Peak
1
Weeks
20
Score
5,439
Chart Year
1978
In 1977, The Bee Gees manager Robert Stigwood was producing a movie about the New York disco scene. The working title of the film was "Saturday Night," so he asked the group to write a song of that name. The Bee Gees thought it was a dumb title, but they had already written a song called "Night Fever." They convinced Stigwood to use that and change the film's title to Saturday Night Fever. The movie became a classic, telling a coming-of-age story in the disco era. It helped launch the film career of John Travolta, who starred as Tony Manero, the conflicted youth who escaped his troubles on the dance floor. The soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever sold over 30 million copies worldwide and won the 1978 Grammy for Album Of The Year. This was the third single from the soundtrack and its biggest hit, remaining on the top of the Hot 100 for eight weeks in early 1978. It also topped the British singles chart for two weeks and won a 1978 Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance By A Group. The string intro is inspired by "Theme From A Summer Place" by Percy Faith. The Bee Gees keyboard player was performing it one morning at the studio and Barry Gibb walked in and heard the new idea for this song. >> Robin Gibb said in Observer Music Monthly, January 2008: "The idea for the film that became Saturday Night Fever started when our manager, Robert Stigwood, saw an article in New York magazine entitled 'Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night' by Nik Cohn, talking about teenagers going to dancing competitions. When they first started dance rehearsals for the film with John Travolta, they were using our song 'You Should Be Dancing,' which had been released the previous year. We were mixing a live album in France and Robert rang and asked if we had any other songs we could contribute. In the end we had five new tracks - 'Staying Alive,' 'How Deep is Your Love?' 'Night Fever,' 'More Than a Woman' and 'If I Can't Have You' (recorded by Yvonne Elliman) - plus the previously released 'Jive Talkin" and 'You Should Be Dancing.' It was also our idea to call it Saturday Night Fever, because the competitions were on Saturday and we already had the track 'Night Fever.' Until the film came out, 'disco' meant something very different in the UK to the US. We were writing what we considered to be blue-eyed soul. We never set out to make ourselves the kings of disco, although plenty of other people tried to jump on the bandwagon after the success of the film. When we went to the premiere at the Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles it was obvious the film and the songs really gelled, but none of us had any idea how huge it would become. It remains the biggest-selling soundtrack ever, and very few artists have created something with the cultural impact that Saturday Night Fever had." In America, this spent more weeks (eight) at #1 than any other song in 1978. For five of those weeks (March 18 - April 15), another Bee Gees song from Saturday Night Fever, "Stayin' Alive," was #2. The last week it was at #1 (May 6), "More Than A Woman" by Tavares, which was written by the Bee Gees and featured in the film, reached its chart peak of #32. The following week, "If I Can't Have You" replaced "Night Fever" at #1.
Listen to the ground There is movement all around There is something goin' down And I can feel it On the waves of the air There is dancin' out there If it's somethin' we can share We can steal it And that sweet city woman She moves through the light Controlling my mind and my soul When you reach out for me Yeah, and the feelin' is right Then I get night fever, night fever We know how to do it Gimme that night fever, night fever We know how to show it Here I am Prayin' for this moment to last Livin' on the music so fine Borne on the wind Makin' it mine Night fever, night fever We know how to do it Gimme that night fever, night fever We know how to show it In the heat of our love Don't need no help for us to make it Gimme just enough to take us to the mornin' I got fire in my mind I get higher in my walkin' And I'm glowin' in the dark I give you warnin' And that sweet city woman She moves through the night Controlling my mind and my soul When you reach out for me Yeah, and the feelin' is right Then I get night fever, night fever We know how to do it Gimme that night fever, night fever We know how to show it Here I am Prayin' for this moment to last Livin' on the music so fine Borne on the wind Makin' it mine Night fever, night fever We know how to do it Gimme that night fever, night fever We know how to show it Gimme that night fever, night fever We know how to do it Gimme that night fever, night fever We know how to show it Gimme that night fever, night fever We know how to do it
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feb 4, 1978 | 76 | 50 |
| 2 | Feb 11, 1978 | 32 | 94 |
| 3 | Feb 18, 1978 | 17 | 109 |
| 4 | Feb 25, 1978 | 8 | 118 |
| 5 | Mar 4, 1978 | 5 | 121 |
| 6 | Mar 11, 1978 | 2 | 124 |
| 7 | Mar 18, 1978 | 1 | 125 |
| 8 | Mar 25, 1978 | 1 | 125 |
| 9 | Apr 1, 1978 | 1 | 125 |
| 10 | Apr 8, 1978 | 1 | 125 |
| 11 | Apr 15, 1978 | 1 | 125 |
| 12 | Apr 22, 1978 | 1 | 125 |
| 13 | Apr 29, 1978 | 1 | 125 |
| 14 | May 6, 1978 | 1 | 125 |
| 15 | May 13, 1978 | 5 | 121 |
| 16 | May 20, 1978 | 10 | 116 |
| 17 | May 27, 1978 | 16 | 110 |
| 18 | Jun 3, 1978 | 24 | 102 |
| 19 | Jun 10, 1978 | 32 | 94 |
| 20 | Jun 17, 1978 | 95 | 31 |