His disappointed answer was no, but went on to say, “When we play in Florida there are many people who know Barry or have been to events that he hosts and they are very complimentary to us, the same in NY where we run into people who used to work with the band and they have high praise for us as well.”įinally, I quizzed him about the content of the show. Peter told me that, “East coast mostly, but we’ve done a west coast tour, Chicago, all over the states really.” I was curious to know if he had ever seen the Bee Gees live or met any of them. With all this prep and time put into this show I inquired as to where they usually bring the show. Our first gig was at BB King’s in Times Square and it just started growing from there.” We all dress up, I do all the stuff for the band, I costume them, book the gigs, you know. I grew my hair and a beard to look more like Barry. Tommy, our bass player, looks a little like Robin Gibb so I thought if I put some round rim glasses on him he’ll look more like Robin! Manny wears a hat and has a beard like Maurice. Our keyboard player, Manny, has played with Alan Parsons.
Our lead guitarist Mike Flyntz is in the Heavy Metal Hall of Fame with his band Riot.
The players in the band are very versatile musicians. I have a pretty large vocal range so thought we would give the Bee Gees a try. Many bands were already doing Beatles and Stones tributes. We kicked around the idea of doing a tribute and discussed who should the tribute be. We performed around Long Island as Peter Mazzeo and the Hit Squad and I was getting tired of that. He replied, “We are in our 7th year as the NY Bee Gees but we have been playing together over 20 years. I spoke with Peter Mazzeo, who sings the “Barry” parts in the New York Bee Gees, via phone from his home in Florida about their upcoming show.īeing in a tribute band myself and wondering why other people get into doing tributes, I asked Mazzeo how he wound up forming a Bee Gees tribute band. Fortunately tribute bands have filled in the Bee Gees void and will serenade you with somewhat similar harmony styles to enable the sound to keep “Stayin Alive!”īee Gees fans are in luck because the New York Bee Gees are making an area appearance at Bally’s Twin River in Lincoln on Friday, February 11 at 8pm.
BEE GEES SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER STAYIN ALIVE TV
Like many folks who may have grown to appreciate them later in life I was never able to see the Bee Gees perform in concert other than the PBS fundraising TV specials. Fraternal twins, Robin and Maurice, passed away at relatively early ages leaving Barry as the sole Bee Gee. It’s a “Tragedy” that time has taken it’s toll on the Brothers Gibb. Of course one of my friends watched it and sent me an e-mail telling me that I look like Barry Gibb. The recent Bee Gees documentary rekindled my interest in the trio and when I watched it I gained a whole new appreciation for them. In fact I love the song, “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” and often cover it when I play solo gigs. Their songs “Nights On Broadway,” “Jive Talking,” “Massachusetts,” “To Love Somebody,” “Fanny,” “New York Mining Disaster 1941” and so many others were hits long before the disco days. In all honesty, I did like them a bit in the pre-fever days but that was eclipsed by the over exposure of their “Boogie Child” style. As I got older I got over my Bee Gees issues and actually started to like and appreciate their music. Once I found a Barry Gibb cassette on my desk and immediately knew who the culprit was. He would start singing Bee Gees songs whenever I passed him in the hallway. After high school the comparisons waned and then I began working at Rhode Island College where one person in the programming department next door to my office was convinced that I was Barry Gibb’s twin. What made matters worse for me is that at that time in my life my friends decided that I bore a striking resemblance to Barry Gibb. I used to call it Saturday Night Disease! I was one of the “Down With Disco” folks and was not a fan.
Okee dokee folks… Back in the mid 70’s when I was in high school, the Bee Gees were riding high off the success of Saturday Night Fever.
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