Why did Barry Gibb refuse to let a Bee Gees song be used for AIDS Awareness?
BEE GEES star BARRY GIBB has refused to let one of the band’s songs be used in an AIDS awareness advert – insisting the cover version sounds too similar to the original. A new recording of the Bee Gees’ Staying Alive was made using the cast of touring stage show Thank You For The Music to be used as part of a major health campaign across Europe. But the musician’s representatives at the Warner music company have banned organisers from using the song in a conflict over publishing rights. Martin Spooner, who plays Gibb’s brother Robin in the stage show, says, “I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Although we miss out on a lucrative TV deal we take this as a back-handed compliment that we sound too much like the Bee Gees. But it’s disappointing too because it was a major campaign for a worthwhile cause. It never occurred to us there would be a problem.” Sources: ht
