Reacquainting with Boney M at the Winter Olympics

So did anybody else wonder why it was that a steady stream of pop and rock hits from the 70s and 80s accompanied the athletes as they marched into the stadium during the opening ceremony of the XXth Winter Olympics at Turino, Italy? It was a little surreal, but as the hits played, my ears picked up on a song and group I haven’t heard since my early teens: Daddy Cool by Boney M! I suspect not too many Americans have heard this popular British band, but it was a staple in the musical diet of my early teens along with ABBA. I was spending a year with my maternal grandparents in the little temple town of Madurai in southern India at the time, and I guess my grandfather figured that’s what I would like to listen to, so he bought up every single Boney M and ABBA casette that he could find. He also introduced me to Tina Charles – personally I found her a little nasal, and the soundtrack from Midnight Express that I absolutely adored. Who would have thought an opening ceremony would send me on a nostalgic trip down memory lane!