Bee Gees-Spirits Having Flown (1979)


 

Artist: Bee Gees

Title: Spirits Having Flown

Label: RSO

Format: LP

Cat #:RS-1-3041

Year of Release:1979

Country and Year of Edition Issue: US 1979 gatefold

Listed Condition: VG/G

Sell Date: 6/14/21

Sell Price: $3.99

Discogs Last Sold: 4/24/21 VG/VG $3.00

Low:$2.75

Median: $4.00

Average: $4.51

High: $8.00

Current low price: $1.00

Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 41

Have/Want: 434/72

Where Sold: Montclair, NJ

Time it took to sell: 6 years

Where and When Bought: Norwich CT at Caldors in early 79

Gwiz-gau Letter Grade:B

Sad To See It Go: No

"I HATE Disco!  All I hear is a cymbal and a backbeat."-Barry Gibb as relayed by Casey Kasem circa 1980.

When I was 8 in the first half of '79 I was PRIMED for the new Bee Gees album.  Dynamite Magazine had a cover story that Beatles vs Bee Gee were locking horns for the greatest band of all time.  There had yet to be a follow-up to their tracks from Saturday Night Fever, which I listened to relentlessly.

So when my grandma took me to Caldors and let me pick a record in early '79, as a discerning 8 year old, I HAD to have the new Bee Gees.  As with any record I had in the home, I played it beyond memorization.  Upon relistening, I remembered every single track.

The 3 number one Billboard hits open side one: "Tragedy," "Love You Inside Out" and "Too Much Heaven."  None of those had the same clout with me as "Stayin' Alive," "Night Fever" and "Jive Talkin'."  I guess "Tragedy" I liked, but the other two didn't generate much excitement on my kneejerk listening.  Nor did the rest of the record, but I still know it cold which counts for something.  The Bee Gees TV Special spilled the beans on the "Tragedy" explosion.

There were last "Disco" numbers: "Living Together" and the side 2 open "Search Find" seemed likely to be Studio 54 filler, but they clearly wanted to turn into an R&B direction.

"Rest Your Love On Me" was the unreleased single B-side from "Too Much Heaven" in the Fall of '78.  The Country style didn't fit the album.  "Until" ("Tragedy")  and "Satisfied" "(Love You Inside Out") were released as B-sides and the Christmas compilation came out at the end of the year and briefly topped the charts before Barry Gibb got Guilty with Streisand. 

In 1979 the underground punk rock world was calling for their execution  as were the mainstream Rock Radio anarchists of the midwest.  As a 8/9 year old I was still a fan. By 1980 I was getting away from pop and moving into corporate Rock radio and all it stood for.  By Living Eyes in 1981, the Brothers Gibb were dead to me.  Everything they recorded after Spirits Having Flown was roundly ignored by me.  Even as I continued to track Top 40 for knowledge more than pleasure.  Something was wrong with "He's A Liar."  

42 years later, I was curious to hear Spirits Having Flown one last time.

In headphones, even!

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