It's on you to either make the effort to understand why they were that famous and sold that many records or to show no curiousity about the world and stick your fingers in your ears.

They're somewhere between an abomination and a fascination to me but I can't change history, they were HUGE.

I like where this is going. Boney M is guaranteed for fun!

jaawwnn said:

It's on you to either make the effort to understand why they were that famous and sold that many records or to show no curiousity about the world and stick your fingers in your ears.

They're somewhere between an abomination and a fascination to me but I can't change history, they were HUGE.

so were mechanical bulls and milli vanilli and even pet rocks at one time. Are you trying to call the common folk stupid?

Daddy Cool
Ma Baker
Sunny
Rasputin
Painter Man
Rivers Of Babylon

Very great and enjoyable disco songs (Classics) - Boney M. they were great back then in 1976-1980.. and are still great to listen to now..

Ok for nostalgic reasons, I love those songs, still.

F*CK the american haters... remember the americans also disliked Prince's LOVESEXY for some very very strange reasons... to me Lovesexy always will be loved deeply (the album, tour, the band, the clothes, everything in 88 was worthy the label "masterpeice"),


Therefor... let me say sometimes some americans come off as very narrow minded,


Imho...

[Edited 5/24/18 12:53pm]

thedance said:

Daddy Cool
Ma Baker
Sunny
Rasputin
Painter Man
Rivers Of Babylon

Very great and enjoyable disco songs (Classics) - Boney M. they were great back then in 1976-1980.. and are still great to listen to now..

Ok for nostalgic reasons, I love those songs, still.

F*CK the american haters... remember the americans also disliked Prince's LOVESEXY for some very very strange reasons... to me Lovesexy always will be loved deeply (the album, tour, the band, the clothes, everything in 88 was worthy the label "masterpeice"),


Therefor... let me say sometimes some americans come off as very narrow minded,


Imho...

[Edited 5/24/18 12:53pm]

lovesexy was a fine album, not all of us hated it but it looks like we all don't like boner m.

thedance said:

a (Shorter), tv version, 1985:

^ "Stairway To Heaven" (1985) / Far Corporation,



imho.... a great version

"Stairway to Heaven" Frank Farian & Toto and others...


.

[Edited 5/24/18 12:58pm]

thedance said:

thedance said:

a (Shorter), tv version, 1985:

^ "Stairway To Heaven" (1985) / Far Corporation,



imho.... a great version

"Stairway to Heaven" Frank Farian & Toto and others...


.

[Edited 5/24/18 12:58pm]

ya, not bad, how can you go wrong with real talent like studio level musicians?

PeteSilas said:

thedance said:

Daddy Cool
Ma Baker
Sunny
Rasputin
Painter Man
Rivers Of Babylon

Very great and enjoyable disco songs (Classics) - Boney M. they were great back then in 1976-1980.. and are still great to listen to now..

Ok for nostalgic reasons, I love those songs, still.

F*CK the american haters... remember the americans also disliked Prince's LOVESEXY for some very very strange reasons... to me Lovesexy always will be loved deeply (the album, tour, the band, the clothes, everything in 88 was worthy the label "masterpeice"),


Therefor... let me say sometimes some americans come off as very narrow minded,


Imho...

[Edited 5/24/18 12:53pm]

lovesexy was a fine album, not all of us hated it but it looks like we all don't like boner m.

PeteSilas.... ? I bet u are a strange Trump-voter also...?

Ok sorry to mention your idiot of a president - no offense, Obama was great, not this braindead guy now.. 6 percent of the danes would vote for Trump, he is looked at as a complete incompetend guy.. (in europe and by most of us, europeans),

Sure there's a difference, not only in Music taste, but in mentality as well:

I am european, I cannot understand whats going on over there in the US...

thedance said:

PeteSilas said:

lovesexy was a fine album, not all of us hated it but it looks like we all don't like boner m.

PeteSilas.... ? I bet u are a strange Trump-voter also...?

