When you think of the band Boney M perhaps the first word that comes to mind is ‘energy’ as this band with their lively lyrics and music have had us up and dancing for 3 decades! The fact that the band has an Australian connection by way of their name (they were named after the Australian detective TV show ‘Boney’) perhaps is appropriate as they are very popular in Australia. So much so that only having toured here last year, they have been invited back by popular demand.
I was lucky to get the opportunity to chat with Maizie Williams, a member of Boney M, regarding the band’s upcoming tour to Australia which includes Tasmania. Maizie is a rare enough name and this diminutive of ‘Margaret’ means ‘pearl’ another nod to the rare jewel of a talent that is Maizie herself. Maizie is very excited about coming back to Australia, which she finds ‘exciting’ and ‘lots of fun’, she loves the people who, she says ‘are full of life and energy’, like the band themselves.
Maizie tells me she always knew she would be an entertainer and indeed she would often tell her mum the same but she adds she pinches herself about the group’s success as she never thought and didn’t expect, she would succeed in the business in such a major way.
When Maizie left school she joined a modelling academy and then, serendipity, fate or whatever you want to call it intervened. Maizie had the choice of Germany or Italy for a modelling assignment, for a reason she doesn’t even know today Maizie nominated Germany, even though Italy was considered the most popular destination at the time. On assignment she quickly made firm friends with colleagues and they would eat at the same restaurant every day, it was at this restaurant that Maizie was approached one day, by a talent agent who put to her the offer to join a new pop group. Maizie was sent to meet record producer and Boney M founder, Frank Farian for a voice test and so began her journey in the band.
Maizie tells me that some of the reasons she believes Boney M are so popular is because people can relate to the music ‘with its strong sing along lyrics’ that ‘are easily understood and memorised’. Almost everyone would be familiar with titles such as ‘Daddy Cool’, ‘Ma Baker’, ‘Rasputin’ or the all-time favourite and the group’s signature tune ‘By the rivers of Babylon’.
Maizie says it’s a combination of Boney M’s music and elaborate costumes, (Maizie looks at some of the 70’s fashions today and thinks ‘wow did I actually wear that’) that sustain the group’s appeal but perhaps most of all its the effervescent energy that the band exudes that gets everyone up (from the elderly, mature to the infant!)
On the dance floor.
You can see Maizie perform with Boney M at Wrest Point Casino on 22nd October 2015.
Paula Xiberras
