(Barry Gibb)
Australia
Single on Banner December 1971 by Sydney band, produced by Spencer Lee. Also released in New Zealand but sources claiming the band is from New Zealand are in error.
Wildwood, initially and briefly known as Judas, was established in 1970 when Campbelltown-based Everybody’s People re-formed with the addition of Hendrix-inspired guitarist Mick Willens and bassist Terry Stacey, both formerly with 21st Century Love Band and Port Jackson. Promoted as a Top 40 pop band, the live Wildwood showed more progressive influences, including Blood Sweat & Tears, Steppenwolf and Jethro Tull, with three members sharing lead vocals, a flautist and an organist.
After key personnel changes in 1972, Wildwood evolved into Afrika, an Afro-Motown band that continued for the rest of the decade.
Meanwhile, bassist Terry Stacey joined The 69ers, aka Francis Butler’s 69ers (see Terry’s account of that band’s complex history at Milesago). Wildwood’s Terry Stacey & Rob Van Beek were later in Tempest: see here for a connection with Marty Rhone’s Denim And Lace.
One Bad Thing was the band’s only released single. The B-side was High Above The Town, an original by flautist-vocalist Rob Van Beek.
Further reading: For a detailed history of Wildwood, a nutritious slice of 70s Sydney music history, see Terry Stacey’s Wildwood page [archived].
(Barry Gibb)
Australia
#12 Adelaide #45 Perth
Single on Festival July 1971.
Melbourne singer Ronnie Burns emerged in 1964 as a member of Beatles influenced band The Flies, and went on to a successful solo career. After signing with Spin he benefited from his association with The Bee Gees, and he had several charting singles, usually with original songs by Australian songwriters.
For other Bee Gees compositions recorded by Ronnie Burns, see Coalman, Exit, Stage Right, and All The King’s Horses.
Ronnie Burns and his wife Maggie later ran the Appin Hall Children’s Foundation, their non-profit organization for children in crisis and distress.
From the 60s to the 90s, Ronnie hosted and produced several television programs, including his own creation, Prophecy & Prediction – Threat or Warning? In the late 90s he joined fellow music stars Russell Morris and Darryl Cotton to form Burns, Cotton & Morris. Along the way he ran an architectural and design company and wrote The Australian House Book.
In 2001, Ronnie was the subject of This Is Your Life, for which 2 million people tuned in to the Nine Network.
Reference: Ronnie Burns, official biography (email website for details).
Further reading: 1. Milesago’s Ronnie Burns page. 2.
Wikipedia article on Ronnie Burns.
Photos: Colin Beard (top), Ronnie Burns.
(Barry Gibb)
UK
Single on CBS (UK) May 1971 by popular Irish showband known for their vocal harmonies. They had several hits in Eire in the late 60s and 70s.
Not to be confused with famous US vocal group The Four Freshmen.
Thanks to Gareth Jones.
Sources, further reading: 1. The Story of
the Freshmen at IrishShowbands.net. 2. Freshmen Wikipedia
entry. 3. The Irish Charts (use its Search
function to find Freshmen chart data).
(Barry Gibb)
UK
Single on Bell March 1971.
New Horizon was a project of session musicians Bob Saker and the ubiquitous Tony Burrows. Both provided vocals, and Burrows produced.
Further reading: Hiroshi Asada, at his Tony Burrows site, lists other band personnel.
(Barry Gibb)
Canada
Original version
Single on Atco (Canada) #6786.
The US single was withdrawn by Atco at the last minute, in the words of Tales of the Brothers Gibb.
According to Discog.com’s notes One Bad Thing was released by ATCO Records Canada by mistake and quickly recalled but not before a handful were shipped to some record stores. It is unclear how many copies were circulated, and promo copies were also distributed to some Canadian radio stations.
One Bad Thing was part of a solo album project by Barry Gibb, the eldest Bee Gee. The release of his album was cancelled in favour of a Bee Gees album 2 Years On and a single of Lonely Days (#3 USA). This marked a reunion and reconciliation after time spent on solo projects.
The Bee Gees also recorded One Bad Thing in September 1969 but it was not released. See annotated discography at Gibb Songs.
The original copyright of the song includes Maurice Gibb as a co-composer, although the released versions credit Barry alone. The song now remains copyrighted to Barry Gibb alone (BMI Work ID 1118471).
Further reading: Melinda Bilyeu, Hector Cook, and Andrew Môn Hughes, The Bee Gees: Tales of the Brothers Gibb, (2001) pp. 293-4, 444-5.
Thanks to Sven Forsberg.
Pop Archives
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Website by Lyn Nuttall. © Lyn Nuttall 2004-2024. Chart positions courtesy of Gavin Ryan’s Australian Chart Books and Dean Scapolo’s Complete NZ Music Charts. Special thanks to Terry Stacey for information, corrections and suggestions. Thanks also to Tony Watson, Philippe Edouard, Dave Overett.., More…