Boney M. are a disco group that specialises in R&B, reggae, disco and funk,[1] created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group's official line-up were Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett from Jamaica, Maizie Williams from Montserrat, and Bobby Farrell from Aruba. The group was formed in 1976 and achieved popularity during the disco era of the late 1970s. Since the 1980s, various line-ups of the band have performed with differing personnel.
German singer-songwriter Frank Farian recorded the dance track "Baby Do You Wanna Bump" in December 1974. Farian sang the repeated line "Do you do you wanna bump?" in a deep voice as well as performing the high falsetto chorus. When the record was released as a single in early 1975, it was credited to "Boney M.". Farian had created this pseudonym for himself after watching the Australian television detective series Boney,[3] whose main character was named Napoleon Bonaparte. Farian said:
I turned on the TV one day and it was the end of a detective series. I just caught the credits and it said Boney. Nice name, I thought – Boney, Boney, Boney... Boney M. Boney, Boney, Boney M. Nice sound. Simple.[3]
After a slow start, the song became a hit in the Netherlands and Belgium. It was then that Farian decided to hire performers to create a troupe for TV appearances. Farian found model-turned-singer Maizie Williams, originally from Montserrat, Bobby Farrell, a dancer from Aruba, and singer Marcia Barrett from Jamaica who brought in singer Liz Mitchell, also from Jamaica and a former member of the Les Humphries Singers.
1976–1979: Take the Heat off Me and international success
Boney M.'s first album, Take the Heat off Me, was released in 1976. It contained tracks that Marcia Barrett had already recorded with Farian, including the title track and "Lovin' or Leavin'", both of which were previously recorded in German by another Farian act, Gilla. As Maizie Williams' voice was not considered suitable for recording purposes by Farian, and a try-out with Bobby Farrell performing "No Woman No Cry" did not work, Farian decided to use only Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett along with his own studio-enhanced voice to create the Boney M. sound.
The album's commercial performance was initially lukewarm. However, the group rigorously toured discos, clubs, and even country fairs to earn a reputation for themselves. The group's big break came at the end of the summer of 1976 when West German television producer Michael "Mike" Leckebusch of Radio Bremen requested them for his show Musikladen. Boney M. appeared on the live music show on 18 September 1976, after 10:00p.m. and in their daring stage costumes, where they performed the song "Daddy Cool". The song quickly went to no.1 in West Germany, with the album following the success of the single. Another single, "Sunny", a cover of the 1966 Bobby Hebb song, gave the group their second no.1 hit. The group's popularity had also grown throughout Europe, with "Daddy Cool" reaching no.1 in Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Spain, France, and Austria. Both singles were also Top 10 hits in the UK, which would become one of their biggest markets.
In 1977, Boney M. released their second album, Love for Sale, which contained the hits "Ma Baker" and "Belfast". The group embarked on their first major concert tours with a live band of musicians called The Black Beauty Circus, given their name after Maizie Williams' first band, Black Beautiful People. Love for Sale was certified Gold a year after its release in the UK.[4] Both singles from the album reached no.1 in West Germany and the UK Top 10.
1978 was the group's biggest year. They released a new double A-sided single, "Rivers of Babylon/Brown Girl in the Ring", which was a hit all over Europe, reaching no.1 in several countries as well as becoming one of the biggest selling singles of all time in the UK. It also became their most successful single in the United States, peaking at no.30 on the U.S. pop singles chart. Following this came their biggest-selling album, Nightflight to Venus, which spawned further hit singles with "Rasputin" and "Painter Man". Continuing with their success, they released "Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord", which was the 1978 Christmas number one single in the United Kingdom and became another of the biggest selling singles of all time there. Also during 1978, Boney M. made a much-publicised promotional visit to the Soviet Union, one of the very few Western acts along with Elton John to do so, although tracks like "Rasputin" were not released in the Soviet Union due to their subject matter.[5]
While it had never been a secret that Bobby Farrell never sang on the group's records (Farian did the male vocals in the studio), in 1978 it became public knowledge that Maizie Williams did not sing on the studio recordings either, since "her voice wasn't suited for this kind of music" as Farian stated in an interview with German teen magazine Bravo. Since this had become common practice within the disco genre of the late 1970s, few people cared—unlike when Farian repeated the practice to much more severe backlash with Milli Vanilli in the late 1980s. While only two of Boney M.'s official members actually contributed to the sound of the band's records, all four members of the group, including Williams and Farrell, performed the vocals live at Boney M. concerts.[6] The band's live sound was also augmented by several backing vocalists, which served to mitigate any vocal deficiencies the group may have had compared with the studio productions.
