Say whatever you will about them -- that they had utterly abysmal fashion sense, that they ripped off black R&B artists, that their disco material doesn't match their orchestral era, whatever (only the fashion argument has any legitimacy at all as a pop criticism).

But "Nights On Broadway" just might be their finest hour -- and as the lead track on Main Course, it's also their opening salvo in the disco era. And if you don't think that's just a little significant, well, you're lost -- period.

Beginning with a groove on which you can feel the pieces coalescing, featuring a big fat synthesizer bassline, piano and drums, and slowly wah-wah-ing guitar, the song starts with a fairly ridiculous opening line -- ludicrous in its sense of underlying menace ("Here we are/In a room full of strangers"). "Street Music," you imagine the Brothers Gibb thinking, as Robin enters quivveringly on the high harmony.

Then the chorus hits and we're off -- a transcendent call-n-response ("Blaming it on!"), "Nights On Broadway" proceeds to play like a Bee Gees highlight reel, including a particularly noteworthy and hysterical example of the "HAAAAAAAAA!!!!" falsetto that the likes of Jimmy Fallon would lampoon (brilliantly, I admit) later on. This is to say nothing of the swelling, aching bridge featuring brilliant ensemble vocals -- "Even if it takes a lifetime...Make it like it was before" the trio coos, a nostalgic bid adieu to the band's Sixties balladeer stylings.

No, Arif Mardin's production isn't nearly as smooth as their Saturday Night Fever material. Nor is the song as crafty as any of the tracks on that record. But "Nights On Broadway" has an earnesty and emotional release even the group's most remarkable ballads never quite achieved. And particuarly given its place in history -- my, that's quite a moment.