Could the BBs have had a disco hit by remaking a different song instead of HCTN?

[CenturyDeprived]

Could the BBs have had a disco hit by remaking a different song instead of HCTN?

Firstly, I wonder how many people had heard of the original 1967 HCTN in 1979… That came from an album that is and was a cult album, and not a great seller.  I imagine that the majority of people who heard the disco version thought they were simply hearing a brand-new BB song and not a remake of an old obscure song.

That said, I wonder if the single tanking had to do with it being released too late in the game for the disco genre, the public not wanting to hear that disco sound from this band, or if it was a production that just didn't connect with listeners. Or all of the above.

But... My real question is: If the BBs had instead reworked a different old song, possibly another obscure older BB song, or possibly a very famous song, into a disco version… Would that have made a difference? And maybe if it was done a year or two earlier? Could they have possibly under another set of circumstances had a disco hit?

[joshferrell]

they should have stayed away from doing any Disco song.... IMO

[Pretty Funky]

...and mine!

[Eric Aniversario]

This might sound crazy, but I think Slip On Through could have been a good disco song. But probably not any bigger on the charts than HCTN.

[Lonely Summer]

I think the problem was, that apart from the vocals, they totally gave up their own sound to go disco. It was possible to have a disco influence on a record, as the Rolling Stones proved with "Miss You", and still sound like yourself. Wings had a disco hit with "Goodnight Tonight" around the same time as the BB's released HCTN, but the difference was, it still felt like a record produced by Paul McCartney. And no way should the 10 minute HCTN been an album track - that should have been exclusive to the 12 inch single.

[doinnothin]

I don't think there's a problem with Beach Boys + Disco, personally. I even looped up Brian's disco tag to Thinkin' Bout You Baby by Spring from 1972 cause I dug it so much. https://soundcloud.com/davesegal/spring-ooh-baby-loop-demo


I think Darlin' was a good candidate, hopefully better than this Flo + Eddie assisted version though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsQmzHeaE0w (not quite disco, but they're trying)

Sail Plane Song or Don't Talk would sound cool with a Giorgio Moroder "I Feel Love" type vibe underneath.

Forever would have been pretty perfect actually turned upbeat. Be With Me too. Actually, Dennis could have been a great disco writer.

The Night Was So Young, All I Wanna Do, and Don't Worry Baby would work

Wild Honey. I Can Hear Music though it's a cover. I'd check a remix album if someone made one for sure.

[joshferrell]

well at least have them do a separate album (or EP) and not place the song (Or songs) on LA... I guess "Darlin'" is as good as any, "You're so good to me" also could have been a good contender..

[Pretty Funky]

I have said before that it was the music of the time however there was only room for one 'legacy' act to pull it off, and that had been the Four Seasons a few years prior.

[Alan Smith]

Go hard or go home - a Good Vibrations '78 could have nailed it...

[filledeplage]

Could the BBs have had a disco hit by remaking a different song instead of HCTN?

Firstly, I wonder how many people had heard of the original 1967 HCTN in 1979… That came from an album that is and was a cult album, and not a great seller.  I imagine that the majority of people who heard the disco version thought they were simply hearing a brand-new BB song and not a remake of an old obscure song.

That said, I wonder if the single tanking had to do with it being released too late in the game for the disco genre, the public not wanting to hear that disco sound from this band, or if it was a production that just didn't connect with listeners. Or all of the above.

But... My real question is: If the BBs had instead reworked a different old song, possibly another obscure older BB song, or possibly a very famous song, into a disco version… Would that have made a difference? And maybe if it was done a year or two earlier? Could they have possibly under another set of circumstances had a disco hit?

Wild Honey (as an album) is hardly a "cult" album. I've never heard it referred to in that context.  It is more a BB tribute to "soul music" and shifting gears after Smiley was released.  It is "Brian" heavy with 3/4 of the tracks from his composership. And, heavy on the "Carl" leads.   I prefer the artwork to Smiley which "popped" on the LP store rack. Primary colors do that.  Christgau gave it an A.  It never ( the double 2001 CD) comes out of the car.  A favorite!

Here Comes the Night was a little late, on the time-line end of disco.  But an interesting remake.  I like the long version a lot.  What happened with the Bee Gees was somewhat unique, after having a BB-like decline. A fluke.  I remember having seen them (The Bee Gees) at a public show where there weren't a hundred people around 1971-2.  Talk about a disco-renaissance!

Saturday Night Fever was their Kokomo! It brought them out of almost obscurity, with people diving after their original work.

[beatnickle]

Who cares ??

[Magic Transistor Radio]

Although, I have to be in the mood to listen to it, I embrace the Beach Boys touching on the Disco, like they later did with rap. Why not? Just a hit and run.

And I'd have to admit that it occured to me that they remake the entire Wild Honey album and called it Wild Honey Disco. A few tracks would be interesting with the disco flavor, such as the title track, How She Boogalooed It and Darlin.    


(It's funny to think about this while Revolution 9 is playing in my headphones!)

