1980 Andy Gibb and Olivia Newton John – I Can’t Help It
Andy Gibb had three notable older brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice, the core of the Bee Gees. He grew up following his family between England and Australia and witnessed the success of the Bee Gees first hand.
Andy formed his own group in 1974. At Barry’s insistence that it would help his career, Andy moved to Australia for a few years. While there, he recorded a few songs and even reached the charts with a single.
The strength of Andy’s demo tapes got him signed to a record contract with RSO Records in 1976. Andy moved to Miami to work on his first album with his brothers. Barry wrote I Just Want to Be Your Everything and Andy’s recording reached #1 on the Hot 100 in 1977. Two more chart-topping singles and three top ten records followed during the next two years. During that time, his brothers did their best to help him combat his growing dependancy on drugs and alcohol.
In 1980, Andy recorded a duet with Olivia Newton John. Barry wrote and co-produced I Can’t Help It, and the single reached #12 on the Hot 100 and #8 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Andy’s next single, Time Is Time, only got to #15 later in 1980, and the following single spent only a single week at #40 on the Hot 100.
Andy joined Marilyn McCoo as the co-host of the Solid Gold television show beginning in 1981. He also began appearing in musical plays on Broadway and in Los Angeles.
Andy began dating Victoria Principal, and his last charting record was a duet they recorded. He came up with the idea of a releasing a duet after hearing Victoria singing in the shower. Their remake of the Everly Brothers hit All I Have To Do Is Dream peaked at only #51 in 1981.
Shortly after the single was released, Victoria gave Andy a choice: stop using drugs or lose her permanently. We can only dream of what might have happened if he had made a different choice.
Andy’s repeated abuses of cocaine and alcohol resulted in an absentee rate that led Solid Gold to drop him from the show. He also lost his chance to continue in the plays. He fought his addictions and went through rehab multiple times during his career.
After another rehab stay, he successfully began doing some short-term engagements in Las Vegas from 1984 to 1986. A stay at the Betty Ford clinic seemed to help him finally get clean by 1987. He was about to record a new album in 1988, but in March he began having chest pains. They admitted him to a hospital in England. His heart had been so weakened by years of cocaine usage that it simply gave out within days, and Andy died.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Gibb
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