In Memory 2010: Bobby Farrell from Boney M

                        

Bobby Farrell, front man of the 1970s disco group Boney M, has died at the age of 61 in 2010, the singer was found dead in a hotel room in St Petersburg, Russia, where he had been performing.

Farrell, he continued, had complained of breathing problems before and after a show on Wednesday. The cause of his death has yet to be established.

Born Alfonso Farrell in Aruba, the singer left his home on the Caribbean island at 15 to work as a sailor.

 

He then travelled to Norway and Germany to pursue a career as a DJ.
In 1974 he was chosen to front Boney M, which was put together by German singer and songwriter Frank Farian
.
It was he who performed much of the male vocals on the group's hit records, Farrell being more a dancer and showman than a singer.

Boney M had their first hit with Daddy Cool in 1978, scoring a UK number one that same year with Rivers of Babylon.Known for his extravagant costumes, Farrell was often seen with a bare torso and tight-fitting bell-bottom pants.

The song sold nearly two million records in Britain alone, where it stayed number one for five weeks.

In 1979 they had a very popular hit with Hooray Hooray, It's A Happi-Holiday

After the group disbanded in 1986 Farrell continued on his own, most recently touring with three female backing singers under the name Bobby Farrell of Boney M.
According to Mr Seine the singer had suffered from "heart problems, shortage of breath and problems with his stomach" for the last decade.

He described his client as "a fantastic person" but also "quite bizarre". "He had a big heart but he was explosive," he said.

  Farrell is survived by a son and a daughter.

70s Music Christmas 1978

The Christmas charts were so important in the 1970s, with not only the prestige of getting a Christmas hit, but a NUMBER One Christmas hit was the icing on the cake, the Christmas Cake.

During this  Christmas Season we look at the music of Christmas Day 19786 and highlight those Christmas records to stir the memory of the 70s music.

Having to use a bit of editorial control here to decide what was a Christmas hit, so if it does not match your criteria, apologies.

This chart comes from the 23rd December 1978.

Father Abrahm  and The Smurfs and Christmas in Smurfland

Following the success of the Smurfs cartoon and comic series,that were drawn by Belgium artist Peyo, it was perhaps inevitable that the Smurfs would hit the pop world too. So in 1978 Father Abraham, born in  Netherlands in 1935 as  Petrus Antonius Laurentius Pierre Kartner,  he was a prolific song writer, and had chart hits, including a No1 in his home country.

Following the success of "The Smurf Song" earlier in the year it was inevitable that the blue creatures would return for a Christmas hit.

No.1

Boney M and Mary's Boy Child

This successful German session group had huge disco hits in the 1970 pop charts, and this was a great Christmas record to come up with. Originally a hit for Harry Belafonte in the 1950s, he of the co writer fame "We Are the World"