Ok sorry to mention your idiot of a president - no offense, Obama was great, not this braindead guy now.. 6 percent of the danes would vote for Trump, he is looked at as a complete incompetend guy.. (in europe and by most of us, europeans),

Sure there's a difference, not only in Music taste, but in mentality as well:

I am european, I cannot understand whats going on over there in the US...

how you spell incompetent is incompetent buddy. and no, i never voted in my life, it's not my country and it will fall, but that's not my business, i'm just a musician. I should come over there, you silly people would have to love me if you loved that crap. euro did good for some of our best honestly, Jimi cut through a lot of bull by going to england, terence trent d'arby did too. Partly because of the exoticism of those guys they got a good start to great careers. I've known talented guys who can't really get a break here because there are just too many of them here. One of my buddies, best guitarist i ever heard, tried to follow in jimi's footsteps but some racist immigration officer didn't let him into england. he did go to europe then came back to seattle.

thedance said:

Therefor... let me say sometimes some americans come off as very narrow minded,

Aren't you one of the people on this site who said that country and hip hop is not "real music"? I like them and all music is real. There's rappers all over the world in many languages.

Up until this very thread I had always thought Boney M were an American band from New York. Don't judge me.

CherryMoon57 said:

Up until this very thread I had always thought Boney M were an American band from New York. Don't judge me.

I first heard of Boney M in the late 1980s or 1990s because I'd seen their albums in places where they sold used records and I'm in the US. I don't remember hearing their music though. I heard Cerrone, Ritchie Family, & Silver Convention because relatives had their records. I have Love In C Minor now. My mom had that on 8 track, so I was very familiar with it and I bought it when it was re-released on CD. Another record I heard a lot was that disco version of Star Wars by Meco. I've never seen any Star Wars movies though.

First of all, let's get one thing straight... all the things you desire will just have to wait.

CherryMoon57 said:

Up until this very thread I had always thought Boney M were an American band from New York. Don't judge me.

I don't. Every city can produce crap.

But id as dat german touch, ya?
Yeah, that's what Boney M. sounds like: the Oktoberfest.
You start to sing along "By The Rivers Of Babylone"
after the fifth pint and then you lose count.
Trust me. It's that dangerous.


Next thing you know they'll come praising "Born To Be Alive".

[Edited 5/25/18 1:55am]

jaawwnn said:

It's on you to either make the effort to understand why they were that famous and sold that many records or to show no curiousity about the world and stick your fingers in your ears.

They're somewhere between an abomination and a fascination to me but I can't change history, they were HUGE.

I feel a Godwin's Law card coming...

bonatoc said:

CherryMoon57 said:

Up until this very thread I had always thought Boney M were an American band from New York. Don't judge me.

I don't. Every city can produce crap.

But id as dat german touch, ya?
Yeah, that's what Boney M. sounds like: the Oktoberfest.
You start to sing along "By The Rivers Of Babylone"
after the fifth pint and then you lose count.
Trust me. It's that dangerous.


Next thing you know they'll come praising "Born To Be Alive".

[Edited 5/25/18 1:55am]

But this is a dancefloor classic!

This is certainly in line with Prince's sense of humour lol

bonatoc said:

jaawwnn said:

It's on you to either make the effort to understand why they were that famous and sold that many records or to show no curiousity about the world and stick your fingers in your ears.

They're somewhere between an abomination and a fascination to me but I can't change history, they were HUGE.

I feel a Godwin's Law card coming...

Hmm, coincidentally the colleague working next to me yesterday started bizarrely waxing lyrical about documentaries on the Nazis. He sounded waay too enthusiastic about them to me, so I helpfully reminded him that those delusional, racist maniacs industrially 'processed' approx. 6 million men, women & children on account of their being Jews, Gypsies, Homosexuals, stinking left handers, lovers of sticky-out belly-buttons, fans of Irish folk music, folks that the neighbors thought were weirdos, etcetera...etcetera..etcetera...

I remember being out with friends years ago, and one of them dropped the bombshell that, challenged by his boss to compose an essay about someone whom he admired hugely, had decided to write a few pages in praise of Hitler! He told us so enthusiasically with such brazen assurance too. Heck, I feel guilty enough just for liking Ron Mael.

