Before they were the polished international pop stars, the Bee Gees were three young siblings paying their dues in the music business. The trio were just boys when they formed their first band in 1955, The Rattlesnakes, later becoming the BG's in 1958. In 1963, Barry Gibb was 17, and his twin brothers, Robin and Maurice were 13, when they performed on the Australian TV show Brian Henderson's "Bandstand." And what a fun watch it is! Barry's slick hair, Robin's tongue jut, and those monogrammed plaid sweater vests are some of the highlights of this black-and-white throwback. (@bee.gees)
Interestingly, they are introduced on the show as the BG's but not in reference to the "Brothers Gibb" as we know them now. Back then, the "B" and "G" stood for something else. The official Bee Gees website clears it all up:
Though it is widely believed that the Bee Gees first got their name from being the Brothers Gibb, this meaning did not come until a few years after their founding. When the brothers moved to Australia in 1958, they began playing on the radio with friends Bill Goode and Bill Gates. The groups name was originally The BG's – contrived from the common initials between Barry Gibb, Bill Goode, and Bill Gates. The name then evolved from The BG's to the Bee Gees which eventually came to mean the Brothers Gibb!
