I Started a Joke

{{Infobox song

| name = I Started a Joke

| cover = Istartedajoke.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Standard continental European artwork

| type = single

| artist = the Bee Gees

| album = Idea

| B-side = {{ubl|"Kilburn Towers"|"Swan Song" (France)}}

| released = 21 December 1968{{cite web|url=http://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/bee_gees/i_started_a_joke___kilburn_towers/|title=I Started a Joke / Kilburn Towers by Bee Gees (Single, Pop): Reviews, Ratings, Credits, Song list - Rate Your Music|date=8 April 2011}}{{deprecated source|certain=y|date=November 2024}}

| recorded = 20 June 1968

| studio = IBC Studios, London

| venue =

| genre =

Pop{{cite magazine|first= Jon |last= Dale |title= Robin Gibb – Saved By The Bell – The Collected Works Of Robin Gibb 1968-1970 |date= 24 June 2015 |magazine= Uncut |access-date= 7 May 2016 |url= http://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/album/robin-gibb-saved-by-the-bell-the-collected-works-of-robin-gibb-1968-1970}}{{cite book|first=Alice|last=Echols|title=Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture|chapter= Saturday Night Fever: The Little Disco Movie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DzrvOAA2tvAC|date=March 29, 2010|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|isbn=978-0-393-06675-3|access-date= December 9, 2024|page=168}}
soft rock{{cite web|url=http://www.entertheshell.com/covers-revue-vol-25-the-wallflowers-cover-i-started-a-joke-originally-by-the-bee-gees/|title=Covers Revue, Vol. 25 – The Wallflowers cover "I Started a Joke" :: Originally by the Bee Gees|website=www.entertheshell.com|date=6 February 2010 }}

| length = 3:05

| label = Polydor (United Kingdom)
Atco (United States)

| writer = Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb

| producer = Robert Stigwood, Bee Gees

| prev_title = I've Gotta Get a Message to You

| prev_year = 1968

| next_title = First of May

| next_year = 1969

| misc =

}}

"I Started a Joke" is a song by the Bee Gees from their 1968 album Idea, which was released as a single in December of that year. It was not released as a single in the United Kingdom, where buyers who could not afford the album had to content themselves with a Polydor version by Heath Hampstead. This is the last Bee Gees single to feature Vince Melouney's guitar work, as he left the band in early December after this song was released as a single.

The song's B-side was "Kilburn Towers", except in France, where "Swan Song" was used. "I Started a Joke" was written by Robin Gibb mainly, with help from Barry and Maurice on the bridge. It was produced by the Bee Gees with Robert Stigwood.

Composition and recording

Songs for the Idea album were completed on 20 June. "I Started A Joke" was the last to be recorded.{{cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/beegees/68.html |title= Gibb Songs: 1968 | first = Joseph | last = Brennan | publisher = Columbia}}

According to Robin Gibb, the melancholic melody of the song was inspired by the sounds on board an aeroplane: {{Pull quote | The melody to this one was heard aboard a British Airways Vickers Viscount about a hundred miles from Essen. It was one of those old four engine "prop" jobs, that seemed to drone the passenger into a sort of hypnotic trance, only with this it was different. The droning, after a while, appeared to take the form of a tune, which mysteriously sounded like a church choir. So it was decided! We accosted the pilot, forced him to land in the nearest village and there, in a small pub, we finished the lyrics [with Barry]. Actually, it wasn't a village, it was the city, and it wasn't a pub, it was a hotel, and we didn't force the pilot to land in a field ... but why ruin a perfectly good story?{{Citation | page = 188 | title = Bee Gees Anthology | publisher = Hal Leonard | place = Milwaukee, WI | year = 1991}}}}

"There was a lot of that in those days" Barry laughed, "There was a lot of psychedelia and the idea that if you wrote something, even if it sounded ridiculous, somebody would find the meaning for it, and that was the truth".{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KugbDQHX0R8C&pg=PT351 |title= The Bee Gees – Tales of the Brothers Gibb |last=Hughes |first=Andrew |year= 2009 |publisher= Omnibus Press |isbn= 9780857120045 |access-date=23 January 2015}}

Structure and release

The promotional video for "I Started a Joke" was directed by Jean-Christophe Averty. It was filmed in Brussels as part of the Idea TV Special and features floating question marks on the song while Robin sings. In the video, Maurice is shown playing a Rickenbacker 4001 and Vince Melouney playing a Gibson ES-335.

