I became a fan of Boney M when I was an exchange student in France in the 1970s. It is a shame the group never became popular here in the US.
The song Rasputin actually inspired me to learn a little about Russian history. Rasputin was a kook... he would have fit quite well with some of the leftist new agers I have known.
I really like Boney M’s songs, they are so upbeat; maybe it is the disco thang. Though several years ago learned they were a Dutch group - had thought maybe Jamaican.
There was recently a British documentary on tv here about Romanov Tsars, and Rasputin was ‘thrown in’. Apparently, he was given poisoned wine, drank it too, but was all well until they shot him, in the head...several times.
People were interviewed about his murder. A British historian said: “I can’t explain it in British cultural terms, but the Russians would have a more accurate explanation for it” - no sarcasm.. she meant it as if he did have some extraordinary ‘ability’ to temporary calm Alexei Romanov, who was suffering from haemophilia (evidently a mutation of it from his maternal grandmother Queen Victoria).