By Jason Shawhan
It has been a difficult week for devotees of the disco.
With the passing of Robin Gibb this week after extended complications from cancer, you could say that there’s a lot less light shining down on dancefloors everywhere. That’s not to say that Gibb, along with his brothers Barry and Maurice, were exclusively dance/disco artists. They had a strong career going as singer/songwriters before disco could introduce its octave bassline and 4/4 kick-snare pattern to one another. But when impresario Robert Stigwood urged the brothers to try some disco on for size, their popularity exploded. You could hear it in “Nights on Broadway,” made before Saturday Night Fever made the Gibbs the most famous group on the planet. It was the sound of the 70s, itching to get out of its pants and into the pleasure centers of all listeners.
