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How Deep Is Your Love
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"How Deep Is Your Love" is a pop song written and recorded by the Bee Gees in 1977 and released as a single in September. Originally intended for Yvonne Elliman, it was ultimately used as part of the soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Fever. It was a number three hit in the United Kingdom and Australia. In the United States, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 on 24 December 1977 (becoming the first of six consecutive US number-one hits) and stayed in the Top 10 for a then-record 17 weeks. The single spent six weeks atop the US adult contemporary chart. It is listed at number 20 on Billboard's All Time Top 100. Alongside "Stayin' Alive" and "Night Fever", it is one of the group's three tracks on the list. The song was covered by Take That for their 1996 Greatest Hits album, reaching number-one on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks.

The song was ranked number 375 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In a British TV special shown in December 2011, it was voted "The Nation's Favourite Bee Gees Song" by ITV viewers.

The song set a record by accumulating 33 weeks in one chart run.

Background[]

Following mixing for Here at Last... Bee Gees... Live, they began recording songs for what was to be the follow-up studio album to 1976's Children of the World. Then the call came from Robert Stigwood requesting songs for a movie he was producing. The Bee Gees obliged and gave him five songs, one of which was "How Deep Is Your Love".

Recording[]

By the time Children of the World was recorded, it was pretty much established that Barry was now the primary vocalist of the group, mostly being falsetto leads with the occasional natural breathy voice. Even most of the backing vocals were done by Barry, such that Robin and Maurice are barely heard in the mix, even though they are there. Despite this, Robin sings the melody for the chorus and audibly sings various ad libs during this song. Recordings for all of the tracks for Saturday Night Fever, including "How Deep Is Your Love", were done in the Spring of 1977. Barry worked out the melody with keyboard player Blue Weaver, though he is not credited officially as a songwriter here. A demo was made at Le Château d'Hérouville in France, with the additional recording done at Criteria Studios when they got back to Miami.

Music video[]

Two music videos were made for this song. In one, the brothers are singing while an image of a woman shows throughout the video. Barry Gibb had his beard shaven off in this video, as in the "Night Fever" video. A second video was later made in which the brothers sing while passing by a stream of rainbow lights. In this video Barry Gibb is bearded.

Awards[]

The song won Best Pop Performance by a Group] at the 20th Grammy Awards which were held on 23 February 1978. The song also received a nomination for Best Original Song at the 35th Golden Globe awards held on 28 January 1978. The award went to "You Light Up My Life" by Kasey Cisyk. At the time of both award ceremonies, the song was still in the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Lawsuit[]

Main article: Selle v. Gibb In 1983, the Bee Gees were sued by a Chicago songwriter, Ronald Selle, who claimed that the Gibb brothers stole melodic material from one of his songs, "Let It End", and used it in "How Deep Is Your Love". At trial, the jury returned a finding for Selle. The Bee Gees attorney immediately asked for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. The basis for the motion was that Selle had failed to show, as was required by the law, that the Bee Gees had prior access to his song. Even Selle had admitted that he'd sent out his demo tape to only a few recording companies, none of whom did business with the Bee Gees. Selle also admitted that there were some similarities between his song and several Bee Gee compositions that predated his song by several years, as well as similarities with the John Lennon/Paul McCartney song, From Me to You. The judge ruled in favour of the Bee Gees. Selle appealed the ruling, but it was upheld by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals which agreed that Selle had not proven his case.

Covers[]

"How Deep Is Your Love" is one of the most covered songs in the Gibb catalogue performed by such artists as:

