#1: Boys Do Fall In Love by Robin Gibb
City: Yellowknife, NWT
Radio Station: CJJD
Peak Month: September 1984
Peak Position in Yellowknife ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #37
Peak Position on South African Singles chart ~ #7
Peak Position on Italian Singles chart ~ #10
YouTube: “Boys Do Fall In Love”
Lyrics: “Boys Do Fall In Love”
Robin Hugh Gibb was born with his twin brother, Maurice Gibb, on December 22, 1949, on the Isle of Man. He was one of the three brothers who became the Bee Gees. Living in England, the brothers initially formed a band called the Rattlesnakes. The boys, with their older brother Barry and their parents, moved to Australia in 1959. Barry, Robin and Maurice began to perform locally and build up a reputation in their new hometown in Australia. The Gibbs brothers started to perform to raise spare change and spending money. They were introduced to Brisbane radio presenter jockey Bill Gates by dirt track racing promoter and driver Bill Goode, who had hired the brothers to entertain the crowd at the Redcliffe Speedway in 1960. The crowd at the speedway would throw money onto the track for the boys, who generally performed during the breaks. Gates changed their name from the Rattlesnakes to the BGs (Barry Gibbs initials).
By March 1963 the Bee Gees got a record deal with Festival Records. They released their first single in Australia titled “The Battle of the Blue and the Grey”. They appeared on an Australian variety show called Bandstand, patterned after Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. The single cracked the Australian Top 100 singles chart. They released another eight singles into 1966, most penned by Barry Gibb. They also covered “Everyday I Have To Cry” and “Turn Around Look At Me”. But in 1966 their single “Spicks And Specks” climbed to #5 in Australia. #1 in New Zealand, #2 in the Netherlands and the Top 30 in Germany. Suddenly, the Bee Gees were getting international attention. In 1967 they released “New York Mining Disaster 1941”, which was actually inspired by the Aberfan Mining Disaster in Wales in October 1966.
With the Bee Gees, Robin Gibb enjoyed hits the group recorded in the late 60s including “To Love Somebody”, “Words“, and “I’ve Gotta Get A Message To You”. In 1969, Robin Gibb went solo and released “Saved by the Bell”. The single topped the pop charts in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and South Africa. As well, it peaked at #2 in the UK, and Yugoslavia, #3 in West Germany, #4 in Norway, and #9 in Australia.
Robin Gibb rejoined Barry and Maurice Gibb in 1970. The brothers went on to have a string of hits through the decade. These included “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart”, “Jive Talkin’”, “Nights On Broadway”, “You Should Be Dancing”, “How Deep Is Your Love”, “Stayin’ Alive”, “Night Fever”, “Too Much Heaven”, and “Tragedy”.
In 1983, Robin Gibb released a solo album titled How Old Are You? From the album came “Juliet” which climbed to number-one in Denmark, Italy, Switzerland and West Germany, #2 in Austria, #3 in Uruguay, #5 in Spain, #7 in Belgium and Zimbabwe, #8 in Portugal, and #11 in the Netherlands.
His third solo album, Secret Agent, featured the single “Boys Do Fall in Love”.
“Boys Do Fall in Love” was cowritten by Robin and Maurice Gibb. The song is memorable for its synthesizer riff. The music video features first the single cover of “Boys Do Fall in Love” then later features a kid talking with his grandfather while Gibb sings the song with his shades on his head; later on in the chorus, he finally wears his shades.
The lyrics detail how boys fall in love: “they make love on a Saturday night,” after time to relax on the weekend and dancing in a crowded room. While girls like to be “cruel to be kind,” boys “like to get excited” and “make love to a paper moon.” Are guys more interested in ‘making love’ than women? Some women observe a guys’ head will turn when he sees “a pretty woman.” Just like the Roy Orbison song’ “Oh, Pretty Woman”. While a woman will want a guy to say romantic things, impress her with his intellectual ability or being a ‘handy man.’ In the song the female says “hearts beat as they dance on the street to a radio.” How romantic. Meanwhile, the guy asserts “nobody wins without once giving in.” One way or another the male and female in this song move toward one another. “But don’t cry now.”
“Boys Do Fall in Love” peaked at #1 in Montreal, Yellowknife (NWT), #8 in Minneapolis/St. Paul, #9 in Providence (RI), and #12 in Berlin (MD).
Internationally, “Boys Do Fall in Love” climbed to #5 in Iceland, #7 in South Africa, #8 in Portugal, #10 in Italy, #11 in Denmark, and #13 in Brazil and Spain.
Robin Gibb died in 2012 at the age of 62 after being diagnosed with cancer.
July 7, 2025
Ray McGinnis
References:
“The Story About the Brothers Gibb Part 1: 1940-1950,” brothersgibb.com.
Frank Rose, “How Can You Mend a Broken Group? The Bee Gees Did It With Disco: The Saga of a Not-So-Average White Band,” Rolling Stone, July 14, 1977.
David Browne, “Robin Gibb, Bee Gees Co-Founder, Dead at 62: Singer had been Battling Cancer,” Rolling Stone, May 20, 2012.
“Bee Gees raise questions over death of Maurice,” Daily Mail, London (UK), March 16, 2003.
“Arise Sir Barry: Bee Gee is Knighted,” BBC, June 26, 2018.
Tim Ott, “The Bee Gees: How Three Small-Town Brothers Became Leaders of the 70s and 80s Music Scene,”
CJJD 1240-AM Yellowknife Top Ten | September 23, 1984
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