American Top 40 PastBlast, 7/22/78: Boney M, “Rivers of Babylon”

Over a decade before he blessed us with Milli Vanilli, German producer Frank Farian assembled this quartet, two of whom actually sang on their records (Farian supplied some of the male vocals himself). Boney M had several hits all over Europe, and “Rivers of Babylon” (whose lyrics come from a couple of Psalms) was a #1 smash in fourteen countries. It fared far worse in the US, though, topping out at only #30; it’s debuting at #39 on this show.