"(Love Is) Thicker Than Water" is a song performed by

Andy Gibb Andrew Roy Gibb (5 March 1958 – 10 March 1988) was an English singer, songwriter, and actor. He was the younger brother of Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin and Maurice Gibb, Maurice, who went on to form the Bee Gees. Gibb came to pr ...

, released in September 1977 as the second and final single from his debut album,

Flowing Rivers ''Flowing Rivers'' is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Andy Gibb. The album was produced by Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson, with Barry Gibb on two tracks. It was released in September 1977 on RSO. ''Flowing Rivers'' was re- ...

. The song was his second single that topped the

US Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming i ...

. It was mainly written by

Barry Gibb Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He rose to worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees, one of the most commercially successful groups in the history of popul ...

, with help from Andy Gibb. The B-side of this song was " Words and Music" in the US, but "Flowing Rivers" in the UK. It became a

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine describes the song as "a midtempo ballad that changes pace from a lushly romantic and soft ndyGibb vocal to an uptempo instrumental drive. Plenty of melody and another catchy hook". ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that "the choral harmonies are full of pop appeal, while the

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

adds a grandiose touch that will attract more progressive tastes."

Writing and recording

"(Love Is) Thicker Than Water" was written by

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with Andy Gibb credited as co-writer. Andy Gibb later revealed writing a song with Barry: "(Love Is) Thicker than Water" was recorded in October 1976 at the

Criteria Studios Criteria Studios is a recording studio in North Miami, Florida, founded in 1958 by musician Mack Emerman. Hundreds of gold, platinum, and diamond singles and albums have been recorded, mixed or mastered at Criteria, for many notable artists and ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, during the same time as "

I Just Want to Be Your Everything "I Just Want to Be Your Everything" is a song recorded by Andy Gibb, initially released in April 1977 as the first single from his debut album ''Flowing Rivers''. It reached number 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for three weeks, starting on the ...

". On the two tracks,

Joe Walsh Joseph Fidler Walsh (born November 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has been a member of three successful rock bands: the James Gang, Eagles, and Ringo Starr & His All-Starr B ...

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

played guitar. The song was certified Gold in the United States on 16 February 1978 as

Robert Stigwood Robert Colin Stigwood (16 April 1934 – 4 January 2016) was an Australian-born British-resident music entrepreneur, film producer and impresario, best known for managing Cream, Andy Gibb and the Bee Gees, theatrical productions like ''Hair'' ...

presented Gibb with his first gold record at the Roxy in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. ''

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

'' reviewed the song concluding that it has "plenty of melody and another catchy hook."

Aftermath

As evidence of the Gibb brothers' U.S. chart domination in 1978, atop the March 4, 1978 Hot 100 the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...

' "

Stayin' Alive "Stayin' Alive" is a song written and performed by the Bee Gees from the ''Saturday Night Fever'' motion picture soundtrack. The song was released in 1977 as the second single from the ''Saturday Night Fever'' soundtrack. The band co-produced ...

" was displaced by this song, which in turn was displaced two weeks later by the Bee Gees' "

Night Fever "Night Fever" is a song written and performed by the Bee Gees. It first appeared on the soundtrack to ''Saturday Night Fever'' on RSO Records. Producer Robert Stigwood wanted to call the film ''Saturday Night'', but singer Robin Gibb expressed ...

", which in turn was displaced eight weeks later by

Yvonne Elliman Yvonne Marianne Elliman (born December 29, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress who performed for four years in the first cast of the stage musical ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. She scored a number of hits in the 1970s and achieved ...

's " If I Can't Have You". Since

had a hand in writing all four of these songs, he became the only person in history to write four consecutive US number-one singles, a feat unmatched to this day. The song was released in February 1978 in

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. On October 7, 1977 Andy performed the song, and "I Just Want to Be Your Everything", on '' The Midnight Special''.

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Love Is Thicker Than Water 1976 songs 1977 songs 1977 singles Andy Gibb songs Songs written by Barry Gibb Songs written by Andy Gibb Song recordings produced by Barry Gibb Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles RSO Records singles Disco songs Funk songs Soul ballads