The Robin Gibb I briefly knew

MANILA, Philippines - When Robin Gibb announced he was going on a world tour to promote his new CD Magnetic in 2005, I immediately researched for the city nearest Manila where I could watch his concert.

Luckily, there were two concerts in the Hong Kong leg of his Magnetic tour. On the early morning trip to the former crown colony, I was joined by my old pal and fellow OPM artist Nonoy Tan of WADAB and FILSCAP who is a bigger Bee Gees fan than me.

We arrived mid-morning on the day of the concert and were immensely excited. After checking into the hotel room, I dashed to HMV store to shop for CDs and DVDs to kill time in anticipation of the concert later that evening.

Nonoy begged off and slept in the hotel. Tough luck for him because my friend Jojo of JP Entertainment, producer of the tour, called and summoned me to Robin’s suite at the Grand Hyatt to meet him in the flesh. Without hesitation, I dropped my shopping basket and hailed a taxi. Robin is one of my childhood idols and it would be an honor to just shake his hand.

Bee Gees’ trio of brothers (from left): Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb

As I alighted the cab, a Hyatt bellboy escorted me to the access restricted presidential suite of the Grand Hyatt Hotel on the 36th floor. I was expecting lots of press people but was pleasantly surprised to find just one cameraman and one interviewer from Channel News Asia in contrast to the battery of cameras and paparazzi waiting to interview Robin at the hotel lobby’s entrance. 

Robin emerged from his bedroom sans any fanfare. He wore a dark shirt matched by dark glasses and sported a baseball cap. Reed thin but looking healthy, Robin smiled and sat down. The interviewer turned on the halogen lamp and as the camera rolled, he shot the questions in rapid fire. I noticed that most of the questions asked were typical ones when there’s a CD release or concert to be promoted. I found it boring.

As I was about to yawn, the TV interview was over and Robin relaxed as the lights dimmed and began his off-camera talk. It was about his personal life and the agony of getting over his twin Maurice’s recent death. Although they weren’t the typical identical twins who wore the same outfits and lived together, he quipped that no day passes by without him missing Maurice (Maurice died on Jan. 12, 2003). He looked misty-eyed as he reminisced about his twin. 

Robin composed himself and changed the subject. He intimated that he was very happy with the unprecedented response to the Asian leg of the tour that was to kick off that night. In fact, shows in Tokyo and China were recently added. I asked him if he remembers their one-night concert in Manila to which he retorted, “Of course, I do.” I mentally made plans to bring him back to Manila on his next tour. 

That’s me with the late Robin in Malaysia

Hall 3 of the convention center on the Hong Kong side was spacious, clean and thoroughly modern (like Millie). The 10,000-capacity hall was around 70 percent filled with young and old Bee Gees fans. As soon as we settled in our seats, the lights dimmed and the orchestra started playing a Bee Gees overture. Then, the orchestra hit the first notes of Emotion and Robin cavorted onstage in a natty canary yellow jacket matched by an almost reddish hairpiece ala Elton John that made him look 20 years younger. He had a happy look on his face as he sang the first few lines. I’ve gotten so used to Samantha Sang’s and as of late, Destiny’s Child’s version that I felt a little weird hearing a guy singing it. He followed it with a true-blue Robin Gibb song Gotta Get A Message To You (true-blue because he sang lead vocals in the original recording) which he sang in a lower key. 

How Deep Is Your Love from the soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever was next. It sounded different because Barry sang lead vocals in the recording and it was in a lower key again but nobody cared. The crowd started to sing along. I noticed how good the acoustics of the venue were when the orchestra got into Nights On Broadway. The bass thumps were solid and cymbal crashes were crystal clear despite the fact that we were seated all the way to the rear of the hall. The real Robin sound manifested when he sang the Bee Gees ’68 smash I Started A Joke complete with the melancholic feel. He then glided to Massachusetts effortlessly. The predominantly Chinese crowd applauded louder whenever Robin sang vintage ’60s Bee Gees. Robin was the Bee Gee’s lead singer back in the ’60s. The music lulled me back to the decade when I had long spongy hair and wore size 29 jeans.

The sentimental ’70s hit How Can You Mend A Broken Heart segued to the song that defined the disco era Night Fever. People started swaying to the left and right while his excellent back-up singers composed of Amalia, Kerima and Errol sang to the top of their lungs “Na Na Na Na Night Fever Night Fever.” Despite all that dancing action around him, Robin’s movements were limited and contained. He was never animated when performing live even before which is a complete contrast to his twin Maurice.

