Robert Stigwood - Later Successes and Disappointments

Later Successes and Disappointments

Stigwood moved into film and TV production in the early 1970s. By this time the fortunes of his pop production enterprises had declined greatly, and both his major acts struggled to regain their former glory. The Bee Gees broke up briefly in 1970, and after reuniting they floundered for several years, reaching a self-acknowledged "rock bottom" period in the early 1970s, by which time the former chart toppers had been reduced to playing the working mens club circuit in the north of England.

Cream had split up in late 1968, although lead guitarist Eric Clapton remained signed to RSO, but his next project, the highly touted supergroup Blind Faith, which united Clapton and Ginger Baker with Steve Winwood (ex Traffic) and Rick Grech (ex Family) fizzled out after just one LP. Clapton made a promising solo debut with his critically praised self-titled 1970 album, and followed this by forming a new band, Derek & The Dominos, with ex-members of Delaney and Bonnie's backing group. They recorded an ambitious double-album with considerable input from Duane Allman, whom Clapton met and befriended just after the sessions began. Although Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs (1970) is now acknowledged as his masterpiece, the album's relatively poor critical and commercial reception was overshadowed by the tragic deaths of Eric Clapton's close friends Jimi Hendrix (who died while the sessions were underway) and the subsequent death of Allman himself in October 1971. These tragedies, combined with the angst of his unrequited love for Patti Boyd, sent Clapton into a downward spiral of depression and drug abuse. Derek & The Dominos broke up before a second album could be completed, Clapton withdrew from performing and he became addicted to heroin for several years. Happily Clapton eventually kicked his habit, and Stigwood took him back to Miami, where he recorded his very successful 'comeback' album 461 Ocean Boulevard (1974), which included his US #1 hit version of Bob Marley's "I Shot The Sheriff".

With his music ventures in the doldrums, Stigwood expanded into film production in the early 1970s with great success. His first feature was a hit screen adaptation of Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), made in association with its director, Norman Jewison. He followed this with the film version of The Who's Tommy (1975), which became one of most successful films at the box-office in its year of release.

RSO Films' next production became one of the biggest hits in the history of the business and it also dramatically revived the Bee Gees floundering career, taking them back to the top of the charts in dramatic fashion. The colossally successful Saturday Night Fever (1977) also shot TV actor John Travolta to international stardom. The 2-LP soundtrack album, written by and featuring The Bee Gees, became the biggest selling soundtrack album ever released. The group wrote the songs 'to order' without having seen the film, and according to Frank Rose's 1977 Rolling Stone article about The Bee Gees, at least four of the songs — including "Stayin' Alive" – were written in just one week. Stigwood followed this with another hugely successful film adaptation of one of his stage productions, the rock'n'roll musical Grease (1978), which co-starred Travolta and Australian singer Olivia Newton-John.

Not all of Stigwood's films were popular. Moment by Moment (also 1978), which co-starred Travolta and Lily Tomlin was panned by critics, and is credited with turning Travolta into 'box office poison'. Five years later Travolta again displayed his now-legendary inability to pick roles when he agreed to appear in Stigwood's ill-advised sequel to Saturday Night Fever (1983), Staying Alive, directed by Sylvester Stallone. The movie was a moderate success but did nothing to restart Travolta's stalled career.

Soon after Grease, Stigwood made one of the biggest miscalculations of his career with the musical film extravaganza Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (also 1978). On paper, the project - with an estimated budget of $18 million - looked like a surefire hit. A fantasy adventure showcasing the songs of The Beatles, it starred two of the hottest rock acts of the period, Peter Frampton and The Bee Gees, plus a long list of rock and film greats in cameos. Unfortunately, problems surfaced early in the schedule and grew steadily worse - Stigwood sacked original director Chris Bearde before shooting began and the Bee Gees were soon begging to be removed from the project, to no avail. Although the new director, Michael Schultz (Car Wash) did a valiant job, the film turned out to be a disastrous flop.

Stigwood's also produced the rock-musical teen girl 'buddy' movie Times Square (1980) and his autocratic streak again surfaced during this production. Stigwood wanted to remove dialogue scenes to include more music, so that the soundtrack could be expanded to a double album, but director Allan Moyle refused to make the cuts, so Stigwood fired Moyle (who didn't make another film for ten years) and made the cuts himself. Star Robin Johnson later said of the result: "It was disappointing. It could've been so much more powerful. I'd love to see what Allan's cut would've been." Although not successful at the time, Times Square now has a strong following among gay women. The music soundtrack became a cult favourite due ot the inclusion of many significant new wave acts – Patti Smith, The Pretenders, Talking Heads and Roxy Music – and it also became a collector's item for fans of English band XTC because their track "Take This Town", written especially for the film, was for many years only available on the soundtrack LP (until the release of Rag and Bone Buffet: Rare Cuts and Leftovers in 1990).

Other notable films produced by Stigwood include The Fan (1980), Grease 2, Peter Weir's well received Gallipoli (1981), produced under the R&R Films banner, and the 1997 Golden Globe Awards best film winner, Evita, starring Madonna. In 1975, RSO collaborated with Bob Banner Associates to produce a stunt game show, Almost Anything Goes. The program, which aired on the ABC network in the United States, featured three teams of players from small towns in a competition where the emphasis was on good will. The show lasted four seasons.

Robert Stigwood remains active, primarily in the theatrical musical industry. He recently sold his Barton Manor Estate on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England.