Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive

What this video is

Released in December 1977 as the second single from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack on RSO Records, 'Stayin' Alive' arrived at the absolute zenith of the disco era. The song climbed to #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in February 1978 and held that position for four consecutive weeks, making it the second of the Bee Gees' six consecutive number-one US singles — tying a record previously held by The Beatles. The…

Why it matters

A foundational artifact of the disco era and one of the earliest high-profile music promo clips, 'Stayin' Alive' exemplifies the transition from performance-on-set clip to a conceptually staged visual identity for a song. Directed by Bruce Gowers — already the architect of the 'Bohemian Rhapsody'…

The director

Bruce Gowers (21 December 1940 – 15 January 2023) was a British-born television director and producer. Born in West Kilbride, Scotland, he trained at the BBC Training College and began his career as a cable puller, cameraman, and production manager at the…