1979 saw Boney M. release a brand new single, "Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday", which became another Top 10 hit across Europe. Later in the year they released their fourth album, Oceans of Fantasy, containing two hit singles – "Gotta Go Home"/"El Lute" and "I'm Born Again"/"Bahama Mama". The album also included lead and backing vocals credits for the first time. Oceans of Fantasy reached no.1 in the UK and was certified Platinum, though their run of Top 10 singles had now ended with "Gotta Go Home" peaking at no.12 and "I'm Born Again" peaking at no.5.
1980–1986: The Magic of Boney M. Departure of Farrell and split
In 1980, Boney M. released a greatest hits album, The Magic of Boney M. – 20 Golden Hits, which also contained two new songs, "My Friend Jack" and "I See a Boat on the River". It made the no.1 spot in the UK, reaching Gold status within six weeks of release, though it was their last big-selling album in the UK.
Boney M.'s fifth album had been scheduled for release in November 1980 but the recording sessions dragged on through 1981. When Boonoonoonoos was finally released by the end of that year, Bobby Farrell departed from the group due to issues with Frank Farian. While still a healthy seller in continental Europe, Boonoonoonoos failed to crack the UK Top 100 after three consecutive no.1 albums due to the group being unable to promote it without Farrell. Following this, the group released Christmas Album.
Reggie Tsiboe was hired to replace Farrell as the new male member of Boney M. in 1982 but the singles "The Carnival Is Over" and "Jambo" fared poorly, and the group's seventh album Ten Thousand Lightyears, issued in 1984, marked another commercial low point, peaking at number 23 in the German album charts. The group, however, returned to the German Top 20 in the autumn of 1984 with "Kalimba de Luna" (a Top 10 hit in France) and "Happy Song" (a cover of a song by Italian Italo-disco band Baby's Gang), the latter seeing Bobby Farrell return to the group. Both songs were carbon-copies of the original Italian hits by Tony Esposito and Baby's Gang respectively.
By 1985, Farian clearly began losing interest in the group, and their eighth and final studio album Eye Dance was widely regarded as uninspired and disappointing. After celebrating Boney M.'s 10th anniversary in early 1986, the group officially disbanded after the release of the commercially unsuccessful single "Young, Free and Single",[7] which peaked at no.48.[8]
From this point, different versions of the group were formed by members, some with cooperation of Farian, others without, for example by independently obtaining the rights to use the Boney M. name in a different country. One version began touring in the first half of 1987 with Marilyn Scharbaai (Carrilho) taking Liz Mitchell's place. Mitchell returned for a second leg of the tour late 1987, and Marcia Barrett soon left the band. At the same time, Bobby Farrell had set up a deal for a new Boney M. album to be recorded without Farian in Belgium. When Farrell failed to show up for either recording or tour, and Maizie Williams had never sung on record, the album ended up being released as Liz Mitchell's first solo album No One Will Force You. Mitchell and Williams completed a tour during 1987–88, adding singer Celena Duncan and Ron Gale as replacements for Barrett and Farrell. Carol Grey later replaced Celena Duncan and Curt De Daran later replaced Ron Gale.
