Andy Gibb ~ Shadow Dancing 1978 Disco Purrfection Version

Forty one years ago on April 15, 1978, Andy Gibb released his biggest hit ever, “Shadow Dancing“ that spent seven weeks at #1. I remember the first time I heard Andy Gibb singing “I Just Want To Be Your Everything“ and it remains a high point for me from the summer of 1977. The opening fanfare of the single is instantly recognizable and it fades just as Andy begins to vocalize. It spent four weeks at #1 and then the Bee Gees spectacular run of hits dominated the summer of 1978 and in the middle of that summer came Andy’s biggest hit, “Shadow Dancing“ that made him an icon in his own right. Well, when “Shadow Dancing“ hit #1 Andy became the first solo artist in the history of charted music to have had his first three singles become #1 hits. He was the golden boy! He had written the song with his brothers who were working on the Sgt Pepper movie. Did you know that Joe Walsh and Don Felder both played on the record and the producers had secured the talents of the same string musicians who did the strings on LP “Hotel California“ for the Eagles to play on the recording of “Shadow Dancing“. And the strings are amazing, hypnotizing, perfectly adding texture and a slightly un-balancing feel. His popularity chartwise allowed him to secure three more top 10 hits, “An Everlasting Love“ #5, “(Our Love) Don’t Throw It All Away“ #9 and then “Desire“ #4. His duet with Olivia Newton John “I Can’t Help It“ peaked at #12, then his duet with Victoria Principal a cover of the Everly Brothers chestnut “All I Have To Do Is Dream“ #51. He acted and sang in “The Pirates Of Penzance“ revival in the US and Canada. TV show Solid Gold brought him on as a host in 81 amd Gibb left the following year. In 1988, we all were shocked to hear that Andy passed on March 10. I mean he was so young and I knew he was going through some shit in a very public way, but I never figured his death would be sooner than later. At the time Andy was ready to record again and while in the studio, suffered severe abdominal pains and went to emergency. It turned out it was an inflammatory heart virus that killed him. It was an early end to a spectacular life that should have allowed him to live much longer, but as they say the brightest stars often burn out the quickest. After his death, Maurice resumed his heavy drinking as a way to deal with his brother’s death and the Bee Gees recorded a tribute to Andy called “Wish You Were Here“ the following year. The group returned to touring, but Barry’s chronic back pain and arthritis limited the length of their tours.