Boney M: The Biggest Hoax In Music History

[@gk...]

For us in Germany, that was no secret at all. And we liked the music.

[@hugoromeyn4582]

The same for us in the Netherlands 🙂

[@elizabethsellors9046]

same in the UK

[@paulbellew4275]

I seen one of the versions in I think 1987 in the ballroom of the Nuremore hotel in county Monaghan Ireland.

[@davehoward22]

they were huge in britain

[@herrbonk3635]

@@elizabethsellors9046 And in Sweden.

[@barefootcontessa3112]

I don’t care who really sang, they were entertaining to watch and I enjoyed listening to them, it was catchy and hard to sit still to.

[@Pashasmom1]

Their stage costumes were really gorgeous, too. I especially liked what they wore at that Sopot Concert. Liz, Marcia, and Maisie were so beautiful.

[@Mounhas]

@@Pashasmom1Yeah, they were gorgeous.

[@stephenhosking7384]

Each of the hits had something "special" to it. They kept finding something new. And I do mean "they". Perhaps Frank Darian had the ideas, but when Boney M sang and got on stage, they extracted the magic from the song.

[@abbeeapen4162]

100%

[@froglet72]

​​@@Pashasmom1yes! Seeing them on Top of the Pops! The women were classy and beautiful, disco carnival space vibes. They were so cool.

[@btard4978]

I'll let you into another secret: The Chipmunks weren't really rodents that could sing...

[@WORKERS.DREADNOUGHT]

Also, Boy George wasn't a real woman.

[@peterwynberg]

GASP!😮

[@rexnegron1778]

@@btard4978 lol!!!! Goooooood point!!!!!lol!!!

[@annakeye]

They may have been primates, but they certainly weren't 'Monkees'.

[@partygrove5321]

They were marsupials.

[@poulwinther]

Pretty much a million times more real than the average pop music today.

[@JacoWium]

Now that's a sobering thought!

[@jamesdavidson2392]

sad but true.... but apparently that's just because i'm old... lmfao

[@retrobilly1986]

I was going to say the say thing

[@stejer211]

Also, keep in mind that Boney M were considered low quality Top-40 pulp, just like ABBA.

[@chukemmang]

Exactly

[@dirufanboy1971]

Man these guys were huge in New Zealand in the 70s - you couldn't turn on the radio without hearing them, The Village People, or Abba.

[@tonymoto1188]

NZ aren't too smart

[@Bandito071]

Or hot chocolate !

[@TalesAfrik]

especially in Nigeria

[@kobie1585]

.........or The BeeGees

[@blueheaven4838]

Or The Cats

[@donaldmcgee6334]

Frank Farion is the same guy behind Milli Vanili. He likes puttimg on hoax acts, and then snitch later after he made his money off of them.

[@mizfrenchtwist]

wow , sounds about right😭😭😭😭😭..............

[@slloyd4520]

As he knew what he was doing for he wasn't in the forefront but behind it. He needs to be found guilty and stripped of the $$$ received by this hoax

[@sped6954]

THAT'S WHERE I REMEMBERED HEARING THAT NAME BEFORE!!! All during this video, I kept hearing that name and knowing it was associated with some kind of scam, but I just couldn't quite place it. Thank you!!!

[@elishebameade1441]

True that!

[@inchworm2402]

​​@@slloyd4520I don't think that will happen sadly. He died last 23rd January 2024.

[@MrGG1959]

C&C Music Factory was a sham as well. Martha Wash of the Weather Girls actually provided the vocals.

[@terrypross7638]

Right on

[@ConsciousEyeandI]

milli vanilli too

[@richardhart9204]

Not to people living in Europe; we knew what the deal was. This is why, when I heard Milli Vanilli had won a Grammy, I knew the crap was about to hit the fan.

[@SheaMF]

Same dude!

[@Team33Team33]

Kind of shows how far behind the USA is ....

