Andy Gibb's 10 greatest songs, ranked

3 July 2024, 11:28 | Updated: 3 July 2024, 11:59

Andy Gibb had an incredibly successful, yet brief, career in pop music. Picture: Getty

By Thomas Edward

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He could've very well have been the fourth member of the Bee Gees.

But despite the temptation to join his older brothers on stage and in the studio, Andy Gibb forged a successful music career in his own right.

Sharing the same chiselled good looks as his eldest brother Barry Gibb, Andy was also in possession of the family talent.

Scoring a series of hits around the same time the Bee Gees were dominating global charts with their brand of sultry, falsetto-laden disco, Andy was destined for teen idol greatness.

In 1977, after bursting onto the scene - with the help of his brothers who also wrote the majority of his songs - the youngest Gibb garnered nominations at the Grammy Awards and American Music Awards to compliment his chart breakthrough.

Sadly, his hits dried up as Andy's issues with substance abuse worsened, only releasing a total of three studio albums throughout his short-lived career.

Quite tragically, even though he was working up to a comeback after years in the pop music wilderness, Andy died on 10th March 1988 just five days after his 30th birthday.

Still, the singer had a handful of songs that could easily slot alongside some of the Bee Gees' finest achievements, with swagger and natural charisma by the bucket.

Read on to see the best ten Andy Gibb songs, ranked from top to bottom:

'All I Have To Do Is Dream' (with Victoria Principal)

All I Have to Do is Dream - Andy Gibb and Victoria Principal (High Quality Rip)

If you thought one of The Everly Brothers' songs couldn't get any more saccharine, think again.
In 1981, Andy Gibb teamed up with his then-girlfriend (Dallas star Victoria Principal) for a soppy cover of 'All I Have To Do Is Dream', taking it to number fifty-one in the US charts.
Unfortunately, their relationship didn't quite have the dream ending: after handing an ultimatum to Andy to choose either her or the booze, he walked out and ended their affair right then and there.
'Rest Your Love On Me' (with Olivia Newton-John)

Andy Gibb - Rest Your Love On Me (1979) 4K

'Rest Your Love On Me' was originally a country ballad the Bee Gees wrote during the Children Of The World sessions, though it'd only be released as a B-side to 'Too Much Heaven' in 1979.
Andy Gibb duetted on the song with Olivia Newton-John at the Music for UNICEF Concert that year, later recording a studio version for his 1980 album After Dark, though it failed to chart.
Fun fact: Crosby, Still & Nash guitarist Stephen Stills recorded the bass on the song's original demo, as he was recording next door to the Bee Gees' Miami studio at the time.
'Time is Time'

Time Is Time

'Time Is Time' is a slick slice of pop rock that saw Andy ventured further away from the disco-lite pop sound which established him as the genre's poster boy.
It also saw him mature as a songwriter behind the scenes, co-writing the hit with brother Barry which would appear on his Andy Gibb's Greatest Hits compilation in 1980.
Though he may've been coming into his own as an artist, the song is known for breaking Andy's hot streak of top ten singles, marking the beginning of the end for his pop chart occupation.
'I Can’t Help It' (with Olivia Newton-John)

Olivia Newton John & Andy Gibb - I Can't Help It (1980)

Andy Gibb enlisted the help of Australian superstar Olivia Newton-John once again in 1980 for his sanguine soft rock duet 'I Can't Help It', though it didn't halt his eventually slide into obscurity.
At the time of recording his third and final studio album, After Dark, Andy's drug abuse had got so out of hand he couldn't write or even barely sing, so Barry took control of his songwriting and production almost in its entirety. After Dark flopped, and Andy was dropped by Robert Stigwood from his RSO label.
Still, the chemistry between the pair (and a rumoured romance) propelled 'I Can't Help It' in the hearts of their fans and up to number twelve in the US charts.
'(Our Love) Don’t Throw It All Away'

