Few things were cooler than disco-era John Travolta strutting down the street as Tony Manero in 1977's "Saturday Night Fever." Thirty-five years later, a robot walking on two feet qualifies as just as cool, especially when set to the same music -- the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive."

YouTube user timtrusler took the video of the anthropomorphic robot named PETMAN, made by Boston Dynamics, and added the groovy soundtrack.

Check out the way the robot moves and compare it to the clip of Travolta, with paint can in hand, making his way down the street in Brooklyn. Even without the flare-bottom pants, wide-collared shirt, leather jacket and gold chain, PETMAN will be celebrated as an early adaptor by disco-loving robots of the future. Especially once the dance-floor moves are perfected.

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Robin Gibb, who died Sunday, was never the center of attention in the Bee Gees; the group was, after all, originally formed as a teenage act to showcase the songs and singing of his older brother, Barry. Yet when Robin did take the spotlight, the results were often deeply moving, giving the band some of their biggest early hits and most enduring songs. Here are his five most compelling vocals.

Any list of the top Robin Gibb performances has to start with  “I Started a Joke,” which was also mainly written by Robin. The song climbed to No. 6 in America in 1968 and features Robin’s vibrato-laden voice at its most effective, driving home the song’s angsty lyrics, which some thought had quasi-religious overtones. Despite the Barry-centric focus of the group, it was a Robin song that gave the band its biggest American hit in the 1960s.

Robin also took most of the lead vocal on another 1968 Top 10 hit with an unconventional lyric, “I Gotta Get a Message to You,” a song sung from the point of view of someone facing imminent execution. Sure, it might seem a bit overly dramatic now, but remember how compelling it was the first time you heard it?

As the Bee Gees entered the 1970s, their music moved in a more adult contemporary direction. Robin left the group for a while, but returned to take lead on several key album tracks, such as “Sincere Relation” and “Remembering.” But his shining moment in this era was the opening verse of “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?” It’s not a stretch to say that the way he intoned the song’s wistful opening couplet was a large part of what made the tune the band’s first No. 1 U.S. hit.

During the Bee Gees’ disco period – from 1975 to 1979 – Barry’s falsetto almost totally dominated the group’s records. But go to their “Children of the World” album and you’ll find a Robin-tastic surprise: he takes the lead vocal on the R&B ballad “Love Me,” which became better known when it scored Yvonne Elliman her first major U.S. hit. (Elliman later hit much bigger with another Bee Gees-penned song, “If I Can't Have You.”)

Slideshow: Robin Gibb: 1949-2012

Jacques Collet / AFP - Getty Images

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The final essential Robin Gibb vocal isn’t even a Bee Gees song. It’s his 1984 Top 40 solo hit “Boys Do Fall in Love.” The danceable, new wavish number showed that his voice, perhaps more than any of his brothers, had a modern edge that suited itself perfectly to the MTV era.

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Robin Gibb, one-third of the Bee Gees, died Sunday after a long battle with cancer, his spokesperson has confirmed via a statement. Gibb was 62 years old.

"The family of Robin Gibb, of the Bee Gees, announce with great sadness that Robin passed away today following his long battle with cancer and intestinal surgery," reads the statement. "The family have asked that their privacy is respected at this very difficult time."

Two years ago, Gibb battled colon and liver cancer, but despite making what he called a "spectacular recovery," a secondary tumor recently developed, complicated by a case of pneumonia. 

Gibb was born in Manchester, England, in 1949, along with twin brother Maurice. (Maurice died in 2003 of complications from a twisted intestine; eerily, Robin had surgery for the same medical issue in 2010.) Along with their older brother Barry, the brothers began harmonizing as a trio in Australia, where the family moved in 1958. Although the Bee Gees had some success in Australia -– they hosted a weekly variety show there –- they didn't truly arrive until they returned to England and signed with manager Robert Stigwood. Robin's quivering, vulnerable voice was featured prominently on several of the group's earliest and most Beatles-eque hits, including "New York Mining Disaster 1941," "I Started a Joke," "Massachusetts," and "I've Gotta Get a Message to You."

