“We wrote it in a farmyard in France. We’d never heard of ‘disco music’ at the time. We were singing about the state of the times, and the human condition”: How the Bee Gees channelled angst and despair to create the greatest dancefloor-filler of all time

Bee Gees in 1977.

As opening movie scenes go, it’s a memorable one, featuring John Travolta as 19-year-old disco king Tony Manero in black leather jacket and red wing-collared shirt, strutting peacock-like along the sidewalks of 86th Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

The song that informs every nuance and rhythm of his gait is Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees, a propulsive, enthralling dancefloor anthem with a compelling 103 bpm groove.