The Bee Gees were on fire on Feb. 21, 1978, the day the 50th annual Oscar nominations were announced. The soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever, which featured a killer Disc 1 consisting entirely of songs they had written, was in is sixth week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. And three of those Disc 1 songs were listed in the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Stayin’ Alive” was in its fourth week at No. 1; “Night Fever” sprinted from No. 17 to No. 8 (on its way to an eight-week run at No. 1); and “How Deep Is Your Love,” which had held the top spot for three weeks over the holidays, was holding at No. 10.
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So, their many fans were shocked when the nominations were announced that morning and the music from Fever was MIA. The film’s only nomination went to John Travolta for his performance as Tony Manero, a young Brooklyn man who escaped the drudgery of his job and his home life every night at a local disco.
Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb probably already knew things weren’t going to go their way. Their songs weren’t on the previously-released shortlist of seven songs vying for best original song or the shortlist of four song scores vying for best original song score and its adaptation or adaptation score. Then, as now, shortlists are based on votes of the Academy’s music committee. All members vote in the final round, which determines the winners.
So, what was nominated for best original song instead?
Two of the nominees had been smash hits. Debby Boone’s earnest cover version of the power ballad “You Light Up My Life” from the film of the same name had just become the first song in Hot 100 history to log 10 weeks at No 1. Carly Simon’s sly and sexy recording of “Nobody Does It Better” from the James Bond caper The Spy Who Loved Me had logged three weeks at No. 2 (behind “You Light Up My Life”).
The other three nominees had not been major hits (which of course is not a requirement). They were “Candle on the Water,” sung by Helen Reddy in Pete’s Dragon (in which she starred); “The Slipper and the Rose Waltz (He Danced With Me/She Danced With Me),” sung by Richard Chamberlain and Gemma Craven in The Slipper and the Rose – The Story of Cinderella; and “Someone’s Waiting for You,” voiced by Shelby Flint in the animated The Rescuers.
Pete’s Dragon and The Slipper and the Rose – The Story of Cinderella were also nominated for best original song score and its adaptation or adaptation score, as was a film adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical A Little Night Music (which included what may be the Broadway legend’s most classic song, “Send in the Clowns”).
Various explanations for the Bee Gees’ songs non-nomination have been floated over the years, so we went straight to the source and asked the Academy if their songs were indeed eligible and properly submitted. It turns out that five of the Bee Gees’ songs from Saturday Night Fever were eligible and were submitted: “How Deep Is Your Love,” “Stayin’ Alive,” “Night Fever,” “If I Can’t Have You” and “More Than a Woman.”
There was no limit at the time as to how many songs could be submitted from a film. Fever had the most song submissions that year. No other film had more than three songs in contention. Under current rules, no more than three songs from a film may be submitted and no more than two songs from a film may be shortlisted and nominated.
Whoever submitted songs from Fever probably erred in submitting so many songs. They may have had better luck if they had gone with one or two, with the anthemic “Stayin’ Alive” being the most logical choice. This appears to be a classic case of multiple entries “splitting the vote.”
But other factors may have played a role too. Oscar voters in 1978 were not as attuned to popular music as they are today. Instead, they showed allegiance to past favorites in the category. Those three non-hits that were nominated were all written or co-written by past winners in the category. Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, who had won twice in the ’70s for “The Morning After” and “We May Never Love Like This Again,” wrote “Candle on the Water.” The Sherman Brothers, who had won in 1965 for writing “Chim Chim Cher-ee” from Mary Poppins, wrote “The Slipper and The Rose Waltz (He Danced With Me/She Danced With Me”). Sammy Fain, who won twice in the ’50s for “Secret Love” and “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing,” co-wrote “Someone’s Waiting for You.”
Two future standards, “Theme From New York, New York,” from the Robert DeNiro/Liza Minnelli musical of the same name, and “Greatest Love of All,” from the Muhammad Ali biopic The Greatest, were also eligible for best original song that same year. “Theme From New York, New York” was on the shortlist of seven songs in this category but was not nominated. “Greatest Love of All” wasn’t even shortlisted. “Theme From New York, New York” became a top 40 hit on the Hot 100 in 1980 after Frank Sinatra recorded it. “Greatest Love of All” became a No. 1 hit in 1986 after Whitney Houston recorded it. Of course, Oscar voters in early 1978 couldn’t have known what would happen to those songs in the future, but the original versions of the songs in the 1977 films were credible – Minnelli’s show-stopper “Theme From New York, New York” (which bubbled under the Hot 100) and George Benson’s tender version of “Greatest Love of All” (which was a top 30 hit on the Hot 100).
At the Oscar ceremony on April 3, 1978, Fred Astaire, one of the most legendary stars in the history of music on film, presented the award for best original song.
If things had played out differently in the nominations, he might have been able to say:
“The nominees for outstanding original song this year are:
“Greatest Love of All” from The Greatest – Music by Michael Masser; Lyrics by Linda Creed “Theme From New York, New York” from New York, New York – Music by John Kander; Lyrics by Fred Ebb “Stayin’ Alive” from Saturday Night Fever – Music and Lyrics by Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb “Nobody Does It Better” from The Spy Who Loved Me — Music by Marvin Hamlisch; Lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager “You Light Up My Life” from You Light Up My Life — Music and Lyrics by Joseph BrooksNow, that would have been an Oscar best song showdown for the ages.
As it was, the winner for best original song was Joseph Brooks for “You Light Up My Life.” The winner for best original song score and its adaptation or adaptation score was Jonathan Tunick for adapting Sondheim’s score for A Little Night Music.
For the record, the other shortlisted song that didn’t go on to receive a nomination (besides “Theme From New York, New York” from New York, New York) was “What Was” from The Late Show. The one shortlisted song score that didn’t move forward was New York, New York.
Barry Gibb was passed over the following year as well with “Grease,” the title song of the Travolta/Olivia Newton-John blockbuster, which he wrote by himself. Frankie Valli’s recording of the song topped the Hot 100 for two weeks in the summer of 1978, but Oscar voters gave the song no love. “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” a torch ballad which John Farrar wrote as a solo showcase for Newton-John, was that film’s only nomination.
Even though the music from Saturday Night Fever didn’t get its due in the Oscar nominations, it has been honored elsewhere. The album won album of the year at the Grammys on Feb. 15, 1979, while “Stayin’ Alive” received nods for record and song of the year. The soundtrack was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004 and the National Recording Registry in 2012.
Oscar voters, we should hasten to add, have since gotten hipper. The very next year after the Bee Gees’ snub, best original song went to the Donna Summer smash “Last Dance.” That award has since gone to such contemporary fare as Irene Cara’s “Fame” and “Flashdance…What a Feeling,” Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away,” Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” and Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper’s “Shallow.”
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