Did you know…March 1978 marked one of the most overwhelming chart performances in Hot 100 history?
In March 1978 one group dominated the Hot 100 singles chart as no other had done since April 1964 when singles by a band called The Beatles held down the Top 5 slots.
The phenomena got its start in early 1977 when the Bee Gees, who were recording tracks for a new album in northern France, got a call from their manager and film producer Robert Stigwood. Stigwood wanted the brothers to contribute some songs for a low budget movie he was working on titled Tribal Rights Of The New Saturday Night.
Although they had not yet seen the script — Stigwood just gave them a bare outline and asked them for an irresistible melodic disco track — they offered up one they had already written called “Night Fever.” More songs followed.
On November 15 the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever was released and the movie debuted in theaters across America on December 16.
Released ahead of the movie, “How Deep Is Your Love” became the year’s final #1 and the momentum built from there.
On March 4, 1978 five singles in the Top 10 were written, performed and/or produced by the Bee Gees: “(Love Is) Thicker Than Water” (Andy Gibb), “Stayin’ Alive,” “Emotion” (Samantha Sang), “Night Fever,” and “How Deep Is Your Love.”
(Another of their compositions — “If I Can’t Have You” by Yvonne Elliman — sat at #29, on its way to #1.)
Over the first seven months of that year, Bee Gees-related singles accounted for a staggering 23 weeks at #1.