Night Fever
"Night Fever" is a song written and performed by the Bee Gees. It first appeared on the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever on RSO Records. The song bounded up the Billboard charts while the Bee Gees’ two previous hits from Saturday Night Fever soundtrack were still in the top ten.
The record debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart at #76, then leaped up 44 positions to #32. It then moved: 32–17–8–5–2–1. It remained at #1 for eight weeks, and ultimately spent 13 weeks in the top 10. For the first five weeks that "Night Fever" was at #1, "Stayin' Alive" was at #2. Also, for one week in March, Bee Gees related songs held five of the top positions on the Hot 100 chart, and four of the top five positions, with "Night Fever" at the top of the list. The B-side of "Night Fever" is a live version of "Down the Road" taken from the Bee Gees' 1977 album, Here at Last... Bee Gees... Live.
Inspiration and writing
When Bee Gees manager Robert Stigwood was producing a movie about a New York disco scene, the working title for the film at that time was Saturday Night. Stigwood asked the group to write a song using that name as a title, but the Bee Gees disliked it. They had already written a song called "Night Fever", so the group convinced Stigwood to use that and change the film to Saturday Night Fever.The string intro of "Night Fever" was inspired by "Theme from A Summer Place" by Percy Faith, according to keyboardist Blue Weaver. As Weaver explains the history behind this song:
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb completed the lyrics for "Night Fever" sitting on a staircase.
Recording
The Bee Gees began recording the song by April 1977 in France and finished it in September the same year. A demo of "Night Fever" with some instrumental and vocals heard on it exists and was available to download on Rhino Records' website in 2009 or earlier.Reception
According to Billboard, it has a "jumping disco beat" and a "smooth falsetto lead" vocal. Cash Box similarly said that it has "dancin' beat, scratchy guitar, sweeping orchestration and the familiar falsetto." Record World predicted that it would become "another dance tempo hit" for the Bee Gees.Legacy
The song replaced Andy Gibb's "Love Is Thicker Than Water" at number one and was in turn replaced by Yvonne Elliman's "If I Can't Have You"—all of which were written and produced by the Gibb brothers. It would be the third of six consecutive US number-ones for the band, tying the Beatles for the record for most consecutive number-one singles. Billboard ranked it as the No. 2 song for 1978, behind Andy Gibb's "Shadow Dancing"."Night Fever" topped the UK Singles Chart for two weeks, their third UK number-one, and in the US it remained the number-one Billboard Hot 100 single for over two months in 1978. In addition to Saturday Night Fever, the song appeared in the movie and on the soundtrack for Mystery Men. The song is listed at number 38 on Billboard's All Time Top 100. It is also featured in other films including Luna, Mr. Saturday Night, I.D., Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?, and Avenue Montaigne.
Music video
A music video was made for the song in 1978 but not shown to the public until 26 years later, in 2004. It features the brothers singing the song in a darkened studio, layered over background video filmed while driving along "Motel Row" on Collins Avenue, a motel strip in what is now Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. Most of the motels which appear in the video are now closed or demolished, including several whose names are reminiscent of Las Vegas resorts.Personnel
- Barry Gibb – lead, harmony and backing vocals, rhythm guitar
- Robin Gibb – harmony and backing vocals
- Maurice Gibb – bass, harmony and backing vocals
- Alan Kendall – lead guitar
- Dennis Bryon – drums
- Blue Weaver – Fender Rhodes electric piano, harpsichord, piano, and ARP String Ensemble
Charts
Weekly charts
| Chart | Peak position |