[@darylrichardson8567]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@duncanrichardson2167]

@@darylrichardson8567 Hi Daryl

[@cindys9491]

​@@Team33Team33 true, although this was before the Internet

[@IceManLikeGervin]

Naw, they were what they were in the studio but live on stage they gave an excellent show... much respect to Boney M's original group members who were being ripped off by Frank Farian... the same guy who put out Milli Vanilli and ripped them off then let them take the public media fall for his deception.

[@Incredible_629]

That's right

[@jonnybottle]

And everything on German TV is mimed anyway.

[@salim1able]

Throw as much dirt as you may.....they entertained the World. Period

[@edg42]

👍

[@derkjh]

You're in denial

[@salim1able]

@@derkjh And happy there. Sit down.

[@hypocriticus8083]

Very true

[@samsingh3753]

True 👍

[@alexloveridge3060]

So half the band did sing? That's more than many so called real acts

[@sendawulakajubi2991]

The guy who brought us Milli Vanilli also gave us this group. I always wondered why Milli was punished but not all of the other acts.

[@MegaTratincica]

Because 'Milli Vanilli' won 'Grammy'.

[@twistoffate4791]

@@MegaTratincica Good point.

[@user-s1o3nr532]

Maybe because Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett of Boney M did actually sing.

[@NTvVibes]

😮

[@asia911]

Because Liz Mitchell was the lead vocalist who can really sing and sang her songs.

[@marienvanraan760]

I did the sound for Boney M in the Netherlands. The microphones had to be turned off at all times. All he did was dance and be a star. He was super arrogant and treated everyone like shit.

[@jamndunk]

His brother was obnoxious, too!

[@MatthewSmith-j1l]

Marcia and Liz Mitchell could sing live though

[@twistoffate4791]

He looks like he'd be arrogant. He didn't smile at all.

[@PamelaTitterington]

I take it you didn't like him😂 but who would?

[@listeningviayoutube7229]

Oh wow

[@BettyOoop]

The FASHION and styling was AMAZING ❤

[@marie2511]

It absolutely was!

[@honeybdream]

Yes!!

[@froglet72]

Definitely!❤

[@susannangwale6148]

They were great none the less, and we loved and still love them. To give credit to the lady lead singer, she sang on all the songs and in live shows

[@whiterose7055]

They were never a band. They were a singing group at best. This applies to all the Boy Bands in the 90's too. Think N'Sync.

[@patrickpowell5430]

Where’s the hoax in Boney M?

[@obrien6320]

Rivers of Babylon will always be my favourite song.

[@captainmorgan123]

Muttle

[@dannyroosenboom3640]

and these lyrics are 2600 years old known as psalm 139 in the bible

[@lindijmakhoali7257]

Forever!

[@Melissa-YupMelissa]

​@@dannyroosenboom3640psalm 137

[@Millwall77]

​​@@dannyroosenboom3640Yea, but they (Boney M) got it from The Melodians reggae version of it.

[@Embassy97]

When your not actually singing you can dance your ass off and not run out of breath cuz ur not singing lol 😂

[@outclasstours1342]

Unless you are Michael Jackson

[@ep9421]

That's a description of J Ho 😮😊😊😊

[@JudeTavonFenwick]

@@Embassy97 when you really can sing, you can sing AND dance… just like Tina Turner

[@johnmcclearen]

Jagger could do both !

[@Walklikeaduck111]

Bts can do both

[@WayneKitching]

They were huge in South Africa and the Christmas album is still played in shopping centres and Christmas parties in this country.

[@SuzanneVanStaden-fl2nv]

I still play their Christmas album at Christmas. Doesnt matter who is singing, this is the best zchristmas carols of all time Still love it❤

[@robertpark1212]

Huge in India

[@LollyMadikiza-xw4ok]

wayn...are U south African?🇿🇦

[@wendymartin6479]

And to think that was the height of apartheid South Africa and Boney M was still being played.