In October 1988, the classic Boney M. line-up reunited without producer Frank Farian for the album Greatest Hits of All Times – Remix '88 but tensions ran high between the members, and Liz Mitchell left in the spring of 1989 to be replaced by Madeleine Davis. While Mitchell promoted her solo album, the group recorded the single "Everybody Wants to Dance Like Josephine Baker", without Farian's knowledge or approval. Threatened with legal action by the producer over the use of the Boney M. name, the single was subsequently withdrawn and Farian issued Stories with his own new Boney M. line-up featuring Liz Mitchell, Reggie Tsiboe and two new members, Sharon Stevens and Patty Onoyewenjo, Stories peaked at number 11 in the Swiss charts. A second remix album Greatest Hits of All Times – Remix '89 – Volume II was released but fared poorly.
1992 saw a renewed interest in Boney M.'s music with the Boney M. Megamix single returning the group to the UK Top 10 for the first time since 1980, and a subsequent Greatest Hits album reaching the UK Top 20 in 1993. While Marcia Barrett, by then living in Florida, had cancer and was unable to perform, Boney M. toured the world with a line-up of Liz Mitchell, Carol Grey, Patricia Lorna Foster and Curt Dee Daran (replaced by Tony Ashcroft in 1994). They released the single Papa Chico[9] but failed to chart. Maizie Williams assembled her own Boney M. with an ever-changing line-up. Bobby Farrell also toured with varying trios of female performers.
Boney M. featuring Maizie Williams performing at a concert
Liz Mitchell was touring the world with her line-up of Boney M., which was the only line-up officially supported by Farian; the court ruling of 1990 stated that all four members are entitled to perform their own Boney M. shows. Bobby Farrell and Liz Mitchell have released solo albums containing their own re-recordings of Boney M.'s classic hits. Maizie Williams released her first solo album in 2006 and her own single version of Boney M.'s Sunny. In 2007 her rendition of "Daddy Cool" with Melo-M hit the number one spot in the Latvian (LMK) Charts.[10] Marcia Barrett has released two solo albums with a third scheduled for release in 2010.[11]
As recounted in his 1988 book Touching the Void, the British climber Joe Simpson was subsequently to find the catchy tune of Brown Girl in the Ring haunting him in the final hours of his struggle to survive the descent of Siula Grande in the Andes, and the song was later used in the 2003 film of Touching the Void made by Kevin Macdonald. Simpson recalls: "I remember thinking, bloody hell, I'm going to die to Boney M.".
A musical based on the music of Boney M., Daddy Cool, opened in London in August 2006 to mixed reviews and sluggish ticket sales, causing it to close in February 2007. From April to July 2007, the show played in a mobile theatre in Berlin, which was specially designed for it.
In April 2007, Australian pop singer Peter Wilson released a song co-written by Frank Farian entitled "Doin' Fine". It is described as "paying tribute to the sound of Boney M." and features the famous string arrangement from their first number 1 hit, "Daddy Cool". Boney M. (featuring Marcia Barrett) made a live appearance at the 37th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which took place on 23 November 2006 in Panaji, the state capital of Goa, India. The group is also popular in the Vietnamese diaspora, [citation needed] and was featured in Thuy Nga music productions.
In the UK, a new album of their greatest hits, entitled The Magic of Boney M. was released via BMG on 27 November 2006. Special additions to this release were a Mousse T. remix of Sunny and a brand new song from 2006, featuring Liz Mitchell, entitled A Moment of Love. On 10 April 2007, Boney M.'s first four albums were reissued on compact disc with bonus tracks, this time also in the United States (the first time these were available to the U.S. music market since their original releases in the 1970s).
In September 2007, Boney M.'s last four original albums, Boonoonoonoos, Ten Thousand Lightyears, Kalimba de Luna - 16 Happy Songs and Eye Dance were reissued on compact disc in Europe and the United States, all including bonus tracks. In November 2007, a new Christmas compilation was scheduled for release as well as the DVD Fantastic Boney M. – On Stage and on the Road featuring a live performance recorded in Vienna on 1 November 1977 (the DVD cover erroneously states it to be a live show from Hamburg), and a film from the band's 1981 visit to Jamaica (made to promote the Boonoonoonoos album that year).
