"Saved by the Bell" is a 1969 single written and recorded by Robin Gibb. It was released in June 1969, and has been certified

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. It was the lead single on Gibb's debut album '' Robin's Reign'', released in early 1970. According to Vinyl Records, the song was co-produced by

Kenny Clayton Kenny Clayton (9 May 1936 – 10 October 2022) was a British record producer, arranger, conductor and jazz pianist. Life and career Clayton was born in Edmonton, London on 9 May 1936. He studied piano at the Trinity College of Music in London. ...

. Gibb also made a promotional video for this song. The song gained commercial success in Europe, but was a commercial failure in the US. Music critic Nicholas James says: "'Saved by the Bell' falls into this category, being heavily influenced by the Bee Gees track '

I Started a Joke "I Started a Joke" is a song by the Bee Gees from their 1968 album ''Idea'', which was released as a single in December of that year. It was not released as a single in the United Kingdom, where buyers who could not afford the album had to co ...

'. It has a powerful Robin Gibb lead vocal and an infectious melody, although the lyrics are somewhat simplistic (possibly even banal)." David Furgess described "Saved by the Bell" as a "killer song".

Background

Gibb announced his solo plans on 19 March 1969, on the same day the Bee Gees recorded " Tomorrow Tomorrow" and two other songs. "Saved by the Bell" was recorded around March 1969 at

De Lane Lea Studios Warner Bros. De Lane Lea Studios is a recording studio, based in Dean Street, Soho, London. Although the studios have mainly been used for dubbing feature films and television programmes, major artists such as the Animals, the Beatles, Soft M ...

, along with three other songs: "Mother and Jack", "Alexandria Good Time", and "Janice". As Gibb said: "I made that record back at the end of March, immediately following my split from the Bee Gees". Fellow Bee Gee

Maurice Gibb Maurice Ernest Gibb (; 22 December 1949 – 12 January 2003) was a British musician. He achieved fame as a member of the pop group Bee Gees. Although his elder brother Barry Gibb and fraternal twin brother Robin Gibb were the group's main lea ...

worked on "Saved by the Bell", playing piano, adding vocals, and recording organ and guitar, accompanied by a drum machine. The demo was then sent to

, who arranged the song with a big singalong chorus. The orchestra section of the song was arranged by John Fiddy.

Release

"Saved by the Bell" was recorded for Gibb's debut album, '' Robin's Reign''. It was released as a single on 27 June 1969, with " Mother and Jack" as the B-side. On its release, the song competed directly with the Bee Gees' single "

Don't Forget to Remember "Don't Forget to Remember" also called "Don't Forget to Remember Me" is a country ballad recorded by the Bee Gees, from the album '' Cucumber Castle''. The song was written by Barry and Maurice Gibb. It was produced by the band with Robert Stig ...

". "Saved by the Bell" rose to number two in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, while topping the short-lived British ''Top Pops'' newspaper charts. It also hit number one in South Africa, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Ireland. "Saved by the Bell" held the number-one slot in South Africa for three weeks, in the Netherlands for six weeks, and in New Zealand for 1 week. Other chart positions include #4 in Norway, and #3 in Germany. It didn't fare as well in the US, only reaching #87. Shortly after the release of "Saved by the Bell", Gibb told ''The Guardian'':

"Everything I write I write to the best of my ability, that is, every song I have written could be a single. I never write A-sides that would be an insult to my ego. "Mother and Jack", on the flip of "Saved by the Bell", could just as well have been an A-side. All the tracks for my first LP could be singles."

Re-releases

"Saved by the Bell" was re-released by Old Gold Records in 1988, with "

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" (Bee Gees) as the B-side. It was re-released in Spain by Polydor as the B-side of " Tomorrow Tomorrow" (Bee Gees). It was included on the compilation ''The Story of Musikladen No. 2 1976–1980''. The song's mono mix was released on the compilation ''Rare Collection'' on

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States ...

Japan, while the stereo version was released in 1990 on the ''

Tales from the Brothers Gibb ''Tales from the Brothers Gibb: A History in Song'' is a box set compilation released by the Bee Gees in 1990. Originally released on four cassettes and four compact discs, ''Tales'' is a summary of the Bee Gees output from their third album, ...

''.

Performances

Gibb performed "Saved by the Bell" in ''

Beat-Club ''Beat-Club'' is a West German music programme that ran from September 1965 to December 1972. It was broadcast from Bremen, West Germany on ''Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen'', the national public TV channel of the ARD, and produced by one of its ...

'' on 2 August 1969. The episode features a segment where Eddie Vickers interviews Gibb. The clip was included on the DVD ''Beat Club Rebroadcasts Vol. 9'' and ''The Story of Beat-Club Volume 2 1968–1970''. Gibb also performed "Saved by the Bell" in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. As he recalls:

It was quite chaotic because there was a whole lot of people, and not a lot of security. I almost had to climb a tree, it was frightening. It got quite dangerous. The concept of security hadn't crept into the popular arena. It started out as enjoyable, and then the audience got out of hand.

Gibb performed the song in 2005 with The Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt Orchestra.

Cover versions

Notable covers of "Saved by the Bell" include Elton John's version.

Chart performance

References

{{Authority control 1969 debut singles 1969 songs Robin Gibb songs Songs written by Robin Gibb Song recordings produced by Robin Gibb Polydor Records singles Atco Records singles Number-one singles in Denmark Number-one singles in New Zealand Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in South Africa Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Songs about loneliness