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BBC INTERVIEW WITH ROBIN BARRY SHORTLY AFTER MAURICE’S DEATH
January 12. – 2003
Part 2
BBC: Do you think that’s what he would have wanted, for you to carry on as normal?
Robin: Absolutely. Absolutely and it’s what I would have wanted.
Barry: And if it had been me, it’s what I would have wanted Maurice and Robin to do.
BBC: What do you think is his legacy?
Barry: He brought a great spirit to the pop business. He just was a really great spirit. You know, I mean he was never a negative spirit. And
Barry: He brought a great spirit to the pop business. He just was a really great spirit. You know, I mean he was never a negative spirit. And
Robin: I would probably, it would probably been the songs that he wrote with us.
Barry: his melancholy, his pathos. And when Maurice touched a keyboard it was like something from a movie.
Robin: It was magical.
Barry: You knew it was gonna be something from a movie and you’d go, what did you just play.
Robin: Really inspirational. Delightful. It was amazing. That’s what we’re going to miss.
Barry: Yeah, we’re gonna miss that.
BBC: And what’s your most endearing memory of him.
Robin: Maybe a memory of him is when, my whole life.
Barry: That’s what happens at this point, when you lose someone that’s close to you like this. Is you get like a thousand visions at once. You get thousands of things that have happened to you with Mo. Things that
Robin: It’s hard to just pinpoint one memory when you know it’s the whole person.
Barry: Maurice walking along a two-foot ledge in Japan.
Robin: Yeah
Barry: Six stories up. {crosstalk}
Barry: We both were there
Robin: We both were there
Barry: But it’s true, I mean it’s just crazy moments.
Robin: And there’s moments when you’re little kids. You know, cause together we were little kids as well. So it’s like the whole person. The child as well.
Barry: We’ve lived in each other’s pockets our entire lives.
Robin: That’s right.
BBC: And how’s your mother coping
Barry: Surprisingly well. You know. I think..
Robin: This is the third person she’s lost inside 14,15 years.
Barry: Yeah
Robin: So I mean she’s bearing up a lot, probably a lot better than we are.
Barry: She’s holding things in and it’ll come out in her way. She’s that kind of woman.
BBC: For a man that was obviously full of life and very talented how did you feel when you went in and saw him lying there in that hospital bed
Robin: Well, I mean, it’s devastating. It’s, even I would say, it’s just too soon for it to sink in. I mean these are, these are visions that are just myself so new to us. So you have to realize it’s just a very hard thing to even talk about. It only happened a few hours ago. and it’s still so so… so very devastating.
Barry: A sense, at least, was that he wasn’t there.
Robin: Yeah
Barry: He wasn’t really there.
Robin: I think for anybody, any family, and I know there are families out there that are going thru this even now, but it is the hardest thing in the world. Nobody is ever prepared for it.
BBC: Thousands of fans from all over the world have been sending their support. They’ve been sending floral tributes, they’ve been emailing, websites. How does that make you feel? Is that any comfort?
Robin: It is a great comfort.
Barry: It’s a great comfort and very very overwhelming.
Robin: And it makes us feel that Maurice’s life has meant something.
Barry: It wasn’t in vain.
Robin: And it makes us feel better that everyone out there is thinking of Maurice.
Barry: I think you always felt like he was the third man on the pole. You know. You always felt like there was me and Robin or Robin and me, and then Mo. And maybe he felt like he was the last UFO in close encounters. Or left one of the band. There was that feeling about him. This will be time for him. This will be his time. The time that he gets the respect and the admiration of his peers and the sense of loss that is occurring right now.
BBC: Do you think that would have surprised him, the sense of loss that people
Barry: I think he’d be blown away. (laughs) Absolutely blown away.
BBC: If you could, speak to the many fans who will be watching this and wishing you all the best, what would you say to them.
Robin: We’d say that we just, we thank them whole-heartedly for their support. We’re feeling as devastated as they are. And nobody will ever take Mo’s place. And he’ll go on with us. And he’ll go on in our music. He’ll go on as a Bee Gee and always will be with us. (Barry agrees throughout)
BBC: Barry, just general??
Barry: We’re numb. That’s it.
Robin: I would probably, it would probably been the songs that he wrote with us.
Barry: his melancholy, his pathos. And when Maurice touched a keyboard it was like something from a movie.
Robin: It was magical.
Barry: You knew it was gonna be something from a movie and you’d go, what did you just play.
Robin: Really inspirational. Delightful. It was amazing. That’s what we’re going to miss.
Barry: Yeah, we’re gonna miss that.
BBC: And what’s your most endearing memory of him.
Robin: Maybe a memory of him is when, my whole life.
Barry: That’s what happens at this point, when you lose someone that’s close to you like this. Is you get like a thousand visions at once. You get thousands of things that have happened to you with Mo. Things that
Robin: It’s hard to just pinpoint one memory when you know it’s the whole person.
Barry: Maurice walking along a two-foot ledge in Japan.
Robin: Yeah
Barry: Six stories up. {crosstalk}
Barry: We both were there
Robin: We both were there
Barry: But it’s true, I mean it’s just crazy moments.
Robin: And there’s moments when you’re little kids. You know, cause together we were little kids as well. So it’s like the whole person. The child as well.
Barry: We’ve lived in each other’s pockets our entire lives.
Robin: That’s right.
BBC: And how’s your mother coping
Barry: Surprisingly well. You know. I think..
Robin: This is the third person she’s lost inside 14,15 years.
Barry: Yeah
Robin: So I mean she’s bearing up a lot, probably a lot better than we are.
Barry: She’s holding things in and it’ll come out in her way. She’s that kind of woman.
BBC: For a man that was obviously full of life and very talented how did you feel when you went in and saw him lying there in that hospital bed
Robin: Well, I mean, it’s devastating. It’s, even I would say, it’s just too soon for it to sink in. I mean these are, these are visions that are just myself so new to us. So you have to realize it’s just a very hard thing to even talk about. It only happened a few hours ago. and it’s still so so… so very devastating.
Barry: A sense, at least, was that he wasn’t there.
Robin: Yeah
Barry: He wasn’t really there.
Robin: I think for anybody, any family, and I know there are families out there that are going thru this even now, but it is the hardest thing in the world. Nobody is ever prepared for it.
BBC: Thousands of fans from all over the world have been sending their support. They’ve been sending floral tributes, they’ve been emailing, websites. How does that make you feel? Is that any comfort?
Robin: It is a great comfort.
Barry: It’s a great comfort and very very overwhelming.
Robin: And it makes us feel that Maurice’s life has meant something.
Barry: It wasn’t in vain.
Robin: And it makes us feel better that everyone out there is thinking of Maurice.
Barry: I think you always felt like he was the third man on the pole. You know. You always felt like there was me and Robin or Robin and me, and then Mo. And maybe he felt like he was the last UFO in close encounters. Or left one of the band. There was that feeling about him. This will be time for him. This will be his time. The time that he gets the respect and the admiration of his peers and the sense of loss that is occurring right now.
BBC: Do you think that would have surprised him, the sense of loss that people
Barry: I think he’d be blown away. (laughs) Absolutely blown away.
BBC: If you could, speak to the many fans who will be watching this and wishing you all the best, what would you say to them.
Robin: We’d say that we just, we thank them whole-heartedly for their support. We’re feeling as devastated as they are. And nobody will ever take Mo’s place. And he’ll go on with us. And he’ll go on in our music. He’ll go on as a Bee Gee and always will be with us. (Barry agrees throughout)
BBC: Barry, just general??
Barry: We’re numb. That’s it.
“End Of Interview”