It was with great sadness that I heard of the passing of Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees. I met Robin in the fall of 1987 at the Berkshire Place in New York and he couldn’t have been more generous and engaging. I was quite young and quite starstruck at the time, and to get to talk music with a Bee Gee was surreal and unforgettable.

The Bee Gees were phenomenal musicians and their songs were steeped in melody, some of the greatest pop hooks of all time, and built on a foundation of arrangement that is rarely seen today. Songs played by brilliant musicians who were masters of their instruments, not the least of which were the voices of the three brothers Gibb. The build up in “Fanny” is a blueprint masterclass for arranging a pop song.

I had the privilege of meeting and speaking with Blue Weaver at the Producers Guild Awards this past February in London. Blue played keyboards on almost all the biggest worldwide hits of the Bee Gees, and was an integral part of their success for years. I told him I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like to be at Criteria in the seventies making those records that would go out to the world and break so many records…..and to be working with, observing and learning from the great Arif Marden.

Put on those records people! That is the biggest tribute we could give Robin…..besides the fact that they are they are just so damn good!