Idea (album)

Idea
Polydor design by Wolfgang Heilemann
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 1968
Recorded13 December 1967 – 25 June 1968
StudioIBC (London)
Genre
Length35:22
LabelPolydor
Atco (United States)
ProducerRobert Stigwood, Bee Gees
The Bee Gees chronology
Horizontal
(1968)
Idea
(1968)
Odessa
(1969)
Singles from Idea
  1. "I've Gotta Get a Message to You"
    Released: 7 September 1968
  2. "I Started a Joke"
    Released: 21 December 1968

Idea is the fifth album by the Bee Gees. Released in August 1968, the album sold over a million copies worldwide. The album was issued in both mono and stereo pressings in the UK.[1][2] The artwork on the Polydor release designed by Wolfgang Heilemann featured a "beehive" neon lightbulb with a group photo in its base, while the North American ATCO release designed by Klaus Voormann featured a composite head made from each band member.[3] It was their third internationally released album – the first two albums being released only in the Australian market.

"I've Gotta Get a Message to You" and "I Started a Joke" were both released as singles in North America. In the UK, "Message" was released only as a single and "I Started a Joke" was only an album track, though another album track, "Kitty Can", was featured on the B-side of "I've Gotta Get a Message to You". The LP's opening track, "Let There Be Love", in a limited release as a single in early 1970, reached the Top 20 in the Netherlands.

The North American ATCO LP and the South African Polydor LP replaced "Such a Shame" with "I've Gotta Get a Message to You".[4] Both songs were included when the album was released on CD in 1989.[5]

  1. ^ "Bee Gees – Idea UK mono release". Discogs. September 1968. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  2. ^ "Bee Gees – Idea UK stereo release". Discogs. 1968. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  3. ^ "Bee Gees – Idea , ATCO release, Klaus Voormann artwork". Discogs. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  4. ^ "Bee Gees – Idea South African release". Discogs. 1968. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  5. ^ "Bee Gees – Idea 1989 CD release". Discogs. November 1989. Retrieved 14 July 2013.