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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
informative
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
When I was in high school in the late 1970s, there was no bigger band in the world than the Bee Gees. In 1977, we learned that the three Brothers Gibb had another, younger brother, Andy, who was releasing his own album. (There's also an older sister, Lesley, who prefers to stay out of the limelight.)
Andy was just 19, only a few years older than me; he was gorgeous, and like his famous older brothers, he could sing. I bought (and still have) his first two albums, and listened to them over & over again. I knew he had a problem with drugs, but I was still stunned when died in March 1988. He had just turned 30 years old. (He actually died of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart, but his heart had been weakened by years of cocaine abuse.)
Although he was one of the biggest stars of the day, there's never been a book about Andy Gibb -- until now. I don't remember where I first heard about "Arrow Through the Heart: The Biography of Andy Gibb" by Matthew Hild, but I eagerly downloaded a copy to my e-reader shortly after it became available recently. (The title of the book is also the title of the last song Andy ever recorded.) None of the Gibb family spoke with Hild for this book (Maurice died in 2003 and his twin brother Robin in 2012; Barry Gibb is the only surviving Bee Gee), but he drew on a wealth of existing family interviews, and also talked to many of Andy's friends and band members.
Andy shared his famous brothers' good looks and considerable talent (many felt that he had the best voice of all the brothers) and they did a lot to help launch and promote his career -- but he was emotionally fragile, highly insecure and full of self-doubt. He was also haunted by a brief teenaged marriage and bitter divorce just as his career was taking off, and only saw his only child (a daughter named Peta) once, when she was 2. His was a case of too much, too fast, too soon, and sadly, he quickly succumbed to the lure of drugs, cocaine in particular, as well as alcohol. He was also devastated by a tempestuous, well-publicized romance and break-up with actress Victoria Principal (then famous as Pam Ewing on "Dallas"). He started missing out on recording sessions, scheduled TV appearances and cancelling performances of the musicals he appeared in. By the early 1980s, his once-skyrocketing career had crashed, and never recovered. He declared bankruptcy in 1987, a few months before his death.
This is a detailed and well-researched portrait of Andy, his life and career, and does a competent job of telling his story. In some ways, the book suffers from the unavoidable fact that the story it tells is a very sad one: we know right from the start that it doesn't end well, and it's painful to watch someone so young and gifted self-destruct so spectacularly, knowing what ultimately happens. (On a pickier, editorial note, my e-book edition suffers from a lot of typos.)
On the plus side, the author does a good job of highlighting Andy's career achievements and personal appeal. Despite his flaws and obvious problems, it's clear that he was well loved by his fans, his family and the people who knew him, and the book helps us understand why, and why he is still so fondly remembered. (The epilogue makes the striking point that by 2020, he had been dead longer than he had been alive. He would be just 64 years old today.) For me, it brought back a lot of good memories from my youth -- of Andy, the Bee Gees, and other celebrities of the day, including the Osmonds (he & Marie were briefly a "thing") and fellow Aussie Olivia Newton-John, who (sadly) died as I was reading.
3.5 stars.
Andy was just 19, only a few years older than me; he was gorgeous, and like his famous older brothers, he could sing. I bought (and still have) his first two albums, and listened to them over & over again. I knew he had a problem with drugs, but I was still stunned when died in March 1988. He had just turned 30 years old. (He actually died of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart, but his heart had been weakened by years of cocaine abuse.)
Although he was one of the biggest stars of the day, there's never been a book about Andy Gibb -- until now. I don't remember where I first heard about "Arrow Through the Heart: The Biography of Andy Gibb" by Matthew Hild, but I eagerly downloaded a copy to my e-reader shortly after it became available recently. (The title of the book is also the title of the last song Andy ever recorded.) None of the Gibb family spoke with Hild for this book (Maurice died in 2003 and his twin brother Robin in 2012; Barry Gibb is the only surviving Bee Gee), but he drew on a wealth of existing family interviews, and also talked to many of Andy's friends and band members.
Andy shared his famous brothers' good looks and considerable talent (many felt that he had the best voice of all the brothers) and they did a lot to help launch and promote his career -- but he was emotionally fragile, highly insecure and full of self-doubt. He was also haunted by a brief teenaged marriage and bitter divorce just as his career was taking off, and only saw his only child (a daughter named Peta) once, when she was 2. His was a case of too much, too fast, too soon, and sadly, he quickly succumbed to the lure of drugs, cocaine in particular, as well as alcohol. He was also devastated by a tempestuous, well-publicized romance and break-up with actress Victoria Principal (then famous as Pam Ewing on "Dallas"). He started missing out on recording sessions, scheduled TV appearances and cancelling performances of the musicals he appeared in. By the early 1980s, his once-skyrocketing career had crashed, and never recovered. He declared bankruptcy in 1987, a few months before his death.
This is a detailed and well-researched portrait of Andy, his life and career, and does a competent job of telling his story. In some ways, the book suffers from the unavoidable fact that the story it tells is a very sad one: we know right from the start that it doesn't end well, and it's painful to watch someone so young and gifted self-destruct so spectacularly, knowing what ultimately happens. (On a pickier, editorial note, my e-book edition suffers from a lot of typos.)
On the plus side, the author does a good job of highlighting Andy's career achievements and personal appeal. Despite his flaws and obvious problems, it's clear that he was well loved by his fans, his family and the people who knew him, and the book helps us understand why, and why he is still so fondly remembered. (The epilogue makes the striking point that by 2020, he had been dead longer than he had been alive. He would be just 64 years old today.) For me, it brought back a lot of good memories from my youth -- of Andy, the Bee Gees, and other celebrities of the day, including the Osmonds (he & Marie were briefly a "thing") and fellow Aussie Olivia Newton-John, who (sadly) died as I was reading.
3.5 stars.