[Paul J B]

Could the BBs have had a disco hit by remaking a different song instead of HCTN?

Firstly, I wonder how many people had heard of the original 1967 HCTN in 1979… That came from an album that is and was a cult album, and not a great seller.  I imagine that the majority of people who heard the disco version thought they were simply hearing a brand-new BB song and not a remake of an old obscure song.

That said, I wonder if the single tanking had to do with it being released too late in the game for the disco genre, the public not wanting to hear that disco sound from this band, or if it was a production that just didn't connect with listeners. Or all of the above.

But... My real question is: If the BBs had instead reworked a different old song, possibly another obscure older BB song, or possibly a very famous song, into a disco version… Would that have made a difference? And maybe if it was done a year or two earlier? Could they have possibly under another set of circumstances had a disco hit?

Wild Honey (as an album) is hardly a "cult" album. I've never heard it referred to in that context.  It is more a BB tribute to "soul music" and shifting gears after Smiley was released.  It is "Brian" heavy with 3/4 of the tracks from his composership. And, heavy on the "Carl" leads.   I prefer the artwork to Smiley which "popped" on the LP store rack. Primary colors do that.  Christgau gave it an A.  It never ( the double 2001 CD) comes out of the car.  A favorite!

Here Comes the Night was a little late, on the time-line end of disco.  But an interesting remake.  I like the long version a lot.  What happened with the Bee Gees was somewhat unique, after having a BB-like decline. A fluke.  I remember having seen them (The Bee Gees) at a public show where there weren't a hundred people around 1971-2.  Talk about a disco-renaissance!

Saturday Night Fever was their Kokomo! It brought them out of almost obscurity, with people diving after their original work.

Actually I think it was Jive Talkin' a few years earlier. I saw them on that tour in Milwaukee and they were already back. That Main Course album has a lot of great songs on it.

As far as The BB's Disco ...had HCTN come out around Love you I think it would have worked.

[filledeplage]

Could the BBs have had a disco hit by remaking a different song instead of HCTN?

Firstly, I wonder how many people had heard of the original 1967 HCTN in 1979… That came from an album that is and was a cult album, and not a great seller.  I imagine that the majority of people who heard the disco version thought they were simply hearing a brand-new BB song and not a remake of an old obscure song.

That said, I wonder if the single tanking had to do with it being released too late in the game for the disco genre, the public not wanting to hear that disco sound from this band, or if it was a production that just didn't connect with listeners. Or all of the above.

But... My real question is: If the BBs had instead reworked a different old song, possibly another obscure older BB song, or possibly a very famous song, into a disco version… Would that have made a difference? And maybe if it was done a year or two earlier? Could they have possibly under another set of circumstances had a disco hit?

Wild Honey (as an album) is hardly a "cult" album. I've never heard it referred to in that context.  It is more a BB tribute to "soul music" and shifting gears after Smiley was released.  It is "Brian" heavy with 3/4 of the tracks from his composership. And, heavy on the "Carl" leads.   I prefer the artwork to Smiley which "popped" on the LP store rack. Primary colors do that.  Christgau gave it an A.  It never ( the double 2001 CD) comes out of the car.  A favorite!

Here Comes the Night was a little late, on the time-line end of disco.  But an interesting remake.  I like the long version a lot.  What happened with the Bee Gees was somewhat unique, after having a BB-like decline. A fluke.  I remember having seen them (The Bee Gees) at a public show where there weren't a hundred people around 1971-2.  Talk about a disco-renaissance!

Saturday Night Fever was their Kokomo! It brought them out of almost obscurity, with people diving after their original work.

Actually I think it was Jive Talkin' a few years earlier. I saw them on that tour in Milwaukee and they were already back. That Main Course album has a lot of great songs on it.

As far as The BB's Disco ...had HCTN come out around Love you I think it would have worked.

You could be right.  But the sound track with the Travolta movie really made a huge career difference.  Jive Talkin' was big as well. 

Only a few years might have made a difference with HCTN...you're correct!

[Steve Latshaw]

I think a disco version of Roller Skating Child would have been a big hit... and the version they played live in 1979 had a very rollicking disco sound, particularly the bass line.

[CenturyDeprived]

Who cares ??

I do. That's why I started the thread.  

As do the people who cared to reply.

Geez.

[CenturyDeprived]

I think a disco version of Roller Skating Child would have been a big hit... and the version they played live in 1979 had a very rollicking disco sound, particularly the bass line.

I think there's a very good possibility of that. Roller Skating Child (in a redone disco form or in its original album form) is probably one of the very biggest missed opportunities in the band's catalog. Maybe the biggest post 1960s. It rocks, and in a fun "single" radio hit type of way, IMO.

[CenturyDeprived]

I also wonder if any other songs were in consideration by The BBs for being remade as a disco hit.

You'd think that the idea *must* have been floated around of remaking a hit song, like Good Vibrations. I'm certainly glad that didn't happen. Though I'd bet a few bucks that if the disco HCTN 1979 song had become a hit, that we'd have seen a disco Good Vibrations remake, and way, way more.