Slideshow: Robin Gibb (1949-2012)

Jacques Collet / AFP - Getty Images

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Although he looked and sounded like the meekest Bee Gee, Robin grew into the family rebel. By 1969, he and Barry were feuding over whose songs should be singles, and Robin, then 20, was declared a "ward of the state" by their father when his drinking and partying seemed to take over his life. "It happened so fast that we lost communication between us," Gibb later recalled. "It was just madness, really."

But it also Robin who, in 1971, made the first call to Barry to reunite with his brothers. Robin's solo career had stalled, and Barry and Maurice's attempts to continue as the Bee Gees as a duo had floundered as well. "If we hadn't been related, we would probably have never gotten back together," Robin said at the time. Robin's voice was heard, beautifully, on the chorus of their minor 1972 hit "Run to Me." 

The Bee Gees' massive second wind arrived with their proto disco hit, "Jive Talkin'," in 1975; two years later, their contributions to Saturday Night Fever made them bigger stars than ever. Most of the hits from that era featured Barry's falsetto voice, but the brothers' vocal blend remained an indelible apart of their sound.

The group entered another fallow period during the early Eighties, although during this time, Robin produced a semi-hit album by Jimmy Ruffin, brother of the Temptations' David Ruffin. The last Bee Gees album, "This Is Where I Came In," was released in 2001. Two years later, Maurice died, and with his passing the Bee Gees ended. (Their other, younger brother Andy died in 1988.)

Robin and Barry reunited periodically –- in 2010, they made an appearance on "American Idol" and inducted ABBA into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame –- and talked about a duo tour, but nothing materialized. Robin, though, kept his hand in music. With his son Robin-John, he wrote an ambitious piece, "The Titanic Requiem," a mix of orchestral and vocal pieces telling the story of the doomed liner on the 100^th anniversary of its sinking. "It's a serious subject and it's not a rock opera," Gibb said before its debut. "There are no backbeats. This could have been written 300 years ago."

Featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the work had its world premiere in London on April 10th. But in a sign that Gibb's health had taken a turn for the worse, he wasn't able to attend.

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Sebastien Pirlet / Reuters file

Robin Gibb

Robin Gibb's incredible recovery continues apace. The Bee Gees member, who was hospitalized early in April and fell into a coma that lasted nine days, may leave the hospital this week, according to a report in the British press.

The 62-year-old Gibb is reportedly sitting up in bed and speaking to his loved ones, says the Sunday Mirror, which adds that he has "astounded doctors with his 'iron will' and 'remarkable physical endurance.'"

The Mirror quotes a friend as saying, "Robin is still weak but getting better by the day. His recovery is nothing short of a miracle. Weeks ago [wife] Dwina and the family were prepared for the worst, now they are hoping he will be home very soon."

Added the friend, “The doctors will not take the decision lightly. Dwina will make sure his every medical need is catered for. Robin is aware how close to death he was. But he is determined to go home.”

Gibb has been battling colon and liver cancer, and he entered the hospital after contracting pneumonia arising from complications from the disease; he slipped into the coma while in the hospital. He had been set to attend the premiere of his classical debut, "The Titanic Requiem," which marked the 100th anniversary of the ship's sinking on April 12, but had to cancel due to illness.

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Sebastien Pirlet / Reuters file

Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb is conscious and able to speak to his wife and family after waking from a coma caused by a combination of illnesses that nearly cost him his life, his doctors said on Sunday.

Paying tribute to his "iron will," Gibb's medical team said the singer had defied the odds to regain consciousness more than a week after he went into a coma.

However, the outlook for the 62-year-old musician remains uncertain as he receives more treatment for advanced bowel cancer, pneumonia and liver failure.

"Only three days ago, I warned Robin's wife, Dwina, son, Robin John, and brother, Barry, that I feared the worst," Dr Andrew Thillainayagam, of Imperial College Healthcare, said in a statement released by Gibb's spokesman.

"We felt it was very likely that Robin would succumb to what seemed to be insurmountable obstacles to any form of meaningful recovery. As a team, we were all concerned that we might be approaching the realms of futility.

