Bee Gees (1976) Subway - LOST 70s GEMS

The Bee Gees dominated the late 60s/early 70s with a beatlesque ballad sound but soon found they had hidden talents in a funkier soul sound previously unexplored. It practically began with an almost full immersion on the Philly sounding Mr Natural album in 1974, where the jet fuelled funk of Down the Road and the reverbed vocals and boogie of Heavy Breathing were already some early examples of the burgeoning Disco genre. With each album they improved musically and songwriting til it came to it's peak with Stayin Alive, Night Fever, More Than a Woman and How Deep is Your Love in 1978's Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. That sleek sound owed to supple string synthesizers, drum samples, addictive chicken scratch guitar riffs and even sleeker, falsetto harmonies. Though the sound started off raw with tracks like 1975's Jive Talkin's rough chug; the song's prog synth motif closer to 60s flower pop than 70s funk. Even though the Bee Gees sound reached it's glory in 78, but 1976's Children of the World was an important moment where the hits became more frequent and a lot smoother.

 On Children of the World, the sound of Nights on Broadway and Winds of Change from the prior album were now established as their trademark sound, a twilight lounge mix of saxophones and horns blending with funk guitars and ARP strings. While Lovers and Can't Keep a Good Man Down are the best songs and indicative of this signature sound, the album also featured attempts at hardcore funk Commodores-esque songs like Boogie Child and You Stepped Into My life as well as songs in their older soft rock stylings in Love So Right and Love Me. These latter two come out more natural than the painfully embarrassing Wild Cherry white funk sound of the other two tracks but shows their genuine affection for Kool and the gang boogie music.
 It's on the song Subway that they find the right compromise and it is so smooooth; the string arrangements and synthesizers dance back and forth with the accompaniment of a soaring late 70s saxophone part. Barry Gibb's pop rock vocals are tight and melodic but always dripping in soul, but the chorus is the best as the trademark reverbed ethereal vocals sing 'Take me to the SUBWAAAY'. It's a delicious package full of fluid string ensembles, perfect for casual listening or dancing it is more effective than most dance music as it could be classed much more as a power pop track or funk ballad.