[@NTvVibes]

🎉also in Nigeria

[@tkyap2524]

A bluff or not, the people love their music.

[@cathycooper5606]

I can’t stand it

[@KeesKouwenberg]

@@cathycooper5606 You can't, I can't, but why say that? @tkyap is right

[@MA-nm2tv]

But do people like being deceived ?

[@youarefreetodoaswetellyou1371]

sheeple

[@gusjackson3658]

That form of scam is more common than you might imagine.

[@MADHAUSMARKALLAN]

I knew Rob & Fabrice. This video forgets to mention that Rob Pilates took his own young life because of the debacle of Milli Vanilli. They contacted me in the fall of 1988 to help them with some movement and moves for their “don’t forget my number” music video. I always knew that Rob could sing because I had heard him do so when we did a few parties when they were break dancers in Munich. I hosted. He was a very beautiful and talented young man. Fabrice is still in Paris had become a well-known DJ and last I heard he was still doing that and producing music. In fortune and money it’ll get you every time.

[@StockholmNightlife]

💔❤

[@matthewleaman9326]

The problem today is auto tune,bands who you thought are singing in tune,this device has been used by mainly boy groups and girl groups such as steps last tour,as a musician its a shame, those who sing without this i salute you,those who use it should be named and shamed.

[@salsabil44]

Apparently the Spice Girls couldn´t sing either.

[@paulsawtell3991]

I know one of the session girl singers who sang on their records.

[@yvonnehayton6753]

Astounding😂

[@anthonyxuereb792]

That doesn't surprise me.

[@MegaDiva1999]

We could hear thst for ourselves 😅

[@Kingofthehill84]

J. Lo couldn't sing either 😂😅

[@roxanneelias6477]

Love their music as a teenager. Many artists have secrets...they were not the first and wouldn't be the last.

[@charlesmomodu9728]

I think I'll agree with you.

[@jcjcviews]

It was the skinny frontman moves that made the group happen, and of course the slim, "exotic" ladies made for an enticing frame.

[@neilnelmar8007]

Those girls song

[@froglet72]

They were amazing singers! And they were super stylish. To say they were 'skinny' and that's it?

[@serhii-ratz]

I listen them at 6 and now, after so long being musician. I can’t find problem in their arrangement. It’s consistent, full and cool.

[@Bo-electric]

Boney M still has my favorite songs 48 years later. I was 12 when buying my first album ever and it was Take The Heat Of Me. I'm 60 now and still enjoying songs like Plantation boy and Rivers of Babylon. There is something special about the Boney M sound.

[@JohnEtter-z3o]

Frank Farian was behind this group so it makes sense. He pulled the same stunt with Milli Vanilli

[@rodolfoerdogan4983]

I guess they were ok. The girls were very stylish, but the guy looked kind of goofy

[@Crosshatch1212]

Coca Cola does that

[@hitmanbangsyellowcrocs4213]

​@@Crosshatch1212😂😂

[@AkiraNakamoto]

It's uncanny that Bobby Farrell and Rasputin died on the same date in the same city.

[@EnochBanjo-mk7gr]

Rasputin came for him😂😂

[@royset3050]

Agreed...especially that Bobby died in St.Petersberg,Russia of all places.....Did he mysteriously trip at the top of the stairs???

[@BlackHatCinephile]

Simple solution: give the awards to the real singers.

[@yossarian6799]

I KNOW you didn't just use the term "simple solution" in regards to anything involving Americans.

@@yossarian6799 They were/are German and Jamaican.

[@Gamble661]

@@yossarian6799 They weren't Americans.....

[@panowa8319]

Neither of them had Jamaican background. Fab Morvan is French, while Rob Pilitus was German.

[@yossarian6799]

Yes but i meant the typical drama queen Americans who made the fuss.