[Our Love] Don't Throw It All Away

The Bee Gees were a bonafide pop hit factory in the late seventies, with '(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away' written by bandleader Barry Gibb and their keyboardist Blue Weaver during the sessions for Saturday Night Fever.
Despite not making the grade for the legendary soundtrack album, Andy Gibb recorded his own version and took it to number nine on the US Billboard charts.
Barry however couldn't resist altering the song in the studio, with Blue Weaver recalling: "When Andy actually went to record it, Barry listened to it [the original version] again and thought, 'Oh, it's not finished', so Barry wrote the whole of the middle-eight."
'Desire'

Andy Gibb - Desire • TopPop

Much like most of Andy Gibb's major hits, the Bee Gees' fingerprints are all over his 1980 song 'Desire': Barry, Maurice and Robin's iconic vocals can be heard throughout the intro, and then for the most part of the song's emotional climaxes.
Mainly because 'Desire' was intended to be included on the trio's 1978 behemoth album Spirits Have Flown but was later dropped and handed over to their little brother.
Released on his final studio album, After Dark, 'Desire' reached number four in the US charts and would be his final-ever top ten hit.
'An Everlasting Love'

An Everlasting Love

The disco-indebted easy-listening number 'An Everlasting Love' was the fourth of Andy Gibb's five hit records that went Gold.
Reaching number five in the US charts and number ten in the UK - his highest charting song on home soil - the youngest Gibb was on an unprecedented hot streak thanks to his brother Barry.
Typically, Andy's romantic vocals are bolstered by Barry's falsetto, and the song's success helped Andy deal "with the pressures of proving to myself that the first one wasn't a fluke and that I could write a second album". With Barry's guidance, of course.
'(Love Is) Thicker Than Water'

Andy Gibb - Love Is Thicker Than Water • TopPop

Andy Gibb's second-ever single release, '(Love Is) Thicker Than Water' ensured that 1977 was very much the year of the Gibb brothers.
Co-written by Andy and Barry (despite Andy's insistence that Barry was a steam-roller of a songwriter to work with only really used his younger brother's idea for a song title), the track was another number one single for the youngest Gibb.
Working on the song together in Bermuda, Andy recalled: "It is very hard to write with Barry, but he said, 'Help me think of a great title'. That was a period where Barry was thinking of titles first and seeing how they would inspire him to write a song. I said, 'How about Thicker Than Water?' I did not say 'Love Is' just 'Thicker Than Water', he said 'That's great!'"
The mid-tempo soul ballad knocked off the Bee Gees' 'Stayin' Alive' from the top of the US charts, and was replaced by 'Night Fever', which in turn was succeeded by Yvonne Elliman's 'If I Can't Have You' which was yet another Gibb produced song.
'I Just Want To Be Your Everything'

ANDY GIBB - I Just Want To Be Your Everything

Despite his bond to the Bee Gees, people couldn't have predicted that Andy Gibb's debut single in the US would catapult him immediately into stratospheric success after reaching number one with his first try.
The country-tinged funk song 'I Just Want To Be Your Everything' launched Andy's pop career at the time his brothers were dominating the airwaves.
Barry wrote the song for his little brother during their session together in Bermuda, with Andy recalling: "Before I knew it he was starting to do the chorus and I thought, 'Wow what a hook!'. He's an expert at his craft. Within about 20 minutes, he'd written a number one record; and then we went right into another one."
Everything Barry touched turned into gold, especially having recruited the Eagles' Joe Walsh to play guitar on the track too.
'Shadow Dancing'

Andy Gibb - Shadow Dancing • TopPop

Undoubtedly the height of Andy Gibb's fleeting pop career was the 1978 single 'Shadow Dancing', which secured the budding star a third US number one single in a row.
It was written by - yep, you guessed it - his three Bee Gee brothers whilst they were filming the ill-fated musical jukebox Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which was obviously inspired by The Beatles.
Andy recalled how prolific his brothers were when it came to penning songs, revealing to The Billboard Book of Number One Hits: "We literally sat down and in ten minutes, we had a group going, (singing) the chorus part."
Setting the story of the sultry song within the club, singer Andy only has eyes for his lady, with everything around them fading into obscurity as they dance together like shadows.
He was barely 20 years old when Andy joined his brothers at the top of the pop world.
Sadly, with his rampant drug usage alongside the backlash the Bee Gees suffered post-disco, Andy's career never quite reached the same lofty level, before his eventual tragic death in 1988.