(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)
Bee Gees - "You Should Be Dancing"
Hit Number 1: September 4, 1976
Stay at Number 1: 1 Week
It's hard for me to believe sometimes that there was a time where the Bee Gees weren't disco. In fact, they were very far removed from disco, as they fit more into what we call "blue-eyed soul." (aka soul sung by white guys) Back in virtual 1971, the band gave us "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart," a somber tune about breakup. It made for one of the most sad-sounding songs to ever top the Hot 100, and just five years later, these guys were singing anything that was the polar opposite of sad. I'm not sure what it was that changed things for the Bee Gees. I'm not sure if they got swept up in the disco madness that was taking over the world, or if they were trying to become these big groundbreakers for the genre. Maybe they didn't intend for it to happen this way, but it would be the latter that rang true for the Bee Gees. In 1976, they showed us that they were a band rising, and going to become something we had never seen before. They were commanding everyone to dance in a time where disco dancing was shooting up in popularity.
The last time the Bee Gees appeared in this series, we could already tell that the Bee Gees were transforming their sound. In 1975 they brought us "Jive Talkin'" a fun and loose song about calling someone out on their bullshit. Already, they were miles away from what they gave us with "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart," but what's crazy is that they were still changing their sound, and their music was only going to get more fun, and dare I say more iconic. Crosby, Stills & Nash might have some of the first people to figure that out when they were recording one of thier albums in the same studio of the Bee Gees. Stephen Stills recalled several years later that David Crosby was gloating about CSN's new album, thinking it was going to be the album of the year. Stills disagreed with that, saying he believed that was being recorded across the hall. That's where the Bee Gees were recording much of thier material that would eventually appear on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. For those who might not already know, this was historical stuff being recorded in that studio. One of those songs was "You Should Be Dancing."
One of the biggest changes the Bee Gees made to their music wasn't just the new disco flavor they were giving their songs, it was actually Barry Gibb's voice too. For all of the Bee Gees' earliest stuff, Gibb sang with a "normal" voice. Just like you or I would sing a song. But then sometime after "Jive Talkin'" was recorded, Gibb started tampering around with his own voice, and started using a falsetto more. The first time he used his falsetto in a real song was with "Baby As You Turn Away," which was included on the Main Course album, but didn't amount to anything special. (By my research, it was never given the go-ahead for single release) But he worked on it more and more, and on "You Should Be Dancing," his falsetto was off the charts. This song marked the beginning of the new era Bee Gees. The Bee Gees that, with the help of Saturday Night Fever, would achieve ridiculous levels of chart success.
I think it's pretty clear what this song is about. The Gibb brothers wonder what you're doing laying on your bed when you should be dancing, while also somewhat randomly telling us that their woman moves at midnight, and goes right on 'til the dawn. But this is the disco era, so who cares what the lyrics are telling us? We should just be following their commands and dancing.
Which, it's impossible to not let this song get your blood flowing and get you moving at least a little bit. Barry Gibb's voice pierces right through the soul, and at one point in the song, there's a horn and little guitar solo, which obliterate the soul that Barry pierced. The song has this indescribable flare to it that puts it right up there with the best of the best as far as disco goes. There's even a bass drop in the beginning of the song. A bass drop! At that moment we're treated to some extremely fun dance music, and it should be no surprise that this song was being played in clubs everywhere across the nation. I mean I know club music is so much different now, but even in 2022 I don't know how this song could fail to draw people to a dance floor. We should all be dancing to "You Should Be Dancing," no matter what time we grew up in.
But something else I like is how simple the song's message is. There's no story being told, or something that's supposed to make us think. It tells us the intention of every disco song in existence: they want you to get up and dance! The Bee Gees are basically telling us that there's no reason or excuse to be sitting around not doing anything. And "You Should Be Dancing" is so upbeat and wild that that's not really even an option. It's up for debate on what the first true disco #1 hit is, but I think this is the one right here. There were some other songs that I feel like gave us a preview of what the genre was going to bring us, but once we got to "You Should Be Dancing," I think we've officially arrived at the disco era.
GRADE: 9/10
JUST MISSED:
Another good disco-sounding song in its own right, Lou Rawls' disco/soul song "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" peaked at #2 behind "You Should Be Dancing." It's also a 9.
IN POP CULTURE:
There's only one acceptable option to put here. Here's a clip of John Travolta dancing to "You Should Be Dancing" in a famous scene in Saturday Night Fever:
(John Travolta and Saturday Night Fever, I have a feeling, will be brought up a lot in this blog in the coming months)
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