[@Legendwill876]

So where is the hoax? They had ghost writers just like Dr. Dre has🤷🏾

[@pkj2148]

Only two out of the four actually sang, that's the hoax. Dr Dre raps all his songs.

[@hypocriticus8083]

That is the problem with most singers. They only sing.

[@peterrobbins2862]

There are so many fakes in the music industry it is hard to pick one out , there are literally so many manufactured images and songs its pointless to pick one out look at the spice girls and all the boy bands about

[@rhusradicans2122]

The Monkees....

[@a.m204]

I like Boney M songs. Period

[@silviaetna9874]

Agree

[@fredschmitt456]

"Brown girl in the ring" is still sung as an anthem in football stadiums around Europe.

[@YukikoAkemi]

He got tired of them in 1986 and in 1988, we got Milli Vanilli

[@UU-ww6hc]

Only Liz and Marcia could sing with the addition of the backing singers.

[@simply_dioru]

This guys were awesome Till this very day in Nigeria, their Christmas album is still being played across the country during Christmas time.

[@shaaperamakepeace6375]

Evergreen Christmas songs. Every year by year by year.

[@lindipowell4569]

And in south Africa!

[@watifoungchew1262]

same here in Fiji🇫🇯🥰

[@philiptownsend4026]

@@simply_dioru Slade.

[@adambarnes8797]

Biggest hoax is winners of pop idol having a music career

[@lindahubbuck6451]

Don't agree Will Young can sing.

[@rexnegron1778]

The biggest fake in music history was elvis presley as the king of rocknroll! Even Elvis admitted fats domino as the king of rocknroll who charted more hits than Elvis did!

[@thomasbaird4200]

🤣🤣🤣

[@Laniece4u2]

Exactly!

[@paulmason329]

@@rexnegron1778 In rock and roll terms Elvis was minor royalty compared to Fats Domino, Little Richard, Ike Turner, Bo Diddley, Big Joe Turner and Chuck Berry the real royal family of rock and roll. Elvis s watered down version of One Night was pure vandalism. One thing in favour of Elvis is that he wasnt Pat Boone!

[@Dinnymay-q7d]

Actually Chuck Berry invented rocknroll

[@Laniece4u2]

@@Dinnymay-q7d let’s bot forget Rosetta Tharpe🎉

[@DeliCaines]

Sorry they never made it big in the US like they did in Europe!! I loved them as a child.

[@residentidiot9694]

And Africa. They are still big here,

[@ChidiebereOnwuka-nh3eb]

Their Christmas album made it all around the world....

[@sangitasrinivasan1795]

Boney M was extremely popular in India

[@jont2228]

They were popular all over the world except in United States isn’t that strange🤦🙌❤️💙

[@citizenoftheearth6]

Ya'll jealous. They were fantastic! I still listen to those songs and sing along. The costumes, the dancing , catchy tunes =perfect! .

[@tinadelada3828]

You're right, the jealousy and bitterness is very appalling.

[@asage5801]

I dont care…its fun music

[@winstonsmiths2449]

Really? I was in Europe at their peak and it was obvious they lip-synced.

[@feiryfella]

They were fantastic, they were performers regardless.

[@petersmithson4644]

They weren’t such a bad turn.In those days pop music was okay and a bit of fun.Not like the rubbish that’s out now.

[@Star-qf7ls]

I still shake my ass at the tune of their songs that is all that matters 😂😂😂😂

[@lonettamerriweather4937]

Frank Farrion a master manipulator and a con artist who made millions

[@kurtgodel5236]

Frank Farian

[@cimbakahn]

I still like Milli Vanilli.

[@hitmanbangsyellowcrocs4213]

Me too 🙌

[@peacecrusader451]

Is milli vanilli a song?

[@cimbakahn]

@@peacecrusader451 Milli Vanilli is a group of 2 singers.

[@AntiEstablishmentRhetorician]

I started to watch this video thinking, Oh my god, what did they do?! Were they terrorists, or something?