"It is testament to Robin's extraordinary courage, iron will and deep reserves of physical strength that he has overcome quite incredible odds to get where he is now."

While Gibb remains weak and needs an oxygen mask to help him breath, doctors hope that if his condition improves they might be able to move him out of the intensive care unit.

His family has been at his bedside every day, talking and playing him his favorite music, Thillainayagam added.

Gibb founded the Bee Gees with his twin brother Maurice and older brother Barry in the late 1950s and went on to sell an estimated 200 million records.

The group produced some of the most memorable hits of the 1970s, including "Night Fever," "Tragedy" and "How Deep Is Your Love."

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© Tobias Schwarz / Reuters

Singer Robin Gibb, a founding member of the disco-era hit machine the Bee Gees, is in a coma after contracting pneumonia, his official website said on Saturday.

A spokesman for the 62-year-old, who has been battling cancer, was not immediately available to comment on reports in the British media that Gibb had been surrounded by close family in a London hospital and may have only days to live.

"Sadly the reports are true that Robin has contracted pneumonia and is in a coma," a statement on www.robingibb.com said.

"We are all hoping and praying that he will pull through."

The website has been closed down temporarily.

An unnamed family friend told the Sun newspaper: "He has kept so positive and always believed he could beat this. Sadly, it looks like he has developed pneumonia, which is very bad in his situation."

The tabloid said that Gibb's wife Dwina, sons Spencer and Robin-John, daughter Melissa and brother Barry were keeping a bedside vigil.

In February, Gibb announced he had made a "spectacular" recovery from cancer, but in late March he underwent further surgery on his intestines.

He was forced to cancel all engagements, including the world premiere earlier this month of his first classical work, co-written with Robin-John, called "The Titanic Requiem."

According to the Sun, Gibb had emergency surgery in 2010 to treat a blocked bowel and further surgery for a twisted bowel - the condition that killed his twin brother Maurice in 2003 at the age of 53.

He was diagnosed with colon cancer, which later spread to his liver.

Gibb was born in the Isle of Man between England and Ireland in 1949 with twin brother and fellow Bee Gees founder Maurice.

His family moved to Manchester in northern England and then Australia, where the twins, along with older brother Barry, began performing together.

The Bee Gees released their first record in 1963, but it was only in the 1970s that the brothers rose to worldwide fame, producing a string of disco favorites including "Jive Talkin'", "Stayin' Alive" and "Night Fever."

The Bee Gees never matched that success in subsequent decades, although Barry in particular produced a string of hits for other artists including Barbra Streisand and Diana Ross.

The band's distinctive tight harmonies and falsetto voices helped it sell an estimated 200 million albums worldwide, making it one of the most successful pop acts in history.

Tobias Schwarz / REUTERS

Robin Gibb, seen here in 2011, says he's back in good health.

After months of speculation, Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb has confirmed what made him so ill last year. BBC News is reporting that Gibb has undergone chemotherapy for cancer and has also suffered from a bowel condition.

The singer told BBC Radio 2 that "The prognosis is that it's almost gone, and I feel fantastic and really from now on it's just what they could describe as a 'mopping-up' operation," he said. "I am very active and my sense of well-being is good."

In January, Gibb's spokesman said he had been undergoing chemotherapy, and Gibb provided more details on Friday, saying, "Well, it's all simple. I was diagnosed with a growth in my colon. It was removed. And I've been treated for that by a brilliant doctor, and in their own words 'the results have been spectacular.'"

Health problems have dogged Gibb, 62, since 2010, when he had to cancel public appearances and spent time in the hospital; last April, he canceled shows in Brazil after he was admitted to a hospital with abdominal pains. Gibb's twin brother Maurice died in 2003 due to complications from a twisted intestine.

But Robin Gibb says he's back to full health now, and will be leading a concert performance of his new album (with son R.J.), "The Titanic Requiem" on April 10.

"I feel better than I did 10 years ago," he said. "If I wanted to tick all the right boxes about sense of well-being, it would be now. This is the way I'd like to feel. I don't know how I could feel any better."

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