Wota in Translation gets a new name & direction! (April Fools’ Day 2018)

Henkka: Make sure to check out the big site announcement at the end of the post!

Bee Gees
The Best Band of All Time

1: ベストヒット名無しさん 2005/02/05 14:07:25 ID:iYVR3Peh
Didn’t see a thread so I made one myself.

9: ベストヒット名無しさん 2005/02/06 15:15:56 ID:OXA44eia
Maurice was the one with the least hair in their Golden Era, right?

49: ホワイトアルバムさん 2008/11/14(金) 21:37:21 ID:???0
What’s the meaning behind this groups’ name?

50: ホワイトアルバムさん 2008/11/15(土) 03:45:53 ID:???0
>>49
Brothers Gibb.

63: ホワイトアルバムさん 2009/07/05(日) 11:44:41 ID:CZ+13AzVO
Incredible band, but I feel like they’re oftentimes quite forgotten.

69: ホワイトアルバムさん 2009/12/12(土) 08:22:41 ID:8L7AA+5nO
>>63
And they used to be so popular even in Japan, too… They’re totally underrated nowadays. I thought the reactions were strangely cold even when Maurice passed away.

6: ベストヒット名無しさん 2005/02/06 11:44:28 ID:KRVow0NW
The Bee Gees’ three greatest Golden Era songs:
“Stayin’ Alive”
“How Deep Is Your Love”
“Night Fever”

To name a couple more:
“Massachusetts”
“New York Mining Disaster 1941″”
“You Should Be Dancing”
“Tragedy”

Of these songs, “Night Fever” did especially well, coming in at No. 1 for eight consecutive weeks on the Billboard charts.

10: ベストヒット名無しさん 2005/02/06 15:48:06 ID:CLxnlHg5
>>6
Jive Talkin’,” too. Also, don’t forget about Andy Gibb, the fourth brother of the Gibb Family. He was the Bee Gees’ backup and sold a bunch of records himself.

8: ベストヒット名無しさん 2005/02/06 13:35:45 ID:qJvekE2x
The first thing that comes to mind for me is their greatest ballad, “Love Me.”
If I could have it my way though, I would’ve rather had Barry singing the lead.

13: ベストヒット名無しさん 2005/02/10 00:12:23 ID:aDHCNUiT
Which album would you recommend?

17: ベストヒット名無しさん 2005/03/16 20:10:30 ID:zi3Dk8PS
>>13
Personally, I recommend Odessa. It has songs like “Melody Fair” and “First of May.”

14: ベストヒット名無しさん 2005/02/11 20:43:37 ID:E4+4qvBh
I like “You Win Again.”

11: ベストヒット名無しさん 2005/02/07 10:58:51 ID:0fORgOWm
Andy Gibb died at around 30 years old, right? What was the cause of his death?

12: ベストヒット名無しさん 2005/02/08 02:53:38 ID:ZVI6WOBc
They say it was an illness, but apparently it was really a drug overdose…

19: ビルゲイツ 2005/03/31(木) 21:04:29 ID:xzwhV6gv
I only have their albums 22 Hits and Greatest Hits from 2001 (is this heresy?), but I swear I must’ve listened to “How Deep Is Your Love” over a thousand times. The most beautiful piece of music ever released.

But lately I’ve also really gotten hooked on Andy’s “I Just Want To Be Your Everything.” It’s to the point where it might rival “How Deep Is Your Love” as my personal no. 1 favorite song.

(I also love other Andy songs like “Shadow Dancing“, “An Everlasting Love,” “(Our Love) Don’t Throw It All Away” and “After Dark.”)

20: ベストヒット名無しさん 昭和80/04/01(金) 03:38:45 ID:TKDrM69P
>>19
I only own Greatest Hits, too, but I just love the Bee Gees. Andy’s “(Love Is) Thicker Than Water” is really good.

