Article updated January 2022 for the 20th anniversary of Maurice Gibb’s death. He was the glue, the joker, the multi-instrumentalist and the rock ‘n’ roll of the Bee Gees and today, it’s 20 years since Maurice Gibb’s sudden death. Thinking back to the news headlines after Maurice died (due to complications from a twisted intestine),…
Category: Music
Saturday Night Fever Turns 40, Barry Gibb Gets A Knighthood & This Music Geek Discovers Something Unusual About The Fever Songs
Barry Gibb has a knighthood and I’m a happy man. I’m not much into numerology, but there is something about the Gibb family and the number 7. The Bee Gees had their first international hits in 1967, they released what became the biggest selling album of all time in 1977, they stormed back to the top of…
Paul McCartney Live: My NZ Herald Review Of His ‘Profound’ Auckland Concert
On Saturday I had the honour of being asked to review the Paul McCartney concert in Auckland for the New Zealand Herald. The pressure! With an understandably tight deadline, I was up until 3am trying to capture what made this three-hour event so remarkable. Here is the link: Review: Paul McCartney’s ‘profound’ Auckland concert Thanks…
Happy 65th To The Coolest Man In Music – A Coast Soul Special For Nile Rodgers
In a post-David Bowie world, is there a cooler musician alive than Nile Rodgers? I’m not certain there is. Aside from what he can do rhythmically with an electric guitar, there are the dreads, the sunnies, the beret, the suits and most crucially, the sense of being entirely comfortable in his own skin. Turning 65…
Barry Gibb: ‘You’re living in the now and you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow’ – Our Extended 2009 Interview
Bee Gees with their Saturday Night Fever Album Of The Year Grammy, 1979. Barry Gibb once told me this was up there with the favourite interviews he’s ever done. Well Barry, it’s fair to say the feeling is mutual, though more to the point, the gratitude and the pleasure is mine. To mark the…
The Night That Elvis Saved His Career & Sealed His Legacy – My NZ Herald Tribute
Today the New Zealand Herald published my tribute to Elvis on the 40th anniversary of his death. How do you sum up the career of arguably the most important figure in the history of popular music in 800 words? Well, I gave it my best shot. And the angle for me was that the famous 68…
Goodbye To Joy Ramirez – The Stunning Stevie Wonder Song She Had At Her Wedding
Just over 24 hours ago I heard that one of my oldest and most remarkable friends had died in a tragic accident on her honeymoon in Vanuatu. I will never, ever forget Joy Ramirez and right now I feel very much in denial. Because Joy was always there for me. Though as I’m increasingly discovering, she…
Glen Campbell Dies – Watch Him Sing & Play The Bagpipes On Amazing Grace
It’s really sad to hear that Glen Campbell has died at the age of 81, his final years ever increasingly affected by Alzheimer’s. As soon as I heard the news I remembered this clip below and the blog post I wrote back in 2011. I was hosting a late night talk radio show and I’d…
After Breaking Records At Glastonbury, Could Barry Gibb Be Teaming Up With Nile Rodgers?
One week on, the numbers for Barry Gibb’s ‘Legends slot’ at Glastonbury are looking even more impressive with news the latest Bee Gees best of, Timeless: The All-Time Greatest Hits, has shot into the UK top 10 at #9*. This is as a direct result of Barry’s 15-song Glastonbury performance, a setlist that contained no less…
U2 Stun With A Live, Gospel Version Of ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’
“We want to play for you now a gospel song, a gospel song with a restless spirit”. What a beautiful and succinct way to describe one of the most meaningful hits of the 80s and from an album that’s just as powerful 30 years on as it was in 1987. U2 would’ve performed I Still…
Music With A Message – My Newstalk ZB Interview On Why Pop Matters
A few weeks back I was interviewed on another Newstalk ZB show, Total Recall, about pop songs that have a message and a conscience. As someone who loves popular music and the possibilities of the format (including when it’s being highly socially charged) this is one of my favourite topics. In the clip below (approximately…
5 Years On From The Deaths Of Donna Summer & Robin Gibb – Why They Were So Much More Than The 70s
It’s five years ago this week since two icons of the 70s disco era, Donna Summer and Robin Gibb, both passed away. It was May 17, 2012 that a 63-year old Summer died of lung cancer. Just three days later the headlines shifted to Gibb’s death from colorectal cancer aged 62. People talk about 2016…
