If Andy Gibb had nobody related to him in the record business, getting in it may have been a tougher deal for him. But since he had three brothers who had already been stars for nearly a decade, it didn't hurt to have those connections.
The youngest of the four Gibb brothers, Andy Gibb found out early he had the chops to be a credible singer and guitarist. He stared his first, Melody Fayre (named after a song by his brothers, The Bee Gees) when he was 16 years old. Already dropped out of school, Gibb had established himself as a singer/guitarist by this point thanks to gigs he played in Ibiza, Spain (where his parents lived) and the Isle of Man, where older brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice were born.
With Melody Fayre, he got to work with a pair of friends who had the same musical chops, John Alderson on guitar and John Stringer on drums. And it didn't hurt that Gibb and his buddies had a credible manager who knew the ins and outs of the music business to help them along -- Gibb's mother, Barbara. Andy Gibb had already recorded a pair of songs written and produced by brother Maurice, so he had established himself.
However, realizing that he couldn't make it in the business from small Isle of Man, Barry, the oldest of the Gibb brothers, urged baby brother to go to Australia where it all happened in a great way for him and his brothers in the 1960s. So he, Alderson and Stringer escaped to Australia to make it in the music business there. Once there, they were able to record six songs Gibb wrote and a man named Col Joye produced. Joye was the Bee Gees' first producer in Australia when they established themselves. They even made an appearance on the Ernie Sigley Show, the hottest variety show at the time featuring the radio and TV personality.
It seemed like Melody Fayre was on its way, but there was one problem: Gibb was so comfortable in his brothers' shadow, not needing to do a whole lot while they helped finance his career, that for long periods at a time, Gibb would go walkabout. This miffed his despondent band mates that both Johns packed up and headed home to England.
That left Gibb alone to make it on his own, but not for long as he joined a group called Zenta. In 1975, Zenta was the opening act for hot artists coming through Australia at the time such as the Bay City Rollers and Sweet. They recorded a song that was set for release called "Can't Stop Dancing," penned by American funny man Ray Stevens. The song was never released, though Gibb would do it later on in a performance on the Australian version of Bandstand. And "Can't Stop Dancing" would find a Top 40 home in America for the Captain & Tennille, who took it to No. 13 on the chart in early 1977.
By 1975, Gibb recorded an album away from Zenta. One of the songs Gibb recorded for the album was his composition "Words And Music," which would get his foot in the door on the pop chart in Australia, though it would peak at No. 78.
In 1976, Robert Stigwood, the Australian in charge of RSO Records, the Bee Gees' record label, as well as the Bee Gees' manager, figured the time was right for Gibb, now 18, to make it big in the business. He signed him to RSO internationally after hearing his demos and soon after that, Gibb was once again moving, this time to where his brothers were living in Miami Beach, Florida. He was to work on songs with his oldest brother Barry and Barry's producing partners, Karl Richardson and Albhy Galuten, the songs that would make up Gibb's international debut album, "Flowing Rivers."
In Bermuda to do work, Andy and Barry Gibb set out to write songs, but by the time baby brother Andy wanted to add something to a new composition his brother was working on, Barry was done with it. Said Andy to Andrew Hughes for the book, The Bee Gees -- Tales Of The Brother Gibb. "So, once we discussed it all and got the deal together, me and Barry locked ourselves in a bedroom and Barry just started writing. When Barry writes, it is very hard to collaborate with him, because he is so quick. And before I knew it, he was starting to do the chorus of ['I Just Want to Be Your Everything'], and I thought, 'Wow what a hook!' He's an expert at his craft. Within about 20 minutes, he'd written a number one record; and then we went right into another one."
That one would be "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water," which Andy was able to get on fast enough with his brother to co-write. But that would be the later single from the album.
Barry Gibb, who was on the early path of an amazing second career in the business starting with the 1975 No. 1 hit "Jive Talkin'," provided the backing vocals, while right next door to the Gibbs doing "Flowing Rivers," the Eagles were finishing up recording their landmark "Hotel California" album at Miami's Criteria Studios. Barry Gibb was able to persuade newest Eagles member Joe Walsh to come into his studio to provide guitar on a couple of tracks, including "I Just Want To Be Your Everything."
With Galuten providing synthesizer work on the song, the Gibbs laid down "I Just Want To Be Your Everything." The song would be the first single from "Flowing Rivers" and made its Hot 100 debut in late April 1977. On the week ending May 28, 1977, "I Just Want To Be Your Everything" made its Top 40 debut at No. 37. And throughout June, the song climbed steadily up the Top 40 until reaching the Top 10 by early July.
Then on July 30, 1977, the song Barry Gibb wrote in 20 minutes, had climbed to No. 1 in its 10th week in the Top 40. It stayed at the top a solid three weeks before being pushed down to No. 2 by the Emotions' first No. 1 hit, "Best Of My Love."
But a funny thing happened -- "I Just Want To Be Your Everything" did not go easily into the night. It held at No. 2 for three solid weeks behind "Best Of My Love" before finally falling to No. 3 the next week, the week of September 10, 1977.
And just when it looked as if "I Just Want To Be Your Everything" would make its descent down the chart, it made the weird 180-degree move and moved back to No. 1 on AT40 the week of September 17, something that had never been before (normallly songs that jumped back to No. 1 only dropped as low as No. 2). However, "Everything" dropped to No. 6 the week of September 24, 1977, as "Best Of My Love" picked up a fifth week at the top.
But in all that time, Andy Gibb became a 19-year-old superstar that made the covers of teen magazines regularly and whose "Flowing Rivers" album cover poster was on the walls of young girls everywhere.
The youngest Gibb had established himself as a star. "I Just Want To Be Your Everything" lasted on the Top 40 for 23 weeks, finally falling off in late October. And the success of that debut allowed Stigwood and RSO to promote the youngest brother to the hilt throughout those months ... meaning they didn't have to rush to get a second single out. By early November 1977, the newest Gibb single was released -- "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water." And just like the first hit, that song climbed the Top 40 steadily after debuting in December and would make it to No. 1 by March, flanked in the top spot by a pair of No. 1 hits by his brothers thanks to the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, "Stayin' Alive" and "Night Fever."
And it also allowed Gibb the time to record another album with his older brother, "Shadow Dancing." The title track debuted in the Top 40 in April 1978 and climbed the chart steadily until hitting No. 1 in June, then spent seven weeks at the top to become the No. 1 hit of the year. And though "An Everlasting Love" and "(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away" ended Gibb's run of three straight No. 1 hits to start his career, it helped to continue the teen heartthrob's success.
But for large as his success was with his brothers, the shadow was too large for Andy Gibb to escape. And making decisions to use drugs would rule his day throughout the 1980s. He would never completely recover and on March 10, 1988, just five days after his 30th birthday, Andy Gibb was dead at the age of 30 from an overdose.
It may have been a case of "too much, too soon" and some young artists have had a problem coping with such success early on. Who knows if Andy Gibb would have had a second career, maybe with his own music ruling the day.
We will never know. But that run of hits he had to start his career are what most everyone remembers. "I Just Want To Be Your Everything" may have been written in 20 minutes by Barry Gibb, but it's lasted a lifetime for the youngest of the Gibb brothers ... well over a generation since his passing.
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