Product Description

Each program in the Impact! series puts the spotlight on the songs that have left an indelible mark on the world. Certain songs have come to define the times in which they appeared as they proved to be the catalyst for the transformation of the cultural and political landscape. Most set trends in music, fashion and dance while flouting convention and testing the boundaries of society's accepted moral values.

Besides setting the scene for the release of the song, the programs feature the songs creator(s) and explore its cultural impact and the ways that it changed the course of history. Guests include recording artists, music industry executives, cultural and political pundits and the music fans themselves for whom these songs became their life's soundtrack.

Dance crazes abound throughout the history of popular music. By the mid-70s, dancing was back with a vengeance. They called it disco and with the release of the movie Saturday Night Fever starring John Travolta, a blue-collar worker by day and a high-stepping dancer by night, it became a major part of the culture around the world. The accompanying soundtrack was dominated by the songs of The Bee Gees, including the number one hit Stayin' Alive which ostensibly served to stimulate a taste for polyester among the general populace and to launch a boogie-down fever which has endured in various guises through the last quarter of the 20th century and into the new millennium.

With song clips, archive interviews with Robin Gibb, Nile Rodgers, Gloria Gaynor, Hanson, Daryl Hall & John Oates.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #89770 in DVD
• Brand: Bee
• Released on: 2007-10-30
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 36 minutes

Customer Reviews

Not to long, not too short .... and priced right
This is one of a series of 12 reasonably priced ($9.99 list) DVDs released in the US by SRO (Part of Kultur International) under the umbrella "Impact: Songs That Changed The World". Each runs about 24 minutes as it was co-produced by Canadain TV and broadcast on the cable CMT network in the US in 2002 and 2003.

I could cell from the quality of the editing - even before I saw the end credits - that this was produced by Gregory Hall. Hall - who also makes music documentaries under his own Hallmark Productions banner - has been cranking these out for about 20 years years now. I first saw his Country Music bios. They've always been well edited and usually contain great interview "sound bites". The four volumes in this series that I;ve watched so far are no exception. Some of the interviews were recent at the time of the show's production while some go back to the 80s and 90s and have appeared in other Hall productions. (You can tell by the locations where they were taped.)

Most of the Impact series DVDs cover more than the single records that are the topics. They also cover the impact that artist - at that point in time - had on our culture from style of dress to style of music.

Style is what it was all about in 1978 when the Bee Gees recorded "Stayin' Alive" for the soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever. (Actually they had written it with a different tile years before the film. When John Travolta, walked down the Brooklyn street to that tune at the beginning of the film, the whole Disco craze began. Gloria Gaynor, another big disco singer gets lots of interview time. We also here from fashion designer Betsey Johnson (who appears on other volumes like the Madonna "Like A Virgin" DVD). There's some really interesting interviews here including the Chicago DJ who organized the first huge Disco Record Demolition Derby before a White Sox game where they exploded a huge pile of disco records brought by fans. This episode is more about disco than the single of "Stayin' Alive" but it's still fascinating.

Like the others in this series the DVD does a really nice job of presenting a sociological study of how one single pop record can affect a whole culture, without belaboring the point. These DVDS will leave a legacy to the next generation and can be very useful in, not only music history classes but in the study of late 20th century "pop culture"


Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

The Bee Gees "songs that changed the world"
Do not buy this DVD!!!! There are no songs being played. Just people making comments about the Bee Gees. This should not have been offered as a music DVD!!

Nice to add to your collection
This I was a little disappointed but not to much. It was interesting and well I loved the music in this. But it was not what I expected. It was also interesting as well.