On January 17, those of you hanging around near Emirates Golf Club could be forgiven for thinking you had entered a timewarp somewhere near the Sheikh Zayed Road and returned to time where dance and disco ruled the airwaves. What you will be hearing are some of the star turns of 1970s, 80s and 90s dusting off their drum kits for a reunion gig for retro pop concert.

Here, we profile the old school acts appearing at MiXTAPE Rewind.

Boney M
Their big hits: Daddy Cool (1976), Rivers Of Babylon (1978), Brown Girl In The Ring (1978), Rasputin (1978)

Boney M were dreamed up in 1975 in Frankfurt by German singer and composer Frank Farian. He wrote and produced all their hits.

Frank recruited a group of singers and dancers – Bobby Farrell, Maizie Williams, Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett – to perform his music on stage and TV. 

Their big break came in 1976 when they performed the hit track Daddy Cool on the German music TV show Musikladen. The song shot to number one all over Europe.

The name Boney M is taken from an Australian TV series, Boney. 

Daddy Cool was Britain’s number one for five weeks in 1978.

Boney M’s creator Frank Farian later invented disgraced pop duo Milli Vanilli and discovered Terence Trent D’Arby. 

A TV movie about the band was made in the early 1980s titled Boney M Lost The M. 

A musical based on Boney M’s songs called Daddy Cool played in London in 2006. It closed after five months. 

Dr Alban
His big hits: It’s My Life (1992), Sing Hallelujah (1993)

Born in Nigeria, Dr Alban grew up listening to James Brown, Diana Ross and The Jackson Five. He moved to Stockholm, Sweden, to visit his uncle, who worked in the embassy there, and liked the country so much he stayed put and trained to become a dentist. To pay his way through university, Alban did some DJing and entered the music world.

“My debut single Hello Afrika was big so I threw the dentistry away,” he explains. “My family told me to quit music and go back to dentistry. But after the success of the song they told me,  ‘It’s OK, it’s your life.’ And that’s where the song It’s My Life comes from.”

Snap!
Their big hits: The Power (1990) Rhythm Is A Dancer (1992)

Frankfurt-based producers Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti formed Snap! in 1989 and took the next decade by storm with hit collaborations with rapper Turbo B.

Vengaboys
Their big hits: Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom (1999); We’re Going To Ibiza (1999)

Their debut, Party Album, sold more than four million copies, reached the top of the charts in more than 20 countries and was played endlessly in cheesy clubs around the world. The group started out in 1997 with two Dutch DJs/producers, Delmundo and Danski, playing beach gigs in Spain. They hooked up with backing singers and dancers, who joined the group and fronted their live shows and appeared in videos, while Delmundo and Danski concocted the addictive tunes.

N-Trance
Their big hits: Set Your Free (1995), Stayin’ Alive (1995)

British electronic pop duo N-Trance became global stars in the 90s with Set You Free (1995) and covers of disco classics Stayin’ Alive, D.I.S.C.O., and Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?. Otherwise known as Kevin O’Toole and Dale Longworth, they’ve sold more than five million records.

Emirates Golf Club, Dubai, 8pm, Dhs275. Tel: (04) 4570336. Metro: Nakheel. facebook.com/SundanceLIVE