That's right, we couldn't put it off any longer: it's the Bee Gees' towering hubris of 1978. We spend some time unpicking Robin Gibb's contemporary quote in which he confidently predicted that the Bee Gees' version would effectively make the original Sgt Pepper obsolete, and we talk about rock operas and how this one is structured. We delve into its interesting backstory involving Brian Epstein contemporary and potential NEMS heir (whom the Beatles rejected), Robert Stigwood, plus: what did George Martin get out of it, and why didn't he take the chance to finally do his own string arrangement for She's Leaving Home?

• Watch the film for free on YouTube: https://youtu.be/7v3PchZzNoI
• Read Robin Gibb's quote in full on page 256 of Peter Doggett's You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/_/luOMJFxe-bYC?hl=en (in the UK it's subtitled The Battle for the Soul of The Beatles instead) or see it abridged at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgt._Pepper%27s_Lonely_Hearts_Club_Band_(film)#Overview
• The documentary we mention is 2020's The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, which is well worth watching: https://g.co/kgs/SqGJEx
• The compilation album we mention is The Soul of Lennon and McCartney: https://www.discogs.com/release/2014089-Various-The-Soul-Of-Lennon-McCartney
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078239/

Meet the Beatles Films Podcast

The Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed Williamson. We're both film writers and Beatles fans. Between us we've written for TheShiznit.co.uk, Total Film, Den of Geek and Virgin Media.

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