Andy Gibb! Say it again: Andy Gibb! Just the sound of his name seems surrounded by neon lights and sparkling colors. The younger brother of the Bee Gees, born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth, just walked into the business when he was ready, made an instant hit, all on the reputation of the Bee Gees ... right? Wrong! That's the way it always seems to those of us who watch success, and, turning green with envy, figure it's not talent, it's connections. This is rarely true.
Co-Ed Magazine November 1978
Andy Gibb Close-up
By Alison Steele
In fact, Andy himself gives the clue to how difficult it can be to survive famous relatives. "I've never had the benefit of walking out on that stage as a new artist, with no history of any music or people in the business behind me - to walk out there as a fresh, independent artist, to give only what I've got." It's almost a cast of becoming a star in spite of rather than because of being the youngest and newest Gibb to enter the world of performing. Despite wanting to be accepted for himself, Andy good-naturedly gives the credit for much of his success to his brother. "They have been my biggest influence, my biggest help."
According to Robin Gibb, one of Andy's famous brothers, Andy had few real designs on a show-business career until his early teens. "I don't think he really knew what he wanted to do with his life until then," says Robin. Andy remembers that he always knew his brothers were important in music, but it wasn't until they moved from Australia to a London suburb in 1967 that ten-year-old Andy really realized just how BIG they were. It was when "I Started a Joke" was released. Andy would come home from the local school and find five or six hundred kids around the front door. "I knew they were sort of popular in Australia before we left, but this was something else! Actually, when you're ten years old, you don't really think about show business, with the glitter and stardom . . . I just accepted it." Andy went on to say, almost ruefully, that soon after that, the brothers had to leave the little suburb and get homes in London.
"As I grew older, I became more able to relate to what my brothers were doing, and I wanted to get more involved in it." After hearing that statement, you might be inclined to think that Andy Gibb, thirteen and precocious, picked up the telephone and said, "Okay, I'm ready to join the family business." Wrong again. In fact, when I asked Robin whether there was ever any thought of Andy joining the Bee Gees, he looked me straight in the eye and said, "None at all."
"It was when my mother and father and I moved to Ibiza, Spain, and I met Tony Messina that I got my first gig. Tony, who is now my personal assistant, got me started by getting me work in nightclubs playing to Swedish tourists." Andy smiled at the memory of those Swedish tourists - 90 percent female and between the ages of 18 and 24. "That was really fun," said Andy. "But it was then that I got a feeling for what I was suited to do - sing and play music! That was it!"
Andy moved back to England and performed for about a year. Then brother Barry and Robert Stigwood, head of RSO Records (the man responsible for the creation and success of Saturday Night Fever and Sgt. Pepper), suggested that he return to Australia and try to become a name there. Andy wisely accepted the advice and worked in Australia for two years successfully. It was then that Barry invited him to come to America. "I want to produce you," he told Andy on the telephone from Alaska, of all places. Within two weeks Andy was there and the rest is musical history. Three Number One hit singles from a debut album is not exactly your run-of-the-mill achievement, even for a guy with three famous brothers. "I'd like to go back to Australia to live," Andy said. "In Australia, you're really going away from show-business glitter. You have show business there, but it's on a much more human level. It's more together - mellower." Another clue to the man Andy Gibb, rather than the performer: he describes the realization of his success as being rather sudden. "You just keep going along, not noticing, and one day you suddenly realize how big you're getting, how much is going on. Then you put restrictions on yourself. You're recognized all the time; there are a lot of demands on you. That takes a bit of adjustment. But all the other nice things that go with success, naturally I love, I appreciate." Andy again reveals, for a fleeting instant, the inside. It's like seeing the works of a watch for a split second. "But it can go quickly, too."
Can you imagine the burden of stardom? Think about going to bed every night and wondering if you're still going to be important in the morning. Don't scoff. If you've never been there, you can't really miss it, but once you've achieved stardom, it can be very traumatic to lose it.
This is only one of the characteristics shared by successful performers - the need to continue to grow and improve, rather than just maintain. Andy Gibb is no exception.
"I must admit there are movie plans, but my first step I imagine will be in the music production side of films. I'd like to do a movie with my brothers, or if I started off on my own, I've always thought I'd like to do a sort of comedy-drama, such as The Goodbye Girl. If it happens to me, it will be a dream-come-true, the way it was when I had my first Number One record."
Andy is described by Robin Gibb as being outgoing, not shy, and fond of sports. The only clue I could pick up about a possible romantic interest in Andy's life was when he spoke about a track from the Shadow Dancing album called "Waiting For You." "This involves someone," he said. "It was a woman, and we'll just leave it at that. It's probably my favorite of all the songs that I have ever written."
But I found out everything else I wanted to know about Andy Gibb when he said, "It's great! To be here right now, doing what I'm doing, being so happy and relaxed and knowing everything is going the way it should. You know, I'm just thrilled to death!"
Andy's special all right, but I hope after reading about him you get the same feeling I did . . . he is a terrific person and really deserves everything he's achieved.
