Maizie Williams loves hearing Boney M. samples
The 74-year-old frontwoman and founding member of the legendary 70s Caribbean disco group said it was "wonderful" that Lady Gaga, 39, used the "Ma ma ma, ma" chorus from Maizie's band's 1977 track Ma Baker in her 2008 hit song Poker Face.
She quipped to the new issue of Britain's HELLO! magazine: "How can I not like it; it's royalties coming our way!"
Maizie added: "Of course, when you have people like Lady Gaga sampling us, it's a wonderful thing."
And the star - who with Liz Mitchell, 73, Marcia Barrett, 76, and the late Bobby Farrell formed Boney M. - loves it when fellow musicians compliment the foursome's work.
Maizie said: "I heard a very nice compliment from Robbie Williams who said something like Boney M. inspired him and I thought, 'I loved you before, but now I love you even more!"
Boney M. split in 1986 after years of storming the charts because - according to Maizie's interview with Startsat60.com in 2018 - they "grew apart".
Maizie went on to form her new band Boney M. (featuring Mazie Williams).
Boney M sold over 100 million records and had two million-selling UK Singles Chart number 1, Rivers of Babylon/ Brown Girl In The Ring and Christmas Number 1 Mary's Boy Child.
And Mazie said the icing on the cake for her career would be to perform at the legendary Glastonbury music festival, held in Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, South West England.
She said: "Glastonbury would be a wonderful blessing. I would love to do it - Diana Ross was there and she was amazing.
"And you get people like Dolly Parton too. So yes, it would be lovely to do Glastonbury.
"People think it's just for rock and hardcore type music but it's really for everyone."
Asked about the secret to her, Liz, Marcia and Bobby's success in Boney M., Maizie revealed: "We've stayed humble and just continued doing what we were doing.
"Our first producer knew exactly what he wanted to do with the group because we're all from the Caribbean and he wanted a sound that represented where we came from.
"He produced the sound, which was original, and then added the bass voice, which gave us an edge to what we were doing."
"We wanted to have an image that everyone could remember, so we went out and got costumes as we wanted to look different."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
a day ago
- Perth Now
Queen Elizabeth's senior aide gives approval to new royal play
Queen Elizabeth's senior dresser Angela Kelly is a big fan of a new play about her relationship with the monarch. Daisy Goodwin's By Royal Appointment was inspired by the late monarch and her personal assistant's working relationship and Daisy revealed Angela actually attended a performance of the play and was impressed with how 'true to the Queen' it was. Daisy told HELLO! Magazine: 'She wrote me such a sweet note afterwards to say how much she'd enjoyed it. She felt it was truthful and it had made her well up. 'I thought that was so impressive. It takes a lot of nerve to watch something that's meant to be you on stage. She was big enough to see that what I've done was not her but true to her position. I think she thought it was true to the Queen so I was thrilled by that.' Daisy also spoke about how Angela's circumstances have changed since the death of Queen Elizabeth in 2022, going from a role 'at the heart of the court' to obscurity. She said: 'You go from having been one of the most powerful people at the heart of the court to someone whose services are no longer required and I thought 'here is a great story'. 'I didn't want her to feel exploited but now that she's seen it, she knows it's an affectionate portrait of the Queen and a realistic portrait of her. 'I imagine that in a world of courtiers, to have someone like Angela, who is not to the manor born, in a position of power, must have been quite tricky. She didn't suffer fools gladly.' And, Daisy was also fascinated by Queen Elizabeth's relationship with fashion. She explained: 'Here is a woman who isn't interested in fashion at all. What she wanted to wear was a Barbour or a headscarf. And yet she was the most famous clotheshorse in the world.' By Royal Appointment is currently on a national tour with Anne Reid as the Queen and Caroline Quentin as the dresser.
Perth Now
3 days ago
- Perth Now
Take That were turned down by Stock Aitken Waterman
Take That were turned down by record producers Stock Aitken Waterman. The legendary 1990s boy band - once formed of Robbie Williams, 51, Gary Barlow, 54, Mark Owen, 53, Jason Orange, 55, and Howard Donald, 57 - sold over 45 million records worldwide, as well as 17 top five singles on the UK Singles Chart, with 12 having reached number one. However, record-producing powerhouses Mike Stock, 73, Matt Aitken, 68, and Pete Waterman, 78 - who achieved 13 number ones in the UK with their artists, including Kylie Minogue, 57, Rick Astley, 59, and Jason Donovan, 57 - had no interest in signing the fivesome because the terms offered by their then-management were "derogatory". Stock told the Daily Star newspaper's Wired column: "We did turn down Take That. We didn't really see that for what it was." Agreeing, Waterman explained: "We turned it down because of the management. The terms they were offering were derogatory. "I think that you have to have a value for your talent, otherwise there's no point you doing it. "We were as hot as pistols at the time, so, we just said no. That wasn't against Gary and the boys. It was just, that it didn't work." Pete thinks a collaboration between Stock Aitken Waterman and The Pet Shop Boys - Neil Tennant, 71, and Chris Lowe, 65 - would have been something special. He added: "I still think Stock Aitken Waterman and The Pet Shop Boys would have been quite amazing." In January, Stock Aitken Waterman reunited at their former recording studio - nicknamed The Hit Factory - in Vine Yard, Borough, South London, as they received a Blue Plaque from the Southwark Heritage Association for their immense contribution to British music. Speaking before the unveiling, Aitken told the crowd: 'What a terrific honour it is, and thank you all for coming. 'It was a very special place for us. 'I think it's because it's hidden from view – but especially because it had thick walls, so the sound wouldn't get out and disturb the neighbours!' Stock added: 'I would like to say thank you to Southwark Borough Council for all the work they've done in getting this organised. 'And also a big thank you to Paul Smith. 'He got this started over three years ago, Tony King, they all put the time and effort for this to happen, and for our delight and thanks for doing it. I'm really happy.'
Perth Now
6 days ago
- Perth Now
Bryan Adams thinks his remarkable UK Singles Chart record will be surpassed
Bryan Adams expects his UK chart record to be broken. The 65-year-old singer's 1991 track (Everything I Do) I Do It For You topped the UK Singles Chart for a record 16 consecutive weeks that year but he believes he will be surpassed by another artist eventually – after Drake came close with One Dance in 2016, a track that remained at the summit for 15 weeks. Speaking to Classic Pop magazine, Bryan said: "Oh, sure it can. I mean there's been people that are already close." Asked if he finds it special to still hold the record, he said: "Hmmm, that is amazing and long may it be so, but the reality is something will eventually knock it off." Bryan admits that he didn't think the track – which featured in the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves – would be such a big hit, although record producer Robert 'Mutt' Lange felt otherwise. The Summer of '69 rocker said: "I had no idea, but I knew that Mutt did, because I remember him pulling into the studio one day and he said, 'You know what? This song really has an international melody', and those words stuck with me because he was so right. There wasn't a country in the world that didn't play that song afterwards. "When he was producing it, he was thinking global. Hats off to both Mutt and Michael Kamen, because they're the ones that were really the geniuses behind it." Bryan's new album Roll With The Punches will be released next month and he explained how the record's title track came about. The Canadian singer said of his creative process: "The tap doesn't necessarily go off. Then one day something will happen, like Roll With The Punches will come together, and that becomes the cornerstone song for an album. You know it right away, as soon as you get that particular song. "It's happened to me umpteen times on records. In fact, every album has one sort of signature (track), and I thought, 'Oh yeah, that's the beginning of a record.' "So, then you have your direction. And then you also have songs that you demoed prior to that, which you might need to rethink in order to bring them into that same energy space."