The song reached #1 in Canada, New Zealand and Australia. In Canada, it spent two weeks as the number one in RPM charts. "I Started a Joke" debuted at #66 at the United States Cashbox magazine in the week of 14 December 1968 and reached #6.{{cite web|url=http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/19681214.html |title=Cash Box Top Singles |date=14 December 1968 |publisher=Cashbox Magazine Archives |access-date=23 January 2015 |df=dmy-all }}

Robin Gibb's son played "I Started a Joke" on his phone just after his father died on 20 May 2012. Robin-John Gibb told The Sun:

When he passed away we went out, they took the equipment away and we came back in, I picked up my phone and found "I Started a Joke" on YouTube and played it. I put the phone on his chest and that was the first time I broke down. I knew that song and its lyrics were perfect for that moment. That song will always have new meaning to me now.{{cite web|url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=5387 |title= Bee Gees - I Started a Joke |author=Songfacts.com}}

Cash Box described it as being in the Bee Gees' "softer" style, saying it was more in the style of "Words" than "Gotta Get a Message to You," and said that "paradoxical imagery offers magnetic charm to mystical interpretation."{{cite magazine |title=CashBox Record Reviews |date=December 7, 1968 |page=22 |access-date=2022-01-12 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1968/CB-1968-12-07.pdf |magazine=Cash Box}}

Personnel

Musicians:

Robin Gibb – lead vocals
Barry Gibb – acoustic rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Maurice Gibb – piano, bass guitar
Vince Melouney – electric lead guitar, acoustic guitar intro
Colin Petersen – drums
Bill Shepherd – string arrangements

Technical:

Bee Gees – producer
Robert Stigwood – producer
John Pantry – engineer
Damon Lyon Shaw – engineer

Charts

=Weekly charts=

Chart (1969) !Peak position
class="wikitable sortable"
Australia (Kent Music Report){{cite web \|url=http://www.brothersgibb.org/download/page-1.pdf \|title=Songs Written by the Gibb Family on the International Charts - Part 1 \|publisher=brothersgibb.org \|access-date=23 January 2015 \|archive-date=23 September 2015 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923194739/http://www.brothersgibb.org/download/page-1.pdf \|url-status=dead }} \| style="text-align:center;"\|1
{{single chart\|Austria\|16\|artist=Bee Gees \|song=I Started a Joke \|access-date=23 January 2015}}
{{single chart\|Flanders\|19\|artist=Bee Gees \|song=I Started a Joke }}
{{single chart\|Wallonia\|8\|artist=Bee Gees \|song=I Started a Joke }}
Brazil (ABPD) \| style="text-align:center;"\|1
Canada Top Singles (RPM) \| style="text-align:center;"\|1
Denmark \| style="text-align:center;"\|1
France (SNEP) \| style="text-align:center;"\|3
Indonesia (Aktuil){{cite web \|url = https://museummusikindonesia.id/2020/08/08/aktuil-no-22-tahun-1968/ \|title = Aktuil Magazine 22 \|author = Aktuil \|date = 1968 }} \| style="text-align:center;"\|3
Japan (Oricon) \| style="text-align:center;"\|28
Italy (FIMI) \| style="text-align:center;"\|19
{{single chart\|Dutch100\|3\|artist=Bee Gees \|song=I Started a Joke }}
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) \| style="text-align:center;"\|1
Norway (VG-lista) \| style="text-align:center;"\|3
South Africa (Springbok Radio) \| style="text-align:center;"\|2
Spain (PROMUSICAE) \| style="text-align:center;"\|14
{{single chart\|Switzerland\|5\|artist=Bee Gees \|song=I Started a Joke }}
{{single chart\|Billboardhot100\|6\|artist=Bee Gees}}
US Cash Box{{cite web\|url=http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/19690208.html \|title=Cash Box Top 100 \|publisher=Cashbox Magazine Archives \|date=8 February 1969 \|access-date=23 January 2015 }} \| style="text-align:center;"\|6
US Record World \| style="text-align:center;"\|5

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable sortable"

Chart (1969)

!Position

Canada Top Singles (RPM){{cite web|url=http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.6104&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.6104.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.6104|title=RPM Top Singles of 1969|access-date=24 December 2017|publisher=RPM|website=Library and Archives Canada|date=17 July 2013}}

| style="text-align:center;"|7

Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade){{cite web|url=http://hitparade.ch/song/Bee-Gees/I-Started-A-Joke-70 |title=Bee Gees - I Started A Joke |publisher=hitparade.ch |access-date=23 January 2015}}

| style="text-align:center;"|10

Netherlands (Dutch Top 40){{cite web|url=http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Bee+Gees&titel=I+Started+A+Joke&cat=s |title=Bee Gees - I Started A Joke |publisher=Dutch Charts |access-date=23 January 2015}}

| style="text-align:center;"|9

US Cash Box{{cite web |url=http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/60s_files/1969YESP.html |title=The Cash Box Year-End Charts: 1969 |date=27 December 1969 |publisher=Cash Box |website=tropicalglen.com |access-date=5 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190125055422/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/60s_files/1969YESP.html |archive-date=25 January 2019 |url-status=dead }}