The thing that made The Bee Gees (one of my favorite bands) have disco hits was that they weren't remaking old Bee Gees songs, but they were writing new songs on a very high level of songwriting, at the very least equal to their best pre-disco material. Much as I love the other BBs material around this time, the band would probably have needed an engaged Brian to pull that off. Plus a sober Denny up front as the hunk, Barry Gibb style.

But what made the band choose HCTN, specifically? It's a rad song, to be sure... but just an odd one to pick. I'd imagine there had to have been a few other contenders on a list, what do you think? Maybe Bruce knows.

The only thing that makes sense is that HCTN  does indeed blatantly reference "night", and nighttime was a big topic of disco lyrical content. I recently came across this Onion article, which may sum up the band's reasoning:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/study-not-many-disco-songs-about-daytime,38263/

[job]

Definitely "Surf's Up".

[filledeplage]

I also wonder if any other songs were in consideration by The BBs for being remade as a disco hit.

You'd think that the idea *must* have been floated around of remaking a hit song, like Good Vibrations. I'm certainly glad that didn't happen. Though I'd bet a few bucks that if the disco HCTN 1979 song had become a hit, that we'd have seen a disco Good Vibrations remake, and way, way more.

The thing that made The Bee Gees (one of my favorite bands) have disco hits was that they weren't remaking old Bee Gees songs, but they were writing new songs on a very high level of songwriting, at the very least equal to their best pre-disco material. Much as I love the other BBs material around this time, the band would probably have needed an engaged Brian to pull that off. Plus a sober Denny up front as the hunk, Barry Gibb style.

But what made the band choose HCTN, specifically? It's a rad song, to be sure... but just an odd one to pick. I'd imagine there had to have been a few other contenders on a list, what do you think? Maybe Bruce knows.

The only thing that makes sense is that HCTN  does indeed blatantly reference "night", and nighttime was a big topic of disco lyrical content. I recently came across this Onion article, which may sum up the band's reasoning:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/study-not-many-disco-songs-about-daytime,38263/

GV? Disco? Yikes! Sacrilege.  

Fine for Bee Gees. Somehow, I'm not seeing Dennis as a disco duck...

HCTN lends itself to disco (doubled tempo)...it is night music!

[Jesse Reiswig]

"Match Point of Our Love" could have worked with a full-blown dance treatment, given the right production. Don't know that it would've been a hit. But it would've worked.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

I also wonder if any other songs were in consideration by The BBs for being remade as a disco hit.

You'd think that the idea *must* have been floated around of remaking a hit song, like Good Vibrations. I'm certainly glad that didn't happen. Though I'd bet a few bucks that if the disco HCTN 1979 song had become a hit, that we'd have seen a disco Good Vibrations remake, and way, way more.

The thing that made The Bee Gees (one of my favorite bands) have disco hits was that they weren't remaking old Bee Gees songs, but they were writing new songs on a very high level of songwriting, at the very least equal to their best pre-disco material. Much as I love the other BBs material around this time, the band would probably have needed an engaged Brian to pull that off. Plus a sober Denny up front as the hunk, Barry Gibb style.

But what made the band choose HCTN, specifically? It's a rad song, to be sure... but just an odd one to pick. I'd imagine there had to have been a few other contenders on a list, what do you think? Maybe Bruce knows.

The only thing that makes sense is that HCTN  does indeed blatantly reference "night", and nighttime was a big topic of disco lyrical content. I recently came across this Onion article, which may sum up the band's reasoning:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/study-not-many-disco-songs-about-daytime,38263/

I agree with all of this and also will say that in order to have made a good disco song they would have actually had to be fans of the genre rather than trying to simply cash in on a fad which is what HCTN sounds like to me. While it is true that the Beach Boys had always responded to fads (like, you know, surfing) their sound always seemed genuine - in other words, Brian really loved the Four Freshmen, hence the way he approached vocals came out of that rather than some attempt to cash in on a sound that was chart friendly.

[CenturyDeprived]

"Match Point of Our Love" could have worked with a full-blown dance treatment, given the right production. Don't know that it would've been a hit. But it would've worked.

Totally. Match Point and Sweet Sunday Kind of Love want to be disco songs so bad it hurts. The beat keeps nudging them in that direction. I do wonder if that disco-ish drum beat on those two songs was Brian's idea. Who played drums on those songs anyhow?

And That Same Song also has those little brief string flourishes near the end of the song which also show a nod to disco, IMO.

[Emdeeh]

I don't think any song sounds good as disco -- not by any artist, let alone the BBs. Too this day, I still turn disco songs off when they come on the radio or online music feeds. As far as I'm concerned, there's one great version of HCTN and that's on Wild Honey.

[The Real Barnyard]

I Can Hear Music and Pipeline worked well for California and Bruce Johnston respectively.

https://youtu.be/e4UJiG35LxU

https://youtu.be/2lxGstAel7c