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The Provocateur?
I decided to title this month’s
column after a recent post made on ABBAMAIL where a fellow ABBAMAILER referred
to me as ‘The Provocator’. So, I guess I’m back to do some more provoking.
Please note - all spelling mistakes are by people commenting on my columns -
they have been left in!
When I decided to become a
Columnist for ABBAMAIL, I never thought I’d find myself writing a column about a
previous one I’d written before. Well, I’m now in that position and it seems
that my February column has trodden on quite a few toes.
My intention with my February
column was not to cause offence to or discredit anyone, and I did write that.
What I did was take the facts that I had on hand, pass an opinion and write a
piece of fiction. As a writer, criticism is welcomed in any form, be it positive
or negative, it’s constructive at the end of the day.
There have been more positive
responses than negatives to my February column, which I take as a compliment. As
for the negative responses, well, each and every person is entitled to their
opinion, and what I wrote was not meant to discredit Boney M. in any way, and as
I said, I’m a huge fan of theirs, I like their music and give them credit where
it is due for what they achieved during their career together.
However, the point I was trying
to make was the statement issued concerning their supposed record sales, after
the news came out that there was a musical based on the songs of Boney M. to be
premiered in the near future. I simply did not agree with what was written about
these apparent sales.
I could have compared ABBA’s
record sales with any successful group, and yet, I would still have been met
with the same criticism. The comparisons I used between ABBA and Boney M. was
based on information that I had on hand, as well as statistics provided by on
the South African charts. I also clearly quoted my sources of information.
There are many artists who have
cottoned onto the musical ‘based on their songs’ idea, and yes, they could be
jumping on the bandwagon hopefully wanting the success that Bjorn and Benny have
had with ‘Mamma Mia!’ I saw the Ben Elton/Queen musical ‘We Will Rock You’ a few
weeks ago. A stunning show, but with a very weak story line, just like ‘Mamma
Mia!’ I did not go to see the show for that, I went for Queen’s music, and I do
believe that if and when the ‘Daddy Cool’ show hits our shores, I’ll go and see
it, not for the story, but for Boney M.’s music.
As I have written many times
before, I’m first and foremost an ABBA fan and have been since 1975. That’s a
very long time, 31 years in fact, so I’d like to think that what I write about
ABBA, I do with conviction. My appreciation and fascination with ABBA does not
mean that I do not listen to anything other than ABBA, or that I don’t have
knowledge about any other of the music or musicians that I listen to. I might
not have every book that has ever been published about them or their music like
I do with ABBA, but if I’m going to write something, I’ve generally done the
necessary research or know enough about it before I pass my opinion on the
subject.
I’ll say it with conviction, I
don’t care how successful Boney M. were, they simply never have and never will
exceed ABBA where record sales are concerned. The statistics I provided in
February from South African charts proved this where this country is concerned,
and like I surmised in February, it could well have been the case in many other
countries. Granted Boney M. were very popular and more so in certain territories
where ABBA were not as popular, but this alone does not amass the apparent
record sales that were published.
As I wrote earlier on, I
received quite a few responses to my February column, two of which were quite
interesting, the first was as follows: -
"THE COMENTS ABOUT BONE M ARE
SILLY AND DISGUSTING YOU NO NOTHING IM A MASSIVE FAN LIVE IN THE UK IV MET LIZ
MITCHEL, SHES AMAZING YOUR SILLY COMENTS WILL BE SHOWEN TO PEOPLE WHAT ARE YOU
TRYING TO PROVE.....FREAK"
I was quite amused to read that
response. The person obviously feels so passionate about Boney M.’s music and
yet they can’t even spell their name, or that of one of their key members
correctly. And for the record, I never said Liz Mitchell was not amazing.
The second was from John D.
Baptist from Dublin, Ireland, who liked visiting the ABBAMAIL site, and made
some very pertinent observations. I’d like to list them and then add my
comments: -
“To suggest that Boney M. should
have sold the figure of 800 Million Units is completely ridiculous! However, the
figure of 800 Million units referred to is the amount of records sold which are
produced by Frank Farian! The official count 150 Million for Boney M. records
sold that you stated in your article is correct, but the last official count for
Boney M. records was made in 1985 - over twenty years ago!”
Thanks for the acknowledgement.
However, the article published in the press did not say that these sales were
based on productions by Frank Farian! It was said that Boney M. had sold in
excess of 800 million records.
