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"Jive Talkin'"
#1 weeks: 2
weeks: 1975-08-09, 1975-08-16
genre: disco
artist: Bee Gees
album: Main Course
writers: Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb
producers: Arif Mardin
label:
formats: Vinyl record (7" 45 RPM)
lengths: 3 min 46 s

"Jive Talkin'" is a song by the Bee Gees, which hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top-five on the UK singles chart in the summer of 1975. Largely recognized as the group's "comeback" song, it was their first U.S. top ten hit since "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" in 1971.

The song was originally called "Drive Talking". The song's rhythm was modeled after the sound a car would make crossing the bridge from Biscayne Bay into Miami. The sound of the car's tires were making a "Chicka, Chicka, Chicka," sound, which was used vocally before the group sings the title of the song. Producer Arif Mardin wished to market the song toward the teen market, and suggested the change to "Jive Talkin'" (the phrase "jive talkin'", slang for "telling lies", was a popular colloquialism at the time). Barry Gibb wrote the song and then had to fix the lyrics upon completion because he had assumed "jive talkin'" referred to "speaking in jive", a then-popular term for African-American Vernacular English. All actual "talking jive" references were fixed so they meant "lying".

Upon its release to radio stations, the single was delivered in a plain white cover, with no immediate indication of what the song's name was or who sang it. The DJs would only find out what the song was and who played it when it was placed on the turntable; RSO did provide the song with a label on the record itself.

The disco-oriented sound was a departure from the pop ballads the Bee Gees had become known for. With the new sound, the public had gained a newfound interest in the Bee Gees and their music. The single sold over a million copies in the United States alone, and sold in excess of a hundred thousand copies in Canada. While not a top seller in the United Kingdom, it did mark the first time in three years that a Bee Gees single had charted there.

Two years after its release as a single the song was included on the Bee Gees-dominated soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever.

In 1987 this song was covered by the Boogie Box High. Boogie Box High was a musical project by Andros Georgiou in the late 1980s, that featured a range of vocal collaborations such as his relative George Michael (of Wham!) and Nick Heyward (of Haircut 100). A cover of the Bee Gees song Jive Talkin' was their biggest hit in 1987.

On Iron Maiden's song "More Tea Vicar", towards the end, Bruce Dickinson sings a bit of the song in a voice imitating The Bee Gees as a joke, then follows it up with "No, no no! You got the wrong track, you have to go in the studio next door." Then sings "Okay" in a Bee Gees voice.