Frank Farian

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Frank Farian, born Franz Reuther on 18 July 1941 in Kirn, was a German producer and singer. His father was killed in the war before he was born, so his mother brought him up. He first became a cook, then discovered rock 'n' roll, took the name Frank Farian and formed a band. His first single, from 1964, flopped. In 1967 he released a cover of Otis Redding's Mr. Pitiful and then became a familiar name on the German television show Hitparade.

Music and breakthrough

As a singer he scored in 1976 with Rocky, a German-language cover of a song by Austin Roberts, which spent four weeks at number 1 in Germany. His greatest work, however, was done behind the scenes. At the end of 1974 he recorded Baby Do You Wanna Bump under the name Boney M. He then put together a group with the singers Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett, the dancer Maizie Williams and the frontman Bobby Farrell. Farrell did not really sing: he moved to Farian's own voice. With Daddy Cool, Rivers of Babylon, Rasputin and Nightflight to Venus, Boney M. became big in Europe and beyond.

Influence

That pattern repeated itself later. He also devised the group No Mercy and from 1988 produced Milli Vanilli, whose visible members were not the singers. He also created Far Corporation, with members of Toto, and in 1986 produced Meat Loaf. Farian shows how, in the disco era, the image of a group and the voice on the record could come apart. He died on 23 January 2024.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1976Rocky