THE BEE GEES – MAIN COURSE. THURSDAY 29th JUNE – 7.30pm

It may sound silly to call the 12th album by a group with an eight-year string of gold records behind them a “breakthrough,” but that’s what Main Course was. Released in 1975, the group’s first disco album -– and, for many white listeners, the first disco album they ever purchased – Main Course marked a huge change in the Bee Gees’ sound. The group’s earlier LPs, steeped in a dense romantic balladry, were beautifully crafted but too serious for any but hardcore fans. 

Main Course had a few ballads, such as “Songbird” and “Country Lanes,” but the writing was simpler, and the rest of it was made up of catchy dance tunes (heavily influenced by the Philadelphia-based soul music of the period), in which the beat and the texture of the voices and instruments took precedence over the words. The combination proved irresistible, and Main Course – driven by the singles “Jive Talkin’,” “Nights on Broadway,” and “Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)” – attracted millions of new listeners. 

Years later, Main Course holds up as well as anything the group ever did, and with killer album cuts like “Wind of Change” and “Edge of the Universe” all over it, demands as much attention as any hits compilation by the group.

We are delighted that Bob Stanley is with us to talk about the Bee Gees’ album, the terrific Main Course. Bob’s latest offering is Children Of TheWorld, a unique biography of the Bee Gees. Bob is a writer, musician, dj and film producer. Since founding influential pop group Saint Etienne, He has enjoyed a parallel career as a journalist and is the author of Yeah Yeah Yeah and 2023 Penderyn Music Book Prize Winner, Let’s Do It: The Birth Of Pop.

Happy Trails.