  • Aberdeen (1997)
  • Adeaze (2004)
  • Jeffrey Archer (1981)
  • B3 (2002)
  • Baby Lemonade (1994)
  • Backstreet Boys (2003)
  • Bad Plus (2009)
  • The Bird and the Bee (2009)
  • Blaze (2002)
  • Paul Brett (1980)
  • Brotherhood of Man (1978)
  • Michael Bublé and Kelly Rowland (2010)
  • Richard Clayderman (1984)
  • Ray Coniff (1978)
  • En Vogue (2003)
  • Ferrante & Teicher (1978)
  • The 5th Dimension (1995)
  • John Frusciante (2006)
  • Adam Garcia (1998)
  • Lionel Hampton (1978)
  • David Hassellhoff (1987)
  • Marcia Hines (2004)
  • Jam Hsiao (2012)
  • Jinusean (1999)
  • Billy Jenkins (1999)
  • Jeff Johnson (2011)
  • The Katinas, on their album Love Chapter (2013)
  • Kyla, on her album Private Affair (2010)
  • Johnny Mathis (1978)
  • Paul Mauriat (1978)
  • Mina (1985)
  • Peter Nero (1998)
  • N'Sync (2003)
  • Anonymous (2001)
  • Portrait (1995)
  • Real McCoy (1994)
  • Martin Rolinski (2007)
  • Take That (1996)
  • Tomoyo Harada (2002)
  • Ultra Naté (2001)
  • Luther Vandross (1993)
  • Dionne Warwick (1978)
  • Hayley Westenra (2000)
  • Peter White (1994)
  • Ann Wilson (2000)
  • David Choi (2008)
  • Barney & Friends (Christmas special, circa 2004)
  • Tina Turner (2000)
  • Lea Michele (Rachel Berry, Glee) (2012)
  • In the 1991 [Only Fools and Horses] film Miami Twice, the character Del Boy sings the song from afar to Barry Gibb
  • Donny Osmond, on his Love Songs of The 70's
  • Gerry Capó (2012)

Chart performance[]

Weekly charts[]

Charts (1977–78) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[1] 3
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[2] 13
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[3] 6
Brazil[4] 1
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[5] 1
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[6] 3
Chile[4] 1
Finland[4] 1
France (SNEP)[4] 1
Germany (Media Control Charts)[7] 21
Ireland (IRMA)[8] 2
Italy (FIMI)[4] 2
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[9] 8
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[10] 6
Norway (VG-lista)[11] 5
South Africa (Springbok)[4] 2
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[4] 7
Sweden[12] 4
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[13] 3
US Billboard Hot 100[14] 1
US Billboard Adult Contemporary[14] 1
US Cash Box[15] 1
US Radio & Records[4] 1
US Record World [16] 2
Year Chart Peak
position
2012 France (SNEP)[17] 85

Year-end charts[]

Charts (1977) Rank
Canada [18] 51
UK [19] 19
Chart (1978) Rank
Australia[20] 17
Canada[21] 53
South Africa [22] 8
US Billboard Hot 100[23] 6

All-time charts[]

Chart (1958–2018) Position
US Billboard Hot 100[24] 25

Take That version[]

"How Deep Is Your Love"
[1]

UK CD 1 single

Single by Take That
from the album Take That: Greatest Hits
Released 26 February 1996
Format Cassette, CD single
Recorded 1995
Genre Pop
Length 3:40
Label Polydor
Writer(s) BarryRobin & Maurice Gibb
Certification Platinum
Take That singles chronology
"Never Forget"

(1995)

"How Deep Is Your Love"

(1996)

"Patience"

(2006)

Take That's version was released as a single from their Greatest Hits compilation in 1996. The single went on to become what was to be the band's final UK number one until their 2006 comeback single "Patience" a decade later. The song stayed at number one in the UK charts for three weeks. The single sold 671,000 copies and has received a Platinum sales status certification in the UK. The song also topped the charts in Denmark, Ireland, Italy and Spain.

Music video[]

The music video saw the four members of the band tied to chairs and in a basement. A blonde woman with heavy mascara (actress and model Paula Hamilton) walks into the basement and circles the four members individually pulling their hair. She then puts them all into her van and drives down the motorway. She stops by a reservoir and has the four members placed on the edge, she points at each member before grabbing Gary's rope and pushes him back still holding on. Her fingers slip through the rope and he falls backwards, the others look shocked as she does. She then smirks.

Track listing[]

