In 1977, The Bee Gees Gave Up This Disco Hit — The Song They Kept Was An Even Bigger Smash

Few bands have ever dominated the pop chart in a single year the way the Bee Gees did in 1978, and that's even after the trio switched songs with another act back in 1977. The Bee Gees' dreamy, disco-flavored slow jam "How Deep Is Your Love" spent the last two weeks of 1977 and the first week of 1978 at No. 1, presaging brothers Barry, Maurice, and Robin Gibb locking down the Hot 100 for months. This was largely because American record-buyers were in the midst of a disco craze, brought on by a "Saturday Night Fever" fever. That drama about New York discotheque denizens was a box office smash, with a soundtrack featuring the Bee Gees that would go on to be the best-selling album in history for a while. 

In addition to its own hits, the group wrote and produced a No. 1 track for singer Yvonne Elliman, a '70s musician we completely forgot about. That only transpired when the Bee Gees held onto a song originally intended for Elliman. In the end, everyone was probably pleased with the disco soundtrack switcheroo that ensued.

Members of the Bee Gees just couldn't stop making No. 1 hits in the late 1970s. In addition to "Saturday Night Fever" selections "Stayin' Alive" and "Night Fever," for brother Andy Gibb they wrote "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water" and "Shadow Dancing," the No. 1 love song of 1978. This era began in late 1977 with "Saturday Night Fever" standout "How Deep Is Your Love," one of the most romantic songs of the '70s.

It started when the Bee Gees fielded a request from "Saturday Night Fever" producer Robert Stigwood to create some disco soundtrack cuts. The brothers had only completed one song, "If I Can't Have You," for a studio album before it switched into movie mode and came up with "How Deep Is Your Love," earmarking it for pop star Yvonne Elliman, for whom they wrote the 1976 hit "Love Me." But when Stigwood caught an early version of "How Deep Is Your Love," he suggested that the Bee Gees keep it a Bee Gees song. The musicians agreed, but then gave Elliman the now-abandoned "If I Can't Have You."

In the end, both the Bee Gees' "How Deep Is Your Love" and Elliman's "If I Can't Have You" made the track list for "Saturday Night Fever." While both were No. 1 hits. "How Deep Is Your Love" was the bigger of the two, enjoying three weeks at the top versus Elliman's one.