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You Win Again
Released 1987
Length 4:01
From the Album
E.S.P.
E.S.P.
Track Listing

E.S.P.

5:35

You Win Again

4:01

Live or Die

4:42

Giving up the Ghost

4:26

The Longest Night

5:47

This is Your Life

4:53

Angela

4:56

Overnight

4:21

Crazy for Your Love

4:43

Backtafunk

4:23

E.S.P. (reprise)

0:30

V - E - T - D


"You Win Again" is a 1987 song written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb and performed by the Bee Gees.

Recording[]

Barry Gibb wrote the melody while brother Maurice conceived the drum sounds (in his garage[1]) that open the track. On "1000 UK #1 Hits" by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh, Robin Gibb said "We absolutely thought that 'You Win Again' was going to be a big hit. It took us a month to cut it and get the right mix.[2]

Maurice Gibb explained "You Win Again" in a May 2001 interview with Mojo magazine:

"When we get together and write it's not like three individuals it's like one person in the room, Usually we have a book of titles and we just pick one. I loved 'You Win Again' as a title, but we had no idea how it might turn out as a song. It ended up as a big demo in my garage, and I recorded stomps and things. There was just one drum on there. The rest was just sounds. Then everybody tried to talk us out of the stomps at the start. They didn't want it. 'Take it off. Too loud! Can we have them not on the intro, just when the music starts?' All this stuff. But as soon as you hear that 'jabba-doomba, jabba-doomba' on the radio, you know it's us. It's a signal. So that's one little secret, give people an automatic identification of who it is".[2]

Release[]

It was a #1 single in Britain, Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Denmark and Norway, as well as making the top 10 in Italy, the Netherlands, Australia and Sweden. It also topped the Eurochart for 4 weeks. When this reached #1 on 17 October 1987 in the UK, it made the Bee Gees the first group to score a UK #1 hit in each of three decades: the 1960s, '70s, and '80s.[3] It was less successful in the US however, only reaching #75 in the singles charts as many American DJs were still reluctant to play any Bee Gees music due to the disco backlash on the early '80s. They finally overcame that problem in 1989 with the hit single "One".[4]

As CD singles were not common in the late 1980s, "You Win Again" was released commercially on vinyl and cassette, though a 1-track CD single was produced as a promotional-only copy in the USA and a 2-track Mini CD single was released in Japan.

The song also appeared as a bonus track on the American version of One, replacing the song "Wing and a Prayer". All current versions of the album feature the song as a bonus track.

Track listing[]

7" single
  1. "You Win Again"
  2. "Backtafunk"
12" single
  1. Extended mix
  2. Fade version
  3. Backtafunk
US CD
  1. "You Win Again" (7" fade version)
Japan Mini CD
  1. "You Win Again" (7" fade version)
  2. "E.S.P."

Personnel[]

  • Barry Gibb - lead vocals, guitar
  • Robin Gibb - backing vocals
  • Maurice Gibb - backing vocals, keyboards
  • Mike Porcaro - bass
  • Robbie Kondor - keyboards
  • Rhett Lawrence - drum programming

Chart performance[]

Template:Unreferenced section

Chars (1987) Peak
position
Australian (Kent Music Report)[5] 8
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[6] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50)[7] 2
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary[8] 7
China Singles Chart 1
Denmark 1
Finland 14
France (SNEP)[9] 14
Germany (Media Control Charts)[10] 1
Irish Singles Chart

[11]

1
Italy (FIMI)[12] 4
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) Charts[13] 5
Netherlands (GfK Dutch Chart)[14] 6
New Zealand (RIANZ)[15] 18
Norway (VG-lista)[16] 1
South African Singles Chart[17] 2
Spanish Singles Chart 18
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[18] 8
Swiss (Swiss Hitparade)[19] 1
UK (Official Charts Company)[20] 1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[21] 75

Certifications[]

Country Certification Date Sales certified[22]
Germany[23] Platinum 1989 500,000

Cover versions[]

In 2002, American boy band B3 covered the song on their debut album First.

References[]

  1. Maurice Gibb: down-to-earth talent behind Bee Gees’ hits, MusicWeek, January 27, 2003
  2. 2.0 2.1 Template:Cite web
  3. You Win Again Songfacts
  4. http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/beegees/87.html
  5. Template:Cite book
  6. Template:Cite web
  7. Template:Cite web
  8. Template:Cite web
  9. Template:Cite web
  10. Template:Cite web
  11. Template:Cite web 1st result when searching "You win again"
  12. Template:Cite web
    14. You win again - The Bee Gees [#4, 1987/88]
  13. Template:Cite web
  14. Template:Cite web
  15. Template:Cite web
  16. Template:Cite web
  17. Template:Cite web
  18. Template:Cite web
  19. Template:Cite web
  20. Template:Cite web
  21. Template:Cite web
  22. Template:Cite web
  23. Template:Cite certification
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