|align="center"|41

Faith No More version

{{Infobox song

| name = I Started a Joke

| cover = Faith No More – I Started a Joke (CD1).jpg

| alt =

| caption = One of artwork variants

| type = single

| artist = Faith No More

| album = Who Cares a Lot? The Greatest Hits

| released = 21 September 1998

| recorded = Early 1995

| studio =

| venue =

| genre =

| length = 3:03

| label = Slash

| writer = Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb

| producer = Billy Gould
Dean Menta

| prev_title = This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us

| prev_year = 1998

| next_title = Motherfucker

| next_year = 2014

| misc =

}}

Faith No More originally covered "I Started a Joke" as a B-side for their 1995 single "Digging the Grave". It also appeared on some versions of their fifth studio album King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime but following the band's dissolution in 1998 it was released as a single with their greatest hits album Who Cares a Lot? The Greatest Hits. The music video was filmed on 8 September 1998,{{cite web|url=http://www.mvdbase.com/video.php?id=10323 |title=Faith No More - "I started a joke" |website=Mvdbase.com |date=1998-09-08 |access-date=2016-10-02}} after Faith No More had disbanded five months earlier and featured none of the band members. It was directed by Vito Rocco, filmed by Nick Sawyer with make-up by Julie Nightingale and Dani Richardson with Gabi Norland as the clapper loader. British actors Martin Freeman and Shaun Dingwall both feature in the promo, along with performance artist David Hoyle as the karaoke singer, and also stars Michelle Butterly of the ITV series, Benidorm. Derren Litten, the writer of Benidorm and a contributor to The Catherine Tate Show, is also seen in the video.

=Track listing=

Disc one

"I Started a Joke" – 3:03
"The World Is Yours" – 5:52
"Midnight Cowboy" (Live) – 1:01

Disc two

"I Started a Joke" – 3:03
"This Guy's in Love with You" (Live) – 4:20
"We Care a Lot" (Live) – 3:55

Live tracks recorded on 21 October 1997 at the Horden Pavilion, Sydney, Australia by MTV Australia.

=Charts=

Chart (1998) ! Peak position
class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
scope="row"\| Australia (ARIA){{cite book\|last=Ryan\|first=Gavin\|title=Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010\|year=2011\|publisher=Moonlight Publishing\|location=Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia}} \| style="text-align:center;"\| 58
{{singlechart\|New Zealand\|38\|artist=Faith No More\|song=I Started a Joke\|rowheader=true\|access-date=26 November 2016}}
{{singlechart\|UKsinglesbyname\|49\|artist=Faith No More\|song=Midlife Crisis\|rowheader=true\|access-date=26 November 2016}}

Other notable cover versions

In 1998, Robbie Williams with The Orb released a reggae rendition of the song and it was included on the Bee Gees Tribute Album: Gotta Get a Message for You as a fundraiser for Live Challenge '99.{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/robbie-williams-237-1386298|title=How bleep is your love?|publisher=NME.com|date=1998-08-04|access-date=2020-07-26}}
In 2012, Pet Shop Boys included a cover on their Winner single. {{cite web|url=https://www.petshopboys.co.uk/product/single/winner|title=Winner single|publisher=petshopboys.co.uk|access-date=2024-10-21}}
In June 2016, German satirist Jan Böhmermann covered the song live on his TV show Neo Magazin Royale, commenting on the Böhmermann affair.{{Cite news|url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/medien/neo-magazin-royale-ist-zurueck-boehmermann-steckt-in-der-erdogan-falle/14445822.html|title=Böhmermann steckt in der Erdogan-Falle|newspaper=Der Tagesspiegel Online|date=25 August 2016 |language=de|access-date=2020-01-11|last1=Huber |first1=Joachim }}

Parodies

"I Started a Joke" was parodied by a Radio Free Vestibule sketch in which a voiced-over commentary takes the lyrics completely literally, appeared on the film Zoolander as covered by The Wallflowers.

The song "I Started a Joke" was featured heavily in the ending of the film Penn & Teller Get Killed,{{cite news | first=Mike | last=D'Angelo | date=March 13, 2013 | title=Two magic legends screw with viewers and each other in Penn & Teller Get Killed | publisher=The A.V. Club | url=https://www.avclub.com/two-magic-legends-screw-with-viewers-and-each-other-in-1798236911#:~:text=Bee%20Gees%E2%80%99%20%E2%80%9CI%20Started%20A%20Joke.%E2%80%9D | access-date=June 2, 2021}} which features the two magicians playing a succession of increasingly elaborate practical jokes on each other with a fatal conclusion.

References

External links

[http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1039823 A short "I Started A Joke" background and song themes]
[http://www.amiright.com/parody/performers/b/beegees.shtml List of Bee Gees song parodies, including "I Started a Joke"]

Category:Bee Gees songs

Category:Demis Roussos songs

Category:1968 singles

Category:1968 songs

Category:1969 singles

Category:1998 singles

Category:Songs written by Barry Gibb

Category:Songs written by Maurice Gibb

Category:Songs written by Robin Gibb

Category:British soft rock songs

Category:The Cascades (band) songs

Category:Faith No More songs