23: ビルゲイツ 昭和80/04/01(金) 17:57:28 ID:xPFHqAvy
>>21
In some sense, this could actually be the most “Andy-like” of all his songs. His scatting at the end really leaves an impression…

29: ベストヒット名無しさん 2005/04/17(日) 18:41:51 ID:aGkejuBT
I loved their little brother, Andy Gibb. That cute, prince-like face of his combined with that chest hair… it just felt so strange to me. He was my first love as an elementary schooler.

24: ベストヒット名無しさん 昭和80/04/02(土) 00:31:38 ID:0dR/1qjJ
You really can’t forget about “You Should Be Dancing” either.

27: ベストヒット名無しさん 2005/04/12(火) 17:50:21 ID:T8+tTM3s
Heartbreaker” is great!

30: ベストヒット名無しさん 2005/04/18(月) 23:41:23 ID:rUrnN8VZ
I’m looking for an album that has the ’78 song “Emotion” by Samantha Sang. I’ve been looking mainly for compilation albums that’d have it, but so far I haven’t found one. If anyone knows which album it’s included on, please do tell. It’s written by Barry Gibb.

31: ベストヒット名無しさん 2005/04/20(水) 22:28:02 ID:AhhdIKCb
I love the song “Spicks and Specks.”

34: ベストヒット名無しさん 2005/04/21(木) 23:10:29 ID:xY773q32
>>31
They were using that in an oolong tea commercial a while ago.

142: ベストヒット名無しさん 2006/12/21(木) 22:23:20 ID:R2YviB8x
Main Course is their best album by far. Off of Saturday Night Fever, I liked “More Than a Woman.” Off of Spirits Having Flown, I like “Love You Inside Out.” But my favorite song by them overall is “He’s A Liar.”

35: ベストヒット名無しさん 2005/04/22(金) 02:59:01 ID:GY5blmO/
There’s this amazing song they used on a TDK commercial called “Love You Inside Out.” It’s a fantastic song and apparently their sixth consecutive number one single. The next song of theirs that TDK used in a commercial was “He’s A Liar” and that one was pretty good, too. But then after that, they just disappeared… What on earth was the cause?

46: ベストヒット名無しさん 2005/06/15(水) 23:51:35 ID:f83mN+Vt
I rented two of their greatest hits collections. They’re so good, I’ve decided I need to actually buy them! But it sucks because I can’t find them for sale anywhere here in Nagoya…

60: ベストヒット名無しさん 2005/09/27(火) 04:15:23 ID:AW2fFoGI
Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)” is a great song. But Robin’s voice is just excessively high in it…

109: ベストヒット名無しさん 2006/08/24(木) 02:53:45 ID:n/huB+Aq
“Be tender with my love… ♪”
I love when it gets really, really high and they’re singing “tender, tender!(laughs)

72: ベストヒット名無しさん 2005/12/08(木) 01:40:08 ID:5JIA+sbo
Having heard Barry’s solo material, I’m pretty sure he could pull off Bee Gees alone by himself. I own Hawks but I haven’t been able to find New Voyager yet though…

70: ベストヒット名無しさん 2005/10/29(土) 09:06:28 ID:0nEEOda6
I quite like the song “Nights on Broadway.”
Pretty much every song on Main Course is good.

85: ベストヒット名無しさん 2006/03/23(木) 13:39:46 ID:u/WLuTgu
Hello, all you fellow Bee Gees fans. I’m an old geezer who’s been a fan of Bee Gees for 30 years now. Question: they have an amazing song called “Immortality,” but which version do you like better: the one sung by Barry, or the one sung by Celine Dion? Please tell me your reasons as well. Me, I definitely prefer Barry’s version! It’s too cool!

But as for “Heartbreaker,” I definitely prefer Dionne Warwick’s version. The great thing about this band is that no matter who they were writing for, you could always tell that it’s the Bee Gees. You could tell even with Barbra Streisand’s album Guilty. The Bee Gees are just the greatest! It’s truly a shame about the passing of Maurice.