[@ivocanevo]

You mean, Oh my lord

[@Littlepocketrocket81]

He was just eye candy and a good dancer he never actually sang he mimed along....but kudos to them,they made lots of money so good....

[@marcchesley3731]

Is that what you call good dancing

[@kateholland4102]

​@@marcchesley3731😂😂

[@unchainyourbrain3312]

​@@marcchesley3731...it was the eye candy part for me.😬

[@dlmarh76]

@@marcchesley3731 you probably think Taylor Swift can dance

[@secondchance6603]

'eye candy' LMAO!!!

[@debbieanne7962]

Boney M was also popular in Australia. I saw a version of the band last year in Melbourne and earlier about 8 years ago. We knew they didn’t sing on the recordings but didn’t care much. Boney was an Australian cop show decades ago

[@dlmarh76]

2 of them sang

[@fritsvanzanten3573]

I saw that series ;-)

[@chookie4678]

Used to watch Boney. Loved it 🇦🇺🦘🐨❤️💐

[@Funyb2zo]

Every Christmas in Nigeria, their songs are played again and again ever since I was little, i am almost 30😂 . These guys are legends

[@MiracleMan-ol6gd]

At the end of the day, someone was singing those songs. These were like avatars, you could say.

[@stuzo666]

Why do Black women have great rhythm

[@bonfaceandala5850]

We love bonney m songs from Kenya 🇰🇪

[@faxfir1027]

Bad Bunny: The Geatest hoax of all

[@RedheadLondon]

Bobby Farrell was so athletic and slim you would think he' be really healthy. I wonder why had had a heart attack so young. Perhaps substances, so keep slim, speed him up, etc.

[@robinsinpost]

He used a lot of drugs and alcohol at the end of his life. He looked terrible at old age.

[@fritsvanzanten3573]

Life on the road is hard, fans are ruthless, after the big success has gone life gets miserable.

[@Dilley_G45]

Usually it is drugs. Stay away from it. Go jogging and swimming instead

[@hitmanbangsyellowcrocs4213]

He didn't die "young" tho 🤔

[@RedheadLondon]

@@hitmanbangsyellowcrocs4213 You don't think 61 is young???? How old are you? Many folks live to their 80s these days, and even 90s. Dying in your 60s is very young by today's standards.

[@mandelbrot2232]

Frank Farian was the voice - nevertheless Boney M. was great 🤩

[@pcno2832]

20:38 He had to pay her back royalties because she did NOT sing? I don't see why he owed her anything; she signed up for the original arrangement and no one put a gun to her head. She also got the exposure that helped her launch her own career in which she did sing. Anyway, the success of Bony M might have inspired the formation of Santa Esmerelda, another prefabricated disco collaboration of European producers and performers from various places.

[@tmarofvulcan]

They were HUGE in South Africa and even performed here during apartheid (and sang songs like "No Woman No Cry" which I bet drove the Nats nuts!) To this day you can hear them every Christmas because supermarkets still play them!

[@persebra]

what is "the Nats"

[@StockholmNightlife]

So many Hits and The Girls really could sing!! 🎶🎶🎶

[@FCDinADN48]

You can say anything about Boney M, but let’s acknowledge that in the 70s and 80s they were giants. Even now, if you listen to their songs without knowing who performs them, you might say they are the best band.

[@thomasmoore5202]

Why the hoax label?! The entertainment was great

[@jayb9172]

It’s called entertainment. If you’re entertained then what’s the beef, chief? Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma, Ma Baker❤

[@legacy7ds]

The real star was the male dancer! He is an entertainer on that stage! Way ahead of his time!

[@judikingsman6132]

I don't care about all this. I love boney m and Milli Vanilli 💙❤️

[@krakatoa1200]

I didn't like Boney M at all, but compared to modern music, they were brilliant.

