Fielder’s Choice

As a high school student, it didn’t get much better than cruising through town with the Bee Gees playing on the radio.

Or better yet, when I got my first car, that black Malibu Classic, it had a very nice cassette player. And one of my favorites was the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.

I was living the high life - a teenager in the late 1970s with a new car, a cassette player, good friends and the best music ever.

We loved those disco dances at the Hamilton (Ala.) Recreation Center – a regular occurrence during my high school days. If only I would have had John Travolta’s moves on the dance floor.

For several weeks recently, I’d been noticing television promotions about, “Stayin’ Alive – A Grammy Salute to the Music of the Bee Gees.”

I had the date marked in my mind.

And this past Sunday night, at home alone, I watched one of the best musical tribute specials ever in my book. For this disco-loving, ’70s guy, it was wonderful. And I recorded it, so I can watch it several more times.

John Travolta himself was on hand, 40 years after the landmark soundtrack. And Barry Gibb was there to receive all the well-deserved accolades for his brothers and himself.

“I will never forget those days and the Brothers Gibb,” John Travolta said near the start of the show.

Some of my favorites of the night included “To Love Somebody,” performed by Keith Urban; “Tragedy” (from 1979, my senior year in high school), performed by Tori Kelly; “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart,” performed by Stevie Wonder and John Legend; “How Deep Is Your Love,” performed by Little Big Town; and “Too Much Heaven,” performed by Pentatonix.

Then came the conclusion, when Barry Gibb himself took the stage for “Jive Talkin’ ” and “You Should Be Dancing.”

The Bee Gees have sold more than 220 million records worldwide, making them one of the world’s best-selling music artists of all time, according to Wikipedia. Their line-up consisted of brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb. The trio were successful for most of their decades of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success; as a popular music act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as prominent performers of the disco music era in the mid-to-late 1970s.

Music has taken a different turn for me. In my mid-50s now, I like country best.

But after spending two hours last Sunday night reliving my love for disco, I only wish I had saved all of those cassette tapes from days gone by. Thank goodness, with modern technology, it’s easy and quick for me to dial up some disco.

My children typically cringe when I make them listen to disco. And they sure don’t believe their dad could ever have made any type of in-rhythm moves on the dance floor.

In my mind, the music of the late ’70s is the best music ever. And when I got that next car with the moon roof, the Bee Gees and disco were even better in the early ’80s.