Tears soon to be flowing like rivers: Robin Gibb remains near death in a coma in a west London hospital, just days after his 'Titanic Requiem' premiered at Westminster Central Hall on Tuesday

BBC Breakfast: R.J. Gibb on the Titanic music requiem that he and his father Robin have created for the 100th anniversary of the sinking of RMS Titanic. April 12, 2012. http://youtu.be/ZDnR8OhZArQ





RobinGibb video: Robin Gibb discusses his work on The Titanic Requiem (trailer). January 12, 2012. http://youtu.be/6I8Q-maVZyo





RobinGibb video: Robin Gibb - "Don't Cry Alone". March 20, 2012.
http://youtu.be/jY7p1zxBYZI

Tears soon to be flowing like rivers: Robin Gibb remains near death in a coma in a west London hospital, just days after his 'Titanic Requiem' premiered at Westminster Central Hall on Tuesday.

My last two posts on Robin Gibb both appeared last year, February 12, 2011 and were titled:


a.) Robin Gibb on the sad state of pop music -a lot of karaoke!- and raising $ for the RAF Bomber Command Memorial, on BBC's HARDtalk with Stephen Sackur
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/robin-gibb-on-sad-state-of-pop-music.html


b.) Robin Gibb and Carola sing "How Deep Is Your Love" on SVT's "Skavlan"; 20-minute interview also!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/robin-gibb-and-carola-sing-how-deep-is.html


I urge you to read them and learn more about this amazingly creative and caring man.


One of my favorite record albums that I brought with me from North Miami Beach to IU in the Fall of 1979 and just loved to play -and show-off a bit- whether I was living in my dorm room at Briscoe Quad or in my apt., was an album that friends of a certain musical sophistication never tired of listening to, in large part because no matter where they were from -Fort Wayne, Chicago, Long Island, Kansas City, London, Oman, Santa Monica- they had never heard any of the songs before.


It was great to be the person who had the rarity, which in this case, was an album compilation I'd been given by someone I knew who was a British music producer which consisted of the most-popular songs recorded by The Bee Gees while they were growing-up in Australia, of which this song below is one.


For my friends and I, that album was like the Rosetta Stone of pop music of the previous 25 years, because it gave you an early look at the sounds, rhyming schemes, singing patterns and vocal dering-do of the Brothers Gibb that the world would soon come to know and try to copy once they moved back to Great Britain and began getting international attention.


More importantly, that album gave you the key to unlocking a better understanding of their true genius. And no matter how old the song was or how old they were when recording it, or even sometimes how good or corny the song might really be, there was always that melody and harmony.
ALWAYS!


Today, Robin Gibb and his extended family are very much in our thoughts and prayers in this very trying time.



The Bee Gees "I Was A Lover, A Leader Of Men" 1965
http://youtu.be/U5KR81CCCGg

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/audio/2012/apr/11/robin-gibb-titanic-requiem 


http://www.robingibb.com/ 


http://www.youtube.com/user/robingibb 


http://www.youtube.com/user/bbcbreakfastsalford 

Corteges for British war dead returning from Afghanistan to soon drive down side streets to avoid public in Wootton Bassett; town residents upset

Sky News video: War dead to be driven down side streets to avoid the public.

July 2, 2011. http://youtu.be/2_rTmaQj7Qc

News that funeral corteges for British war dead returning from Afghanistan will intentionally bypass the public in Wootton Bassett and Carterton starting in September, after the closing of RAF Lyneham, and instead, drive thru RAF Brize Norton, continues to outrage many area residents who feel that the new policy is insulting.

Video from two years ago shows what some of those corteges can be like.

This is the tradition they want to end.

ITN News Video: British troops killed in Afghanistan returned home

http://youtu.be/2BWdETm9u5A

Read more about the tradition here in The Guardian:

Loyal Wootton Bassett to become Royal Wootton Bassett

Wiltshire town gains rare title in recognition of its honouring of fallen service personnel returning to Britain

By Steven Morris, guardian.co.uk,

Wednesday 16 March 2011 13.03 GMT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/mar/16/wootton-bassett-royal-wiltshire-service?INTCMP=SRCH

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From http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafbrizenorton/

REPATRIATION OF BRITISH ARMED FORCES PERSONNEL KILLED IN SERVICE

The timings for the funeral corteges of personnel who have been killed in service, and who have been repatriated through RAF Lyneham, are published on the Wootton Bassett Town Council website. Timings are subject to change at short notice, so please use the Wootton Bassett Town Council website for up to date information.

As of today, RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire remains the largest station in the U.K.

See more on the base's ties to the U.S. Army Air Corps/Air Force here:

http://carterton-tc.gov.uk/heritage_rafusaf

Robin Gibb on the sad state of pop music -a lot of karaoke!- and raising $ for the RAF Bomber Command Memorial, on BBC's HARDtalk with Stephen Sackur; @StephenSackur @BBCHARDtalk #popstars

BBC's HARDtalk, January 3, 2011
Robin Gibb interviewed by Stephen Sackur, Part I.
On the army of packaged pop stars created by TV reality shows and how the talented young brothers were better able to handle fame than performers who just sing in part because they were also gifted composers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbVb8COFOpM
"Natural is better"



BBC's HARDtalk, January 3, 2011
Robin Gibb interviewed by Stephen Sackur, Part 2
Robin shows his deep knowledge of pop culture to make some excellent points, and reminds everyone what really killed Andy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU1UMqsn0g0


BBC's HARDtalk, January 3, 2011
Robin Gibb interviewed by Stephen Sackur, Part 3
Robin discusses big plans in the U.S. next year, and his efforts to see a new national monument erected in London to honor the memories and sacrifices of the RAF Bomber Command forces during WWII, which included men and women from the United States.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-6BPGE8Lbs

To see designs of architect Liam O’Connor plans for the Bomber Command Memorial planned at Hyde Park Corner, near Buckingham Palace, in central London in mid-2011, please see: http://www.theheritagefoundation.info/index.html


For more information on the Bomber Command Memorial, see:

http://www.theheritagefoundation.info/robingibbtea.html

http://www.rafbombercommand.com/

http://www.rafbombercommand.com/memorialfund/http://www.theygaveeverything.com/

To contribute now to the Bomber Command Memorial Fund, please send a cheque, payable to 'Bomber Command Association' to:

Doug Radcliffe, MBE

The Secretary, Bomber Command Association
RAF Museum, Grahame Park Way
Hendon, London NW9 5RR

Telephone 020 8358 4841