18 Jun 2023

Bob Stanley: Fathoming the Brothers Gibb

From Sunday Morning, 8:30 am on 18 June 2023

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Since founding the indie pop group Saint Etienne, Bob Stanley has also enjoyed a career as a music journalist, writing extensively for the Guardian and the Times of London as well as the major music magazines. His books, Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop and its prequel Let's Do It: The Birth of Pop are considered by many to be definitive guides to the history of the genre. 

British band Bee Gees singer, Robin Gibb (C), flanked by his two brothers Maurice (L) and Barry (R), sings during a concert at Paris Bercy on June 23, 1991. Gibb, 62, died on May 21, 2012 after a lengthy battle with cancer. AFP PHOTO / BERTRAND GUAY (Photo by BERTRAND GUAY / AFP)

Photo: BERTRAND GUAY

His latest book is about just one band in that history. Bee Gees: Children Of The World, the rise of a broke band of brothers who lived in England, then Australia and then England again.  

Bee Gees: Children of the World by Bob Stanley - book and author composite

Photo: Simon & Schuster

Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb went from setting other people's property on fire, in one reported incident, to setting the world on fire with dance music. With a career spanning ballads in the 1960s, disco in the seventies, numerous number one songs - often sung by other people - through the 1980s and 90s, they would be the most successful family musical trio of all time. 

The Bee Gees You Tube channel still gets a million and a half views a day, and the famous songs continue to bring in millions of dollars a year.