118: ベストヒット名無しさん 2006/09/27(水) 22:49:14 ID:wEslRzLS
I bought a Bee Gees live DVD.
It’s so nice to see them in moving picture.

88: ホワイトアルバムさん 2011/08/06(土) 15:17:07.02 ID:???O
New York Mining Disaster 1941” is a godly song.

120: ベストヒット名無しさん 2006/10/10(火) 23:41:07 ID:MboQowNs
I went to their first Japan concert in ’72. You just can’t beat the real thing. The intro to “New York Mining Disaster 1941” started playing while the curtains were still down… they slowly pulled them up as they started to sing. They also played “Jingle Jangle” from their Australian years. For the encore, they did “Spicks and Specks.” So nostalgic…

122: ベストヒット名無しさん 2006/10/13(金) 22:07:59 ID:wwqpmE0r
>>120
That’s too amazing. ><
How old are you?

123: ベストヒット名無しさん 2006/10/14(土) 22:01:42 ID:bH5ijsIh
>>122
I was 18 when they came over. Strangely enough, I also share the same birthday with Robin & Maurice.

130: ベストヒット名無しさん 2006/11/02(木) 17:18:15 ID:mPWMMt+x
Listening to it now, “Odessa” is an incredible song. It’s a little proggy, isn’t it? For a minute there I thought I was listening to the Moody Blues’ “Nights in White Satin.” Even now when I listen to the Bee Gees, I make sure to do so on vinyl. The quality is just miles ahead of the CD’s.

15: ホワイトアルバムさん 2008/02/05(火) 22:57:24 ID:9HKsV4/aO
I highly recommend the album Main Course. Great album with not one throwaway song.

18: ホワイトアルバムさん 2008/02/06(水) 22:57:00 ID:v2MVfephO
I’m kind of glad in a weird way that “Immortality” was included on Celine Dion’s greatest hits album. “Guilty” and “Heartbreaker” are just stupidly good songs, too. When I first heard “The Girl is Mine,” I thought it was just a ripoff of “Guilty“!

2: ホワイトアルバムさん 2008/02/03(日) 23:07:31 ID:???0
I love “Night Fever.”
I had this as my ringtone for the longest time.

8: ホワイトアルバムさん 2008/02/05(火) 07:41:40 ID:2bB2s6Rm0
1st, Horizontal, Idea, Odessa… all their 60’s albums were great. Personally, my favorite is Trafalgar. Just beautiful!

3: ホワイトアルバムさん 2008/02/04(月) 00:26:30 ID:s/axDZcAO
Probably one of the only bands who aren’t the Beatles who it’s still okay to post a thread about on the Beatles board.

9: ホワイトアルバムさん 2008/02/05(火) 12:58:12 ID:VMmL/0mrO
The B-side songs from their early days sounded quite nice and Beatles-esque!

10: ホワイトアルバムさん 2008/02/05(火) 15:58:02 ID:???O
John praised the Bee Gees during their disco era.

In his 1980 Playboy magazine interview, John Lennon praised the Bee Gees, “Try to tell the kids in the seventies who were screaming to the Bee Gees that their music was just the Beatles redone. There is nothing wrong with the Bee Gees. They do a damn good job.

Brian May of Queen said: “Of course I was, and am, a huge fan of the Bee Gees’ creations in music. Undoubtedly at the pinnacle of song-writing considered over the last—30 years, is it?!” May also praised the song “You Win Again” as one of the greatest songs of the ’80s.

Michael Jackson, who was also influenced by the Bee Gees said, “I cried listening to their music. I knew every note, every instrument.”

85: ホワイトアルバムさん 2011/07/29(金) 00:25:35.96 ID:G7p9183k0
They’ve done quite a bit of Beatles covers.
They’re quite moving…

27: ホワイトアルバムさん 2008/02/10(日) 14:04:42 ID:6FTg3FDn0
I love both their early era as well as their disco era, but am I the only one who loves songs like “Alone” and Andy Gibb’s “Desire“?