UK Cassette single (74321 35591 5)
  1. "How Deep Is Your Love" – 3:41
  2. "Never Forget" (live from Earl's Court & Manchester Nynex) – 7:38
UK CD single no. 1 (74321 35559 2)
  1. "How Deep Is Your Love" – 3:41
  2. "Every Guy" (live from Earl's Court & Manchester Nynex) – 5:36
  3. "Lady Tonight" (live from Earl's Court & Manchester Nynex) – 4:13
  4. "Sunday To Saturday" (live from Earl's Court & Manchester Nynex) – 3:48
UK CD single no. 2 (74321 35560 2)
  1. "How Deep Is Your Love" – 3:41
  2. "Back For Good" (live from Earl's Court & Manchester Nynex) – 7:06
  3. "Babe" (live from Earl's Court & Manchester Nynex) – 6:10
  4. "Never Forget" (live from Earl's Court & Manchester Nynex) – 7:38
EU CD single no. 1 (74321 35243 2)
  1. "How Deep Is Your Love" – 3:41
  2. "Back For Good" (live from Earl's Court & Manchester Nynex) – 7:06
EU CD single no. 2 (74321 35244 2)
  1. "How Deep Is Your Love" – 3:41
  2. "Back For Good" (live from Earl's Court & Manchester Nynex) – 7:06
  3. "Every Guy" (live from Earl's Court & Manchester Nynex) – 5:36
Japanese CD single (BVCP-2406)
  1. "How Deep Is Your Love" – 3:41
  2. "Every Guy" (live from Earl's Court & Manchester Nynex) – 5:36
  3. "Babe" (live from Earl's Court & Manchester Nynex) – 6:10
  4. "Back for Good" (live from Earl's Court & Manchester Nynex) – 7:06
UK 7" vinyl – jukebox release only (74321 35632 2)
  1. "How Deep Is Your Love" – 3:41
  2. "Never Forget" (live from Earl's Court & Manchester Nynex) – 7:38

Chart performance[]

Weekly charts[]

Template:SinglechartTemplate:Singlechart
Chart (1996) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[25] 12
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 75)[25] 7
Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)[25] 5
Belgium (Ultratop Wallonia)[25] 4
Czech Republic (IFPI CR)[26] 7
Chile (IFPI)[27] 4
Denmark (Tracklisten)[28] 1
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[29] 3
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[30] 2
Germany (Media Control)[31] 7
Hungary (Mahasz)[32] 4
Iceland (Tonlist)[33] 5
Ireland (IRMA)[34] 1
Israel (Media Forest)[35] 1
Italy (Musica e dischi)[36] 1
Japan (Oricon)[37] 1
Latvia (EHR)[38] 1
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[25] 7
Norway (VG-lista)[25] 6
Poland (Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry)[39] 32
Spain (AFYVE)[40] 1
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[25] 7
Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade)[25] 5
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[41] 1

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Year-end charts[]

Chart (1996) Position
Australian Singles Chart 100
Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart 44
Belgian (Walonia) Singles Chart 35
Dutch Singles Chart[42] 51
Eurochart Hot 100[43] 23
Finnish Singles Chart[44] 56
German Singles Chart[45] 66
Iceland Singles Chart[46] 50
Norwegian Singles Chart (Russetid Period)[47] 14
Spanish Singles Chart[40] 16
Swedish Singles Chart[48] 66
Swiss Singles Chart 30
UK Singles Chart[49] 12

Decade-end charts[]

Chart (1990–1999) Position
UK Singles Chart[50] 84


Preceded by

"You Light Up My Life" by Debby Boone

Billboard Easy Listening number-one single (Bee Gees version)

26 November 1977 (6 weeks)

Succeeded by

"Just the Way You Are" by Billy Joel

Preceded by

"You Light Up My Life" by Debby Boone

Billboard Hot 100 number-one single (Bee Gees version)

24 December 1977 – 7 January 1978

Succeeded by

"Baby Come Back" by Player

Preceded by

"Spaceman" by Babylon Zoo

Danish number-one hits of 1996 (Take That version)

16 March 1996 – 6 April 1996 (3 weeks)

Succeeded by

"One of Us" by Joan Osborne

Preceded by

"Don't Look Back in Anger" by Oasis

Irish IRMA number-one single (Take That version)

24 February 1996 – 16 March 1996 (3 weeks)

Succeeded by

"Aon Focal Eile" by Richie Kavanagh

Preceded by

"Children" by Robert Miles

Italian Singles Chart number-one single in Italy (Take That version)

23 March 1996 – 30 March 1996 (1-week)

Succeeded by

"La terra dei cachi" by "Elio e le Storie Tese & Orchestra Spettacolo Casadei"

Preceded by

"Jesus to a Child" by George Michael

Spanish Singles Chart (Take That version)

25 March 1996 – 1 April 1996 (1-week)

Succeeded by

"Jesus to a Child" by George Michael

Preceded by

"Don't Look Back in Anger" by Oasis

UK Singles Chart number-one single (Take That version)

3 March 1996 – 24 March 1996 (3 weeks)

Succeeded by

"Firestarter" by Prodigy

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