Anyway, we all got skeletons, and I'm gonna come clean here...I kinda like 'Ma Baker'.

Not sure why. Notoriously dodgy taste in music, I suppose. Maybe the video played a part?

Ok, so the clip looks pretty crappy now, but it's stuck in my foggy memory from 4 decades back. Videos were rare to see on TV back in the late 70s, and there was something menacing and mesmerizing about Bobby Farrell, giving the intro through gritted teeth,whilst toying with his mighty weapon, his even mightier tooth pick sticking nonchalantly out of the side of his mouth.

I was always a sucker for a ballad (in the literal sense) too. I like how the song 'tells the story of Ma Ba(r)ker', and, when I was a kid, gangsters seemed somehow appalling yet appealing.

I dunno...maybe it's like a fluke or dark magic or something. Alchemy perhaps...cool topic of gangsters (for a kid), memorable visual from the vid, and a song that somehow reflects this threat with its oddly ominous bassline and cold synth part.

I know it's supposed to be light-hearted and a giggle with the ma-ma-ma line, call and response, and silly costumes & role playing in the vid, but the sound of the record seems so impersonal, almost a lil' bit callous to me. Just my imagination, as the song goes, I suppose.

Somebody here mentioned Kraftwerk, but I listen to something gorgeous like Kometenmelodie 2, which is joyous and beautiful to lose myself in for a few escapist minutes, but this song almost seems to be an attempt to do quite the opposite, aptly creating something cold, mean and ugly, just like I imagine Ma Ba(r)ker to be.

Well, I guess it's probably still talentless crap, but I still gotta soft spot for it. Call it nostalgia or simply poor taste...at least I fessed up. Don't tell anyone though, or I may have to make you an offer you can't refuse.

MickyDolenz said:

thedance said:

Therefor... let me say sometimes some americans come off as very narrow minded,

Aren't you one of the people on this site who said that country and hip hop is not "real music"? I like them and all music is real. There's rappers all over the world in many languages.

^ you remember me.. Micky, cool and ur memory serves u well...

I do like disco a lot: Sister Sledge "He's The Greatest Dancer" but I dislike (hate) hiphop in general, like Will Smith aka. the Fresh Prince "Gettin Jiggy With It", where he is taking this true disco-song and "messin" withit..

Same I Love that Stevie Wonder "Wish" (the title is right or?? - if memory serves me well) I love this song a lot, and Will Smith fucked it up into "Wild Wild West".. wtf.. Or The Clash "Rock The Casbah"........... into something about the mileenium, wasn't it...

But, true, u are right: the disco genre comes off to me as honest music made by "real musicians", that guy Nile Rodgers, from Chic / Sister Sledge made some wonderful "real music"..

Ok don't mention Milli Vanilli, now.. lol


But in general, disco was a lovely music (most often, played by musicians - not programmed on a computer like 2day), a lovely genre with nice messages, to enjoy freedom, about enjoying life, sometimes, when u are on the dancefloor, dancing (at the same time), white, black, latino, hetero, gay, all kind of people were into disco (afaik)....


Ok not true deep messages, I know.. however disco is and was very enjoyable imho..

Country and hiphop, YUCK, especially hiphop, stealing with arms and legs ok sampling and they are paying royalties, still I dislike (the example mentioned already is Will Smith!)...


Boney M. I loved their big hits (in Denmark / Europe) back in the mid- late 70s, and since I love disco a lot, still, I am listening to Boney M. once in a while, playing my iTunes playlists...

But ur memeory is rather excellent.... cool MickeyDolens...

[Edited 5/25/18 5:40am]

CherryMoon57 said:

bonatoc said:

I don't. Every city can produce crap.

But id as dat german touch, ya?
Yeah, that's what Boney M. sounds like: the Oktoberfest.
You start to sing along "By The Rivers Of Babylone"
after the fifth pint and then you lose count.
Trust me. It's that dangerous.


Next thing you know they'll come praising "Born To Be Alive".

[Edited 5/25/18 1:55am]

But this is a dancefloor classic!

Ra-ra-rasputin and it's double handclaps is a dancefloor classic!

