The interviewer was obnoxious and the Bee Gees (2 out of three) were a bit sensitive. Just an all around bad interview. But, I definitely agree you shouldn’t put up with people’s crap.
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Bee Gees walk off of interview
- Thread starter ElectroVibe
- Start date
I think you are missing the specific cultural context here. At that time, in the UK in the later 1990s, the Bee Gees were widely seen as a joke--incredibly "naff" ("cheesy") unfashionable has-beens, while Clive Anderson was one of the biggest current stars in British television. The show was just a vehicle for him to exercise his famously lightning fast wit, usually at his guests' expense.
That said, it would be fair to criticize this particular episode for its sheer laziness--the Bee Gees were simply too easy a target for someone like him, because they were already a joke. And to me at least, there is something quite uncomfortable about watching a Cambridge-educated former trial lawyer taking sneery cheap shots at some working class musicians, who had after all given a lot of pleasure to many people over many years with their music.
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I would argue the opposite is also true. These type of show hosts are gatekeepers, they get a strong say in who is relevant and in the public consciousness. “Artists” are rather insignificant, as they’re a dime a dozen. So yes, the show needs something to promote to fill the time, but there’s always someone else to sell. The guy next door could be the biggest star if enough influential people say he is, and the most talented person in the world is a nobody if they aren’t given the time of day.
No doubt, and i sometimes suffer from stress created by a mind/body conflict which occurs when my mind won’t allow me to slap the poopie out of someone who so desperately needs it.
Absolutely. A close corollary to this is the way especially US journalists routinely kiss artists' tushes in exchange for access. It has become a total circle jerk. I'm glad I grew up in a time when critics were a little bit, er, critical.
It's not like the Bee Gees are dour and humorless. Barry thought Fallon and Timberlake were hilarious when they did their SNL impression.
I think Anderson crossed the line between humor and insult. The Bee Gees were only subject to disrespectful lampooning for a very brief period here in the States, that being the disco craze. Their career is largely considered impressive and successful by most Yank music lovers.
I think Anderson crossed the line between humor and insult. The Bee Gees were only subject to disrespectful lampooning for a very brief period here in the States, that being the disco craze. Their career is largely considered impressive and successful by most Yank music lovers.
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At first the BGs came back with lightning speed reposts but it got harder and harder. They are musicians and if that dipsh_t interviewer wanted to jam that would have been fine but the banter got harder and harder. Stick with what you know and don`t work too hard. I`d have walked too.I agree. That was odd... I didn't quite get why they walked off.
Don't think I'd enjoy hanging with those guys.
- Oct 7, 2000
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I didn't even catch the line that put them off so much? Could you quote it, my hearing is shot and I was listening without headphones when my wife was sleeping, lol
?I though the dog comment was tasteless, but they laughed that off.
It's more a British humor thing and after all the Bee Gees were/are Brits. Their early music was appreciated, but they became a bit of a joke during their disco era. (I get that maybe not so much in the USA) Expecting the famous to take a joke and a bit of a roasting is a thing in a country that where self deprecating humor is commonplace and people who can't cop it sweet are regarded as a bit up themselves.
To get an idea of how much of a joke their disco era became in the UK when a parody band made a top selling LP. Though they didn't just parody the Bee Gees, Here are The Hee Bee Gee Bee's doing the Bee Gee's and The Police.
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To get an idea of how much of a joke their disco era became in the UK when a parody band made a top selling LP. Though they didn't just parody the Bee Gees, Here are The Hee Bee Gee Bee's doing the Bee Gee's and The Police.
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The problem is, we're not talking about a music critic. But a tone deaf moron.
Backdoor ... lol. It was def. Howard`s thing. The wife prolly wasn`t hip to it, so he fixated.
To expand upon what you said: Who is going down in history as a cultural icon? I never even heard of Anderson until this thread and I am no spring chicken. That is the curse of shysters: they can get rich but they never get relevant.
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I didn`t catch it either, Joe, I got the gist after the first few shots in and hit stop. I suspect it was a cumulative effect in play.I didn't even catch the line that put them off so much? Could you quote it, my hearing is shot and I was listening without headphones when my wife was sleeping, lol
I though the dog comment was tasteless, but they laughed that off.
Barry prolly said: Let`s hit the bar boys, life is too short.
Yes, no doubt, in the grand global scheme of things in 2020, the Bee Gees are far more iconic. Even the music that made people cringe back in the 90s is now invested with a warm glow of nostalgia and their talents are more appreciated again. As for CA, he was never more than a local celebrity in the UK and even there, as far as I can tell, he is now nothing like as visible as he used to be. That video captures a brief moment in time in a particular place when he was more "relevant" than the Bee Gees, as strange as that might seem from this distance.
Wow, "tone deaf moron" and you recon he was tough on the Bee Gee's....
I'm no fan of Mr Anderson, but in this case he wasn't interviewing them as a music critic, he was doing what the shows format intended. At that time in the UK, anyone in the business, including the Bee Gee's would have known what to expect, their agent would even have discussed with the shows producers what was off limits and what was not. The fact that the interviewer might have pushed things a bit, or was sharper than expected, led to the walk off. Or just maybe it was staged and the Bee Gees got some publicity and sympathy, at a time when their image was a bit tarnished in the UK. As the saying goes, "all publicity is good publicity."
