Robin Gibb — “Boys Do Fall In Love”

Entered Top 40:  July 7, 1984  
4  weeks  
Peaked at: 37  

You may be surprised to learn of the Bee Gees’ post-disco careers. While the record-buying public might have become less interested in hearing them sing, they had a good run of writing big hits for other artists. Barbra Streisand did the Guilty album with Barry Gibb; Dionne Warwick had a nice comeback with “Heartbreaker” in 1982 (#10, #1 AC), and “Islands in the Stream” was a monster hit duet in 1983 for Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. The Bee Gees could have been content to write songs and rest comfortably on mattresses filled with cash, but they were still looking to get in on new sounds the way they’d gotten in on disco.

So here’s Robin Gibb…sounding a lot like Jeff Lynne? This could be an ELO demo; it’s just missing some bells & whistles.

Robin and Maurice worked together on Robin’s Secret Agent LP, drawing inspiration from Shannon’s “Let the Music Play,” and brought in that song’s production team, Chris Barbosa and Mark Liggett. The influence isn’t as apparent on “Boys Do Fall in Love” as on “Secret Agent,” the second single. That song didn’t chart anywhere, making “Boys” Robin’s final solo Top 40 appearance. And where was Barry Gibb during all this? He was preparing his own solo record, which we’ll hear from soon.