28: ホワイトアルバムさん 2008/02/11(月) 01:46:28 ID:???0
Alone” is a great song. Of their later material, my favorites are that one and “You Win Again.”

30: ホワイトアルバムさん 2008/02/11(月) 12:02:27 ID:???0
I forget the name of the song, but I like the one with the sound of an explosion in the chorus.

33: ホワイトアルバムさん 2008/02/13(水) 20:41:01 ID:???0
That was Barry doing the explosion sound with his mouth in “Tragedy,” right?

73: ホワイトアルバムさん 2010/07/15(木) 02:40:32 ID:RtzSIXrr0
I can’t seem to find their albums at all. Only the best-ofs.

105: ホワイトアルバムさん 2012/05/21(月) 22:24:54.23 ID:DhQW+JhsO
I loved Andy the most. “I Just Want To Be Your Everything,” “(Love Is) Thicker Than Water,” and “Shadow Dancing” are the best.

97: ベストヒット名無しさん 2006/07/09(日) 13:07:21 ID:dPhzjUVr
How Deep Is Your Love

48: ベストヒット名無しさん 2005/07/10(日) 01:57:57 ID:C9uD7Z3U
One amazing group of brothers.

Henkka: Welcome back to the site formerly known as Wota in Translation.

For those of you following me on Twitter, it should come as no surprise that I’ve been really into the music of the Bee Gees for a good while now. Recently, it’s come to the point where I just haven’t had the time to focus on Wota in Translation simply because I’ve been busy watching Bee Gees videos every waking hour, trying to know everything about them that there is to know.

I’m going to be completely honest with you.

I find that, as I’ve gotten older and my tastes have matured, I now tend to prefer looking at middle-aged men with abundant chest hair over cute Japanese girls. Same goes for the music: while I suppose Hello! Project’s happy, youthful message of love and life is alright for what it is, there’s something quite a bit more compelling to me about the Gibb brothers’ passionate, heartfelt songs of romance. Make no mistake: these are real love songs for real men.

I may still do the occasional H!P-related thread, but only if it has some sort of a tie to the Bee Gees. I have also abandoned my H!P book projects that I’d been working on. From now on, I will instead focus on Bee Gees threads from 2ch as well as Japanese-language books on them. As always, the Japanese fan base offers a unique viewpoint… even when it comes to the Brothers Gibb.

You will see some differences here on the site — the subject matter changing from Hello! Project to the Bee Gees being kind of a big one — but I’m confident you guys will follow me on this new path as I continue to pursue this passion project of mine.

So here’s to the Gibb brothers: Barry, Robin, Maurice & Andy — the cutest idols of them all!

Sources: https://bubble4.5ch.net/test/read.cgi/natsumeloe/1107580045/, https://ai.5ch.net/test/read.cgi/beatles/1202047103/

31 comments on “Wota in Translation gets a new name & direction! (April Fools’ Day 2018)

  1. Loving the new backgrounds down here in the reply box.

    • Cheers. I figured a little eye candy wouldn’t hurt.

  2. Very nice. You have good taste, my friend.

    • Thank you, you’re very kind. I was a little bit nervous before posting this. I should’ve known better than to doubt my readers — it’s good to know that we’re all Gibb lovers here. Looking forward to sharing a lot more Bee Gees translations with you guys over the upcoming years!

  3. I don’t really mind bee gees, but please keep portion of the idol news too lol

    • Well, you never know, right? Miracles have been known to happen. I mean, even the Bee Gees got back together after they split-up back in 1970. Never say never again!

  4. EPIC!!!!!

    I’m fully on board here. I grew up with the BeeGees and Andy! Andy’s “(Our Love) Don’t Throw It All Away” and (Love Is) Thicker Than Water” are too of my faves!!

    ps are these real translated message board posts???