[@dimitrispanagiotopoulos9418]

What "secret"? It was all very well known. I LOVED (and still do) Boney M.

[@criticalcrab1125]

Absolutely LOVE BONEY M!

[@Therearethings8148]

Even though I lived on the other side of the "Iron Curtain", it was not unknown to me either. It's nice to discover things that everyone already knows.

[@baronvonchickenpants6564]

That woman nearly wagged her head off

[@tkoshannahan3215]

Long before Milli Vanilli pulled the same stunt.

[@TimmsMJ]

Wonderful entertainment, from the days when woman could sing and dance while fully clothed. They had class.

[@Lazydaisy646]

They often were scantily clad tbh

[@Sgt_Bill_T_Co]

Hoax? - Nope, normal 'run-ofr-the-mill' showbiz.

[@denisespencer8000]

Whoever boney m was i still love them.

[@CerberusvonOz]

They ruled the dance floor between 1976-1978 ............. great times!

[@leecox6241]

You can fool some of the people some of the time…

[@charlespittsjr604]

Loved em don't care who did what they were awesome entertainment.

[@mrsam0496]

Am a 90s kid. We still bumped Boney M in Africa, till today. C&C and Black Box are huge here too😂. Am so lucky they were exposed after my childhood coz they were our anthems😂😂😂. Milli Vanilli werent so lucky 😭

[@tinadelada3828]

We still sing Rivers of Babylon today in Nigeria 🇳🇬

[@marciamorris732]

Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrette were singers and they sang on stage and in the studio. Only Maizie Williams and Bobby Farrel weren't singers. Frank Farian sang Bobby's part. Liz was one of the best singer.

[@fb7876]

Liz was gorgeous!

[@prokastinatore]

Farian became a millionaire and paid the group only 10.000 k per month. "Sunny" was a very popular song by Boney M. but nobody knows that it was created by Bobby Hepp. There's not this much what Farian composed. Less than what the media tried to make people believe.

[@purpleroom101]

Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett (of the original line up) were singers and did sing on the recordings. Like many bands performing on TV in the 70s, they lip sync'ed.As for Live, again lip sync'ed. Well Bobby was a dancer and couldn't sing well, and Maisie could sing but not well enough for her voice to be recorded.

[@purpleroom101]

My apologies to all. I wrote this only 5 mins in. This narrator has covered it. Sorry.

[@ralfbaechle]

Let's not forget that legendary press conference during which Milli Vanilli were trying to demonstrate they actually could sing. They had prepared for weeks with coaches for this moment - but their singing in that conference was like poison gas for the ears.

[@alshamshhajee6209]

Was in Tanzania when their songs became so popular. Loved the group.

[@AngelHolema]

"I Had Always Felt Something Was Askew About 'Boney M' But Just Couldn't Put MY Finger On It, I Feel So 'Milliid-Vanilliid'"...😂😮🤣😜

[@alanland3115]

They made the people happy and the way it was done doesn't matter.

[@AGreen-ug9oi]

Daddy Cool beat out Dancing Queen?? Unbelievable… 😮

[@matthiaswille8641]

That wasn't a secret at all. I knew this from the very early days of Boney M.

[@philiptownsend4026]

It doesn't matter how you make your art so long as you make art.

[@davidneal6920]

Awesome band. And then disco died in 1980…

[@thecalif2914]

Nobody today knows about Frank Farian's Schlager songs. But the success and the fame of his retort bands will last forever.

[@nonsense502]

Whatever.. we still like Bonney M ❤

[@sanchez16]

He said he found 4 beautiful very good singers , I thought the guy in the band couldn't sing and mimed all their records

[@Jamescraigjohnson]

Most pop performers lip sync now

[@silviaetna9874]

Or with autotune even live

[@jeanvictor3803]

Well whatever they say I keep the best part of it. This group will remain one of my best musical memories from 70's

[@brrrlak]

German here: We loved it. Ze ladies really could / can sing.