Bobby Farrell's Boney M. performed a concert at the Amphi in Ra'anana, Israel, in May 2007. On 28 June 2007 Boney M. featuring Matthew Felsenfeld and Liz Mitchell performed at the Oktiabrsky concert hall in St. Petersburg, Russia. In September 2007, Maizie Williams' Boney M. line-up performed live at the Royal Albert Hall, UK, to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in Africa, performing her own renditions of Brown Girl in the Ring and Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday.
The legal rights to the name "Boney M." have been a matter of controversy, and even court cases, between the former members of the band and producer Frank Farian ever since the late 1980s. Farian, the man who in effect created the group, continued to work with Liz Mitchell and her line-up all through the 1990s and 2000s. In January 2007, Bobby Farrell's daughter Zanillya Farrell and his ex-wife Yasmina Ayad-Saban renewed the trademark to the name Boney M. in Germany for a 10-year period.
In January 2009, Farian released the single Felicidad America (Obama Obama), a version of the 1980 Boney M. song "Felicidad (Margherita)" with new lyrics about newly elected U.S. president Barack Obama. The song was recorded with two new vocalists, and credited to "Boney M. feat. Sherita O. & Yulee B."
In July 2010, Maizie Williams headlined a Boney M. performance at Ramallah's Cultural Palace, in the West Bank, as part of the Palestine International Festival. The band played Daddy Cool, Ma Baker and Brown Girl in the Ring, but refrained from playing Rivers of Babylon, rumored to be at the event organizers' request because of its description of the Jewish yearning for Zion.[12][13][14]
Bobby Farrell died at the age of 61 from heart failure on 30 December 2010. His agent said Farrell was complaining of breathing problems after performing with his band the evening before.[15][16] Farrell lived in Amsterdam until his death. His final performance was in Saint Petersburg, Russia, the city where Rasputin first became famous and was later killed. Farrell died in a hotel room there,[17] 94 years to the day after Rasputin.
Maizie Williams' line-up of Boney M. toured Australia in June 2014.[18] They sang at Guilfest, Guildford, UK, on 20 July 2014,[19] and Watchet Live music festival UK, on 24 August 2014.[20]
In March 2015, Farian released Diamonds, a three-CD box celebrating the 40th anniversary of Boney M. It contained re-mastered versions of the original hit singles or of previously unreleased versions, a remix disc and the new digital single Song of Joy featuring Liz Mitchell. A major DVD set was also released.
In February 2017, they performed at the closing ceremony of Patras Carnival in Patras, Greece.[21] At the end of 2017 the album World Music for Christmas was released under Boney M. and Friends with Liz Mitchell singing on three songs, along with the single and video Like Diamonds in the Sky featuring Liz Mitchell, based on El Cóndor Pasa.[22][23][24]
In 2021, a remix of Rasputin by house music producer and Kiss FM DJ Kevin Christie was released by Sony Music's Ministry of Sound[25] label. Credited to Majestic & Boney M (with the former being the DJ alias of Christie), the record reached number 11 on the UK singles chart[26] and was released with a video featuring Bimini Bon-Boulash from RuPaul's Drag Race UK. In December 2021, Mitchell was one of the contributors to the Channel 5 music show Britain's Biggest 70s Hits alongside other musicians from the era like Dean Friedman and Barry Blue, and radio presenters like David Hamilton.[27]
In August 2023, Boney M., headed by Liz Mitchell, embarked on a multi city US tour along with Samantha Fox and Bad Boys Blue, which included stops in Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City and San Jose.[28] The shows were put together by Los Angeles based promoters LA Concert Group.[29]
In January 2024, the group's producer and main founder Frank Farian died.[30][31]
The group is scheduled for a farewell tour in Australia in June and July, 2024.[32][33]
UK sales mark
In 1978, "Rivers of Babylon", a cover of a track by The Melodians with lyrics partly based on Psalm 137 and partly on Psalm 19,[34] became (at the time) the second highest-selling single of all time in the UK. After remaining at no.1 for five weeks, "Rivers of Babylon" began dropping down the chart, at which point the B-side "Brown Girl in the Ring" was given extensive radio airplay, and the single ascended to no.2. The single spent six months in the UK Top 40, including 19 weeks in the Top 10. It eventually sold more than two million copies, the second single to do so, and is still one of only seven to achieve this feat. (see List of million-selling singles in the United Kingdom)
The group achieved a second UK million-seller with their version of the calypso classic "Mary's Boy Child", released as a medley "Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord", which was previously a million-seller for Harry Belafonte. The single sold more than 1.8 million copies, 1.6 million of which were in the four weeks the song was at n.1 in December 1978.