As for the last official count
for Boney M. being in 1985 where record sales are concerned, I don’t think that
really makes a difference. There has not been a Boney M. album or compilation
since then that has set the world charts alight, maybe in isolated territories,
but not worldwide.
“The man who arranged all the
famous Boney M. albums, Stephen Klinkhammer, gave an interview to the web site
'Nightflight To Venus with Boney M.' before he died a few years ago. In this
interview, he contradicted Frank Farian, stating categorically, that Maizie
Williams did sing choral vocals on some of the Boney M. tracks.”
Well, according to one of the
latest official Boney M. releases ‘Boney M. 2000 - 20th Century Hits’ in 1999,
which incidentally is an official Frank Farian release, all tracks are credited
to Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett with backing vocal by Frank Farian.
“She (Maizie Williams) may not
have sung a lot, but she did sing! She does sing - her first single is due out
this year...”
Well, I look forward to hearing
it! There has been no mention of it in our local press.
“As I understand it, the Boney
M. set-up was quite simple. The four members on stage as Boney M. were the live
leg of what Frank Farian was doing in the studio. For the most part, this is
Frank Farian's work! Liz Mitchell's and Marcia Barrett's vocals were chiefly
used as lead vocals on top of a finished product which was already laid down by
Frank. Most of the rest of the vocals are his own!! Male and female!”
I’m sorry, I don’t agree with
you there. Liz and Marcia did and actually can and do still sing. We all know
what studio productions are like; most of the work is done prior to the
vocalists doing their bit.
“He (Frank Farian) could not
attempt to reproduce this on stage live even if he wanted to - the deep male
vocal and the other female backing vocals are completely studio created - hence
the need for a live stage act who could be Boney M. To think that, in their
heyday, Boney M. on their two-and-a-half years touring with live concerts didn't
sing or that some of them couldn't is equally ridiculous.”
You just have to watch Boney M.
in concert in Russia to realise that there must have been an amazing backing
track in place and the only one’s doing the real singing were Liz and Marcia. It
is quite clear Bobby did not sing and neither did Maizie. I’ve watched that show
many times and it took me a long time to actually believe and accept what I have
just written. There are a couple of very good Boney M. websites that list their
Discography and which member actually sang on which album. It was only on the
last few albums that Bobby Farrell is listed as a singer and Maizie Williams is
not listed at all.
“Regarding the membership of
Boney M. and who was and wasn't singing, more misinformation has, as I
understand it, been put around the place, particularly by the Liz Mitchell camp,
Frank Farian and a record company whose interest is in record sales and not
anything else. Liz Mitchell, in an interview as recently as 25th February now
even claims that she is the most important thing about Boney M.- even far more
important than Frank Farian himself! This is even more ludicrous - the
journalist who held the interview basically told her as much and I completely
agree. I have met her twice and seen her shows twice also and love her to bits,
but I feel she needs a huge reality check. As far as she is concerned she is
Boney M.!!.”
Let’s face it, Liz Mitchell was
one of the most important Boney M. members. How many of their really big hits
featured her prominent voice? ‘Sunny’, ‘Daddy Cool’, ‘River of Babylon’, ‘Mary’s
Boy Child’, ‘Boat On The River’, ‘Gotta Go Home’, ‘Somewhere In The World’ and
the list goes on. If Liz Mitchell has a huge chip on her shoulder, I’d tend to
agree that she’s entitled to, after all she was only recruited to be with the
group for three days and ended up staying and became quite an asset to their
future. Liz Mitchell’s website also has quite a lot of information about Boney
M.’s career and she does offer quite a bit of information into the background of
the group and who did what.
“The saddest thing about the
whole mess (Thank God ABBA never ended up like this) is the bitterness that
comes across from some of the original members of Boney M. All of them still
perform but what a laugh it could be if they were to bury the hatchet and
actually to a reunion tour - Disco Disco Disco Balls!”
That would be a laugh indeed,
but they won’t ever re-unite, they all bear too many grudges against each other,
most of all against Frank Farian, who made more money out of the whole debacle
than the four Boney M. members ever did. What is also very sad is that they
don’t really have a good word to say about each other these day’s either.
Thank to you everyone else who
wrote in and posted their comments, they were noted and appreciated. I would
like to end off by re-iterating that what I wrote in February and again this
month was not meant to discredit or harm anyone. I felt that the statement about
record sales needed clarity and I’d like to think that from the statistics I
provided in February and from the comments I received, I justified that.
I hope you’re all not thoroughly
provoked!
Neil
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