The hits kept coming — New York Mining Disaster, Saved By The Bell then To Love Somebody. A song the Gibb brothers wrote for the R&B great Otis Redding who died in a plane crash before he could record it. The crowd thundered with applause when he sang First Of May which is a big karaoke favorite not only in Hong Kong but China as well. 

Robin promised the crowd that he would bring Barry the next time he came to Hong Kong. This was a promise he would never be able to keep.

Words was the 14th song on Robin’s repertoire. The tempo picked up with You Win Again from the Bee Gees 1997 album Still Waters. I didn’t realize how great this song was ‘til I heard it performed live. I wrote down a little reminder for me to buy the CD. Juliet, another solo Robin effort from his ’83 album How Old Are You got the crowd stomping. The part where Robin sang “JuJuJuliet” reminded me of the group’s earlier hit “JijiJive Talkin’” and the “JajajaJamby” election jingle of former Sen. Jamby Madrigal. 

Robin made a farewell spiel that the Bee Gees music knows no age bounds. Even young artists are recording their music which brought to the finale song that was recorded by a group called Steps in 1998.

My Robin Gibb souvenirs

Tragedy ended the show and Robin disappeared backstage with the band. The crowd stood up (us included), stomped our feet and chanted, “Robin! Robin! Robin!” He returned and obliged the crowd with Jive Talkin’ and Stayin’ Alive. The crowd danced and sashayed with Saturday Night Fever moves. He left again but immediately returned for another encore. This time, the crowd was on its feet doing John Travolta moves to You Should Be Dancin’. Robin introduced the band and took the customary bow and thanked the crowd. The people were unrelenting and asked for more. Robin wasn’t prepared for a third encore so he just repeated Stayin’ Alive. It was like a big disco and the only thing lacking was a mirror ball. There was another encore and he repeated Night Fever. After this, he never returned even if the crowd clamored louder for more. I heard Robin backstage say, “Bahala kayo sa buhay n’yo, pagod na ako.” (Joke!)

In September of 2005, I had the pleasure of joining Robin’s Magnetic Tour in Malaysia. I flew in with Robin’s 22-piece Pinoy orchestra to Malaysia. I became friendly with his agent Billy Aerts and personal manager Rainier. This time, I was allowed backstage in Robin’s dressing room and during sound checks. I got to know Robin a bit more. I found out that he was a vegetarian and didn’t touch alcohol. He left the Bee Gees in the late ’60s to pursue a solo career because he couldn’t get along with older brother Barry. But because blood was thicker than water, they always reunited after a cooling-off period.

When touring, Robin would prefer to stay in his room all by his lonesome instead of socializing or doing the tourist thing. He wouldn’t do rehearsals nor sound checks before concerts and would leave the task to his personal manager Rainier, the German giant.

When I left the tour, I made Robin promise that if ever I brought him to Manila, he would perform my favorite Robin solo Boys Do Fall In Love. He smiled and nodded in the affirmative.

With Robin in Hong Kong

Robin actually had two Manila visits — in October 1974 and November 2006. The first time I saw Robin was at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in October of 1974. Recently reunited with Barry and Maurice, they were on an Asian tour promoting their new album Mr. Natural. The tour was aptly called The Mr. Natural Tour. The Ambivalent Crowd, one of the premier Pinoy singing groups of the ’70s, was the opening act of the one and only Bee Gees concert in the Philippines. The Bee Gees performed over an hour of past hits and sprinkled with songs from the Mr. Natural album.

I still remember that it was a fun concert and there were lots of laughs from the audience because Maurice provided the comic relief. The Bee Gees who have dropped their band used tracks to back them up.

Thirty-two years later, I was awarded the privilege to bring Robin back to Manila for a one-night concert by Robin’s personal manager, Rainier. I spent months preparing and advertising just to be rebuffed at the last minute by Robin’s American agent. It seems that the American agent signed Robin to another Philippine promoter and to avoid a clash, I had to give in. The Philippine promoter Glenn Llamas of Wilbros later became a good friend.

Last year, I signified my intention to Robin’s management that I would like to bring him back to Manila if ever he goes on tour but alas, Robin preferred to tour with twin Maurice and younger brother Andy in rock ‘n roll heaven. Although I’ve known Robin just briefly, his music and memory will stay in my heart for a long time. Farewell Robin and thank you for the music.