Boney M. is the only artist to appear twice in the top 12 best selling singles of all time in the UK, with "Rivers of Babylon" in seventh place and "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" at number 11.[35] They are also one of six artists to sell a million copies with two singles in the same year.
Back catalogue
Compared to other best-selling artists of the 1970s like ABBA, Donna Summer, and the Bee Gees, the Boney M. discography is quite unusual – while the greater part of the band's back catalogue has been remixed, remade, remodeled and reissued all through the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s by producer Frank Farian and record company BMG-Ariola (now Sony Music), most of the original 7" and 12" versions issued on vinyl in the 1970s and early 1980s remained unavailable on CD until 2007, where they were released on various compilations, most notably The Collection (2008), the Ultimate Boney M. series (2008), Let It All Be Music: The Party Album (2009), Hit Story (2010) and Diamonds (2015). Some of these CDs were compiled by Frank Eberlein, who had also been interviewed on a fansite called "Fantastic Boney M." about the compiling process.[36]
"Greatest hits" collections containing edited and/or overdubbed versions of the original recordings are still being released, such as Boney M. & Friends (Their Ultimate Top 40 Collection) (2017),[37]Rasputin – Big And Strong: The Greatest Hits of Boney M. (2021)[38] and the 2022 re-issue of the 2006 compilation "The Magic of Boney M."
In the Soviet film Repentance (1984, released 1987), "Sunny" is played at a party of high-ranked communist officials.[41] "Sunny" is played during a few parts of the successful Korean film of the same name, Sunny.[42]
During the 2002 presidential election campaign of South Korea, then-candidate Roh Moo-hyun, who eventually won the presidency at that event, took Bahama Mama to promote his aim of positive political reform.[43]
The 2005 Chinese film Shanghai Dreams features a scene depicting a rural Chinese disco in 1983, with teenagers dancing to "Rivers of Babylon" and "Gotta Go Home".[44]
In the 2008 Kazakh film Tulpan, the tractor driver Boni continually plays a cassette of "Rivers of Babylon", an example of his fascination for all things Western.[45]
Boney M. was immensely popular in India throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Liz Mitchell recalled her visits to India in the 1980s in a 2015 interview with Hindustan Times: "It was amazing. We've had the most-wonderful tours here. We even went out shopping to so many places. We met several Bollywood stars and had dinners with them."[48]
Personnel
Liz Mitchell – lead and backing vocals (1976–1986, 1988–1989, 1990, 1992-)
Marcia Barrett – lead and backing vocals (1975–1986, 1988–1989)
Maizie Williams – dancer, live vocals (1975–1986, 1988–1989)
Bobby Farrell – dancer, live vocals (1975–1981, 1984–1986, 1988–1989; died 2010)
Reggie Tsiboe – lead and backing vocals (1982–1986, 1990)
Franz Reuther, known professionally as Frank Farian, was a German record producer and singer who founded the 1970s disco-pop group Boney M., the Latin pop band No Mercy, and the pop band Milli Vanilli. He frequently created vocal groups in which the publicised members merely lip-synced to songs sung by session members. Farian owned the record label MCI and several subsidiaries. Over the course of his career, Farian sold over 850 million records and earned 800 gold and platinum certifications.
