"Shine, Shine" is a song recorded and released by

Barry Gibb Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Along with his younger fraternal twin brothers, Robin Gibb, Robin and Maurice Gibb, Maurice, he rose to global fame as a member ...

. The first single from his debut solo album ''

Now Voyager ''Now Voyager'' is the debut solo studio album by British singer-songwriter Barry Gibb, the member of the Bee Gees. It was released on 17 September 1984 by Polydor Records in the UK and MCA Records in the US. ''Now Voyager'' was recorded sometim ...

,'' it proved to be another hit single for Gibb, as he had previously released the US Top 10 singles " Guilty" and "

What Kind of Fool "What Kind of Fool" is a 1981 vocal duet by singers Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb. The song was written by Gibb and Albhy Galuten. Released as the third single from Streisand's album '' Guilty'' (1980), "What Kind of Fool" was the third cons ...

", on both of which he had collaborated with

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...

. "Shine, Shine," however, was his first entirely solo hit single.

Background

The selection was written and composed by Gibb, his brother Maurice, and George Bitzer. The song has a fast percussion beat and a relatively straight melody line. Though the date, in 1984, of its recording in Middle Ear Studios was undocumented as of late April 2015, it employed string arrangements which were added later in Ocean Way Studios, Los Angeles. Gibb also sings

background Background may refer to: Performing arts and stagecraft * Background actor * Background artist * Background light * Background music * Background story * Background vocals * ''Background'' (play), a 1950 play by Warren Chetham-Strode Record ...

and

harmony vocals Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical ...

and played

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

on this track. As its music video implies, the selection's lyrics are about a man who is watching a woman he loves marry someone else.

Release and reception

"Shine, Shine" was chosen as the first single to be released from ''Now Voyager,'' with "She Says" chosen as the B-side. The song was charted in North America, Canada, UK and on other European countries. The song was released on PolyGram Records in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. MCA also released a 12-inch single, but with the same versions of two songs. The extended version of this single was released only in the UK. The horn section is featured in the

instrumental break In popular music, a break is an instrumental or percussion section during a song derived from or related to stop-time – being a "break" from the main parts of the song or piece. A break is usually interpolated between sections of a song, to p ...

and on the coda of the song. The cover photograph for the single was shot by

Annie Leibovitz Anna-Lou Leibovitz ( ; born October 2, 1949) is an American Portrait photography, portrait photographer best known for her portraits, particularly of celebrities, which often feature subjects in intimate settings and poses. Leibovitz's Polaroid ...

. William Ruhlmann, at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, retrospectively described the song as "having an engaging chorus and Caribbean riff." ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' described "Shine, Shine" as having a " new wave

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

bounce, a hopped-up

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

beat."

Charts

References

{{Barry Gibb 1984 singles Barry Gibb songs 1984 songs Songs written by Barry Gibb Songs written by Maurice Gibb Song recordings produced by Barry Gibb Polydor Records singles MCA Records singles Pop ballads