In their day, The Bee Gees were a musical powerhouse with hit after hit that pushed the musical boundaries of the time, even though we didn’t realize it then. Here’s the instrumental backing track from one of their biggest hits – “Nights On Broadway” – that illustrates how well those records were made. Listen for this:

1) The bass part is performed on synthesizer. This is no big deal today because it’s done all the time, but The Bee Gees (along with Stevie Wonder) were one of the first artists to use it on record and prove that it could work.

2) The band is really, really tight. “Nights On Broadway” was recorded way before sequencers, yet when you listen to the tracks everything is performed extremely precisely, especially for the era.

3) There’s not much in the way of sweetening on this track, since it’s composed of drums, synth bass, guitar and piano. The only overdub is an ARP String Ensemble, which was the first string simulator in widespread use.