Elizabeth Rebecca Mitchell is a Jamaican-British singer, best known as one of the original singers of the 1970s disco/reggae band Boney M.
Roberto Alfonso Farrell was an Aruban dancer and singer. He was a member of the 1970s pop and disco group Boney M.
Maizie Ursula Williams is a British model, dancer and singer who became one of the original members of the successful 1970s disco music group Boney M. Though she did not sing on the studio recordings of their songs, she did perform live and subsequently established an independent career as a singer.
Marcia Barrett is a Jamaican-British singer and one of the original singers with the vocal group Boney M.
Gold – 20 Super Hits is a 1992 greatest hits album by group Boney M. Shortly after record label PolyGram had acquired the rights to the ABBA back catalogue and had issued the multimillion-selling hits package Gold: Greatest Hits, BMG and producer Frank Farian followed suit with Boney M.'s Gold – 20 Super Hits which resulted in their best chart entry in the UK and most other European countries since 1980's The Magic of Boney M. – 20 Golden Hits.
The Magic of Boney M. – 20 Golden Hits is a greatest hits album by Euro-Caribbean group Boney M., issued in 1980, which contained all their biggest hits up until that point, including non-album singles "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" and "Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday", album tracks from Take The Heat Off Me, Love for Sale, Nightflight to Venus and Oceans of Fantasy as well as their most recent double A-side single release "I See a Boat On the River"/ "My Friend Jack".
Boonoonoonoos is the fifth studio album by Boney M., released in September 1981.
Kalimba de Luna – 16 Happy Songs is a compilation album by Boney M. released in late 1984. On the strength of two carbon-copy cover versions, "Kalimba de Luna" and "Happy Song" which gave Boney M. their first Top 20 hits in Germany in three years, this compilation was rush-released in November 1984. Besides the 12" versions of the two singles, the latter marking Bobby Farrell's return to the band but neither featuring Liz Mitchell or Marcia Barrett, the compilation includes 3-minute edits of tracks from albums Boonoonoonoos and Ten Thousand Lightyears as well as non-album singles "Children Of Paradise"/"Gadda Da Vida" (1980), "Felicidad (Margherita)" (1981), "Going Back West" (1982) and "Jambo - Hakuna Matata " (1983), as well as a new remix of "Calendar Song" from the Oceans Of Fantasy album. Just like in the case of 1980 compilation The Magic Of Boney M. - 20 Golden Hits, many of these edits were to re-surface on a number of hits compilations in the future, the latest being 2007 Sony-BMG release Hit Collection. The "Happy Song" single was originally released under the name 'Boney M. with Bobby Farrell & the School-Rebels' and this compilation as 'Boney M. with Bobby Farrell'.
The Best of 10 Years – 32 Superhits also known as 32 Superhits - Non-Stop Digital Remix is a remix album by Boney M. released in 1986.
The Greatest Hits is a greatest hits album of recordings by Boney M. released by BMG in the United Kingdom in late 2001.
The Magic of Boney M. is a greatest hits album of recordings by Boney M. released by Sony BMG in October 2006.