    • Awesome! Good to hear from you. Love both of those songs, but I think my favorite Andy tune would have to be “An Everlasting Love.” What a song!

      And yes, the posts are all real. You can find the sources at the end of the post.

  5. For idols with abundant chest hair, don’t forget about LadyBeard!

  6. Guess I’ll be a beegees wota from now on. Not bad

    • Yep! You just need to choose your oshi and you’re good to go. My recommendation and personal favorite member is Barry, but he’s sort of the obvious pick… it’s kind of like saying your favorite Morning Musume member is Sayashi Riho. If anyone does shit on you for choosing Barry though, it’s probably all the jealous Robin wota — that is, the fans rooting for the “underdog.” On the other hand, choosing Andy as your favorite might get people attacking you because they think you only like him for his handsome, boyish looks.

      If you don’t want any drama, Maurice is probably the way to go. Everyone loves Maurice.

      • I’m having trouble remembering which one is which. Do they have member colours to make it easier?

        • Instead of member colors, fans usually tell them apart by the varying amounts of hair on their heads.

      • Here is my oshi.
        https://imgur.com/a/xQAW8

  7. Oh, the Bee Gees. I love Barry-nya, he’s so cute!!

  8. No 2ch votes for “Run To Me??” WTF!

  9. I have always been impressed by your musical tastes Henkka. Do you have any places online where you most lists of your favorite musics, like mixtapes or anything?

    About you changing focus, my H!P oshi was Tsuku, so its always been about the music for me, so as long as you keep talking about good music, Im there with you.

    Also lastly, I hope you wont completely abandon Idol Music in your personal life, some of the showa era idol stuff was very romantic. Im thinking about some of Momoe’s stuff as I type.

    I wish you the best eager wotaling.

    • Momoe is good!

      Thanks for the kind words. I don’t really have anything like that… I used to have a last.fm account, but not anymore. You could follow my personal Twitter. I occasionally post whatever I’m listening to or hooked on at any given time over there.

  10. Just listening to this song and feeling major Bee Gees Vibes ☺

  11. Akane was my oshi, but since Morning Musume is beegees now, who should be my new oshi, Henkka?

    • I’m thinking Andy. Check out some Andy videos and see if you pick up on some of the same “baby of the group” vibes as one gets from Haga.

  12. When’s the swimsuit PB coming out?

    • Soon, I hope. Here’s a preview.

  13. Oh, Henkka, how deep is your love (for HP)?

    • Hello! Project is the light in my deepest, darkest hour; my savior when I fall.

  14. This was a really fun April Fool’s! It seems you genuinely like the Bee Gees anyway though, and that’s great.

    • Thank you. And yes, yes I do. I’ve been hopelessly hooked on them for something like a year now. I do genuinely recommend everyone to check out the Bee Gees if you care to. There’s an astounding amount good music to be found here — once you get past the falsetto vocals. ;)

      The falsetto vocals… I’m not even kidding when I say that it reminds me of when I first got into death metal. When I first tried listening to that stuff, the growling type vocals just sounded so incredibly stupid to me. But once you come to accept it, you realize that it simply wouldn’t work with anything but the growling. Same exact thing when I first tried to get into hip hop: for the longest time I just found even the sound of rapping so damn cheesy. And again, the same thing with J-pop. The first time I heard an idol song, the impossibly high-pitched young female vocals made me want to hurt myself. And the list goes on. But man, life would be so much more boring if I didn’t have Opeth, or Nujabes, or Hello! Project, or the Bee Gees in my music library.

      So maybe there’s a bit of a “learning curve” to any music that sounds off-putting to your ears.

      • I genuinely thought that post was real. Damn.

        • Hehe. I’m sorry to disappoint.

          • I’m actually kinda glad. Thanks Henkka for everything. :’) I wouldn’t be able to appreciate this much about idols, music, and life in general. THANK YOU!!!

            • Happy to hear that. Thanks for reading!

Leave a Reply to Henkka Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *