Night Fever

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...'Night Fever' started off because Barry walked in one morning when I was trying to work out something. I always wanted to do a disco version of Theme from A Summer Place by the Percy Faith Orchestra or something - it was a big hit in the Sixties. I was playing that, and Barry said, 'What was that?' and I said, 'Theme from A Summer Place', and Barry said, 'No, it wasn't'. It was new. Barry heard the idea - I was playing it on a string synthesizer and sang the riff over it. [7]

— Blue Weaver

Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb completed the lyrics for "Night Fever" sitting on a staircase (reminiscent of their first international hit "New York Mining Disaster 1941", which was written also in a staircase back in 1967). [7]

Recording

The Bee Gees began recording this song by April 1977 in France and finishing 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. [2]

...For 'Night Fever' the group had the hook-line and rhythm - they usually pat their legs to set up a song's rhythm when they first sing it - and parts of the verses. They had the emotion, same as on the record. We put down battery first, so the feel was locked in. The electric piano part was put on before the bass, then the heavy guitar parts. We had the sound, but we needed something there to shake it so we used the thunder sound. [7]

—  Albhy Galuten

Reception

According to Billboard , it has a "jumping disco beat" and a "smooth falsetto lead" vocal. [8] Cash Box similarly said that it has "dancin' beat, scratchy guitar, sweeping orchestration and the familiar falsetto." [9] Record World predicted that it would become "another dance tempo hit" for the Bee Gees. [10]

Legacy

It also 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 #1s for the band, tying the Beatles for the record for most consecutive #1 singles. Billboard ranked it as the No. 2 song for 1978, behind Andy Gibb's "Shadow Dancing". [11]

"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 has also 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. [12] 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.[ citation needed ] 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 3-mile (5 km) motel strip in what is now Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. [13] Most of the motels which appear in the video are now closed or demolished, including several whose names are reminiscent of Las Vegas resorts (Castaways, Desert Inn, Sahara, Golden Nugget).[ citation needed ]

Personnel

Charts

"Night Fever"
Night fever uk single bee gees.jpg
Single by Bee Gees
from the album Saturday Night Fever
B-side "Down the Road" (live)
ReleasedJanuary 1978 (US) [1]
Recorded
  • c. April 1977
  • September 1977 [2]
Studio
Genre Disco
Length3:32
Label RSO
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Bee Gees singles chronology
"Stayin' Alive"
(1977)		"Night Fever"
(1978)		"Too Much Heaven"
(1978)
Audio sample
"Night Fever"

Certifications and sales

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [52] Platinum150,000^
France—300,000 [53]
Italy (FIMI) [54]
sales since 2009 		Gold50,000‡
Japan—500,000 [55]
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [56] Gold30,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) [57] Platinum650,000 [58]
United States (RIAA) [59] Platinum2,500,000 [60]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Ex-It version

"Night Fever"
Single by Ex-It
Released20 April 1996
Recorded1996
Genre Eurodance
Length3:45
Label BMG
Songwriter(s) Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb, Robinson, Andreas Hötter, Alexander Stiepel
Producer(s) Robinson, Andreas Hötter, Alexander Stiepel
Ex-It singles chronology
"I Want It All"
(1996)		"Night Fever"
(1996)

In 1996, the Austrian music group Ex-It covered the song and made a small notable success. Large parts of the original were retained in this version, but with many rap passages added. This cover is the compilations Dance Now! 14, Maxi Dance Sensation 21 and Hot Hits [TL 541/35].

Music video

The music video copies many elements of the movie Saturday Night Fever and satirizes the same. At the beginning of the video, the DJ plays the song, while the protagonist and his girlfriend in a tool shop look around and watch a radio. Then prepare for a visit to a disco and dance there in the rest of the plot. [61]

Charts

Chart (1996)Peak
position
Australia (ARIA Charts) [62] 82
Austrian Singles Chart [63] 30

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"(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away" is a song penned by Barry Gibb and Blue Weaver and recorded by the Bee Gees in 1977 on the Saturday Night Fever sessions but was not released until Bee Gees Greatest (1979). A different version was released in September 1978 as the third single by Andy Gibb from his second studio album Shadow Dancing.

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