RJOrion said:

Will Smith music is how you judge hiphop??....LOL....Will Smith may have rapped, but he was NEVER hiphop...he made pop songs that he rhymed on...lets be clear... no one in the hiphop community ever looked at Will Smith as a peer or a competitor or an associate...

ikr..thedance is on something strong lol (but Wills success is revered by most of them and they respect/understood his 'lane').

thedance said:

Country and hiphop, YUCK, especially hiphop, stealing with arms and legs ok sampling and they are paying royalties, still I dislike (the example mentioned already is Will Smith!).

What's the difference in that and people decades ago doing an answer song to a hit or what Weird Al does? The reply song generally sounded close to the original, so listeners would catch what it's about (Billie Jean/Superstar, Taxi/Take Him Back, She's Got Paper's On Me/She's Got The Papers But I Got The Man, etc). How about singers who change the lyrics of a previous song, but replay the music:

As far as "stealing", what do you say about genres that have a generic sound where a lot of songs sound alike such as house music, tejano, reggaeton, drums & bass, polka, reggae, blues, etc. You know hip hop is not the only genre to use samples like Moby sampling old gospel & blues singers. Moby isn't rap. There's pop tunes based on opera & classical songs and so are some prog rock & metal songs. Is that not considered "stealing" since that stuff is usually public domain. Pretty much any entertainment is copied or influenced from something else. Walt Disney made movies from old stories. Without old classical music, no Fantasia. Without Davy Crockett existing and tall tales told about him, no Fess Parker raccoon hats for people to buy. Without the John Wayne Alamo movie, Phil Collins wouldn't have written a book about The Alamo and collect stuff from it. Phil is a British dude and has no direct connection to Texas history.

jaawwnn said:

CherryMoon57 said:

But this is a dancefloor classic!

Ra-ra-rasputin and it's double handclaps is a dancefloor classic!

I know. Much to my chagrin.
Oh well, there are worse things in the world.

All hail Russia's greatest love machine (hey! He ripped that title off!), I guess.

MickyDolenz said:

thedance said:

Country and hiphop, YUCK, especially hiphop, stealing with arms and legs ok sampling and they are paying royalties, still I dislike (the example mentioned already is Will Smith!).

What's the difference in that and people decades ago doing an answer song to a hit or what Weird Al does? The reply song generally sounded close to the original, so listeners would catch what it's about (Billie Jean/Superstar, Taxi/Take Him Back, She's Got Paper's On Me/She's Got The Papers But I Got The Man, etc). How about singers who change the lyrics of a previous song, but replay the music:

As far as "stealing", what do you say about genres that have a generic sound where a lot of songs sound alike such as house music, tejano, reggaeton, drums & bass, polka, reggae, blues, etc. You know hip hop is not the only genre to use samples like Moby sampling old gospel & blues singers. Moby isn't rap. There's pop tunes based on opera & classical songs and so are some prog rock & metal songs. Is that not considered "stealing" since that stuff is usually public domain. Pretty much any entertainment is copied or influenced from something else. Walt Disney made movies from old stories. Without old classical music, no Fantasia. Without Davy Crockett existing and tall tales told about him, no Fess Parker raccoon hats for people to buy. Without the John Wayne Alamo movie, Phil Collins wouldn't have written a book about The Alamo and collect stuff from it. Phil is a British dude and has no direct connection to Texas history.

Great post Micky. I am finding all this very enlightening yet a little disappointing, especially regarding those Led Zeppelin songs mentioned in the Everything Is A Remix video. I like that they played the Rain Song in part one (my favourite LZ song)... my only hope being that this was truly their own composition.

jaawwnn said:

If I recall correctly, Boney M sold more singles than ABBA in the 70's and 80's. They're still the sound of christmas and they're still simultaneously absolute rubbish and absolute brilliance. Their album covers gave Prince a run for his money as well

Great cover! But we already had Rudy Ray Moore in 1970.

[Edited 5/26/18 7:20am]

This thread is a gift if only for introducing me to that Rasputin song.

I think it's pretty safe to say most Americans don't know this band. But they clearly should!

[Edited 5/26/18 9:27am]