighbors".
- A flashback scene in the 1994 comedy Naked Gun 33 1/3 : The Final Insult.
- The 1995 sci-fi futuristic film Virtuosity as Russell Crowe's signature walk theme.
- Five 1995 movies: A Goofy Movie, Bushwhacked, Virtuosity, Let It Be Me and Grumpier Old Men.
- The Jack Nicholson and Glenn Close 1996 action/comedy Mars Attacks!.
- A 1997 episode of the BBC drama This Life.
- A 1997 television commercial for Pentium MMX Processors by Intel.
- The 1998 comedy A Night at the Roxbury.
- On That '70s Show, on an episode "The Velvet Rope" season 2, episode 3, 1999.
- On the BBC TV show Top Gear (2002), while the Stig is driving the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport for its power lap (Series 15, Episode 5). Presenter Jeremy Clarkson also used the song as the siren for his "Rambulance" (Series 22, Episode 3).
- In the 2005 movie Madagascar, while Marty is walking down the streets of New York City.
- In the 2005 animated film Chicken Little.
- In a 2005 episode of Everybody Hates Chris entitled Everybody Hates Greg, also a reference to Saturday Night Fever.
- In episodes of CSI: NY and Entourage (2007).
- in the Rock Band 3 music gaming platform in both Basic rhythm, and PRO mode which allows use of a real guitar / bass guitar, and MIDI compatible electronic drum kits / keyboards in addition to three-part vocal harmonies. The song was made available to download for use on 16 November 2010.
- In the BBC show Sherlock, as a ringtone of Jim Moriarty, in its series two premiere on New Year's Day, 2012. It is also heard in the series two finale, when Moriarty tells Sherlock that their final problem is 'Stayin' Alive', whilst playing the song on his phone.
- In the 2012 comedy Ted.
- During the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.
- In the sixteenth episode of the third season of Glee, "Saturday Night Glee-ver".
- In an episode of Rookie Blue on 27 June 2013, at the beginning, in which some of the main characters play paintball.
- In a 2015 TV commercial for Chick-fil-A.
- In the forty-second episode of Sonic Boom, "Late Night Wars".
- N-Trance's version is in 2016 animated movie The Secret Life of Pets.
- In the 2018 Steven Spielberg movie Ready Player One.
See also
- List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1970s
- List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1978
- List of Cash Box Top 100 number-one singles of 1978
- List of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 1978
- List of European number-one hits of 1978
- List of number-one hits of 1978 (Italy)
- List of number-one singles of 1978 (Canada)
- List of number-one singles of 1978 (France)
- List of number-one singles in 1978 (New Zealand)
- Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
References
External links
- Bee Gees Stayin' Alive Fansite
- Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
Source of article : Wikipedia
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