Greatest Hits of All Times – Remix '88 is a remix album by Boney M. released in 1988. Boney M.'s new manager at the time, Simon Napier-Bell, succeeded in persuading the four original members to briefly reunite and promote this remix album. The man employed to re-arrange the original hits and create new interest in the band was PWL's Pete Hammond, who previously had remixed many of the Stock Aitken Waterman stable's chart-topping hits with Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Rick Astley and Bananarama. Five of the tracks also feature new lead vocals by Liz Mitchell. In early 2021, Hammond recalled the following about the '88 remix project, explaining the new vocals: "The 2inch 24 track multi-track tapes were sent to PWL by Frank Farian of Far Music. Apparently, they had lost some of the original recordings—four songs if I remember correctly—and had to record four new versions; they were musically incomplete but good enough for me to overdub and remix". The remix project spun off three fairly successful single releases, "Rivers of Babylon ", "Rasputin " and the 1988 "Megamix", which would appear on the follow-up album issued a year later, and created the first wave of Boney M. nostalgia in Europe.
The Best of Boney M. is a compilation album of recordings by Boney M. released by BMG UK's midprice label Camden in 1997.
Daddy Cool – Star Collection is a compilation of recordings by Boney M. released by BMG-Ariola's mid-price label Ariola Express in Germany in 1991.
The Complete Collection is a compilation album of recordings by Boney M. released by BMG/CMC Records in Denmark in late 2000.
"We Kill the World " / "Boonoonoonoos"" is a double A-side single by German band Boney M., the second single released from their 5th album Boonoonoonoos. The single was a South-African and Spanish #1 hit and peaked at #12 in Germany. In the UK, it fared better than their previous two singles, peaking at #39. Boney M. would use the double A-side format in this period, typically with the A1 being the song intended for radio and A2 being more squarely aimed at discos. The sides would usually be switched on the accompanying 12" single.
"Everybody Wants to Dance Like Josephine Baker" is a 1989 single by German band Boney M. Produced by Barry Blue and recorded by original Boney M. members Marcia Barrett, Bobby Farrell, Maizie Williams and singer Madeleine Davis replacing Liz Mitchell, the single was withdrawn when original producer Frank Farian claimed copyright to the name Boney M. and a court case followed. In France, the single was released credited to Bobby Marcia Maizie Matalyne. To benefit from the fuss that was stirred by the record, Farian rushed out the single "Stories" with a competitive line-up featuring original lead singer Liz Mitchell, Reggie Tsiboe and two new girls.
"Stories" is a 1990 single by German band Boney M. It peaked at #26 in Switzerland and #94 in the UK. The single was based on an instrumental 1989 underground favourite by Izit, which itself was a re-work of a 1972 recording by Belgian group Chakachas. With added lyrics by Peter Bischof-Fallenstein, "Stories" was released as a response to the withdrawn "Everybody Wants to Dance Like Josephine Baker", released illegally under the group name by original members Marcia Barrett, Bobby Farrell, Maizie Williams and new singer Madeleine Davis. "Stories" launched a short-lived 'official' Boney M. line-up consisting of original lead singer Liz Mitchell and Reggie Tsiboe and two new girls, Sharon Steven and Patty Onoyewenjo. Never appearing on any studio album by the group, Stories was added as a bonus track on the remastered 2007 edition of the group's 1977 album Love for Sale. An unreleased 3:54 mix was used in the video clip for the track.
"Children of Paradise" / "Gadda-Da-Vida" is a 1980 single by German band Boney M. Intended to be the first single from the group's fifth album Boonoonoonoos, the single was ultimately never included because the album release was delayed for one year. "Children of Paradise" peaked at #11 in the German charts whereas it became the group's lowest placing in the UK at #66 only when released in February '81. Boney M. would use the double A-side format in this period, typically with the A1 being the song intended for radio and A2 being more squarely aimed at discos. The sides would usually be switched on the accompanying 12" single.
↑ Mahdawi, Arwa (7 September 2006). "Shanghai Dreams". the Guardian. Retrieved 23 January 2023. But she finds herself tempted from her studies by a pair of red stilettos and by the lure of the local disco – a miniature Gomorrah where the kids dance in a desultory fashion to the sounds of Boney M.
↑ Kisyk (26 January 2011). "Тюльпан"[Tulip]. Азаттық Радиосы (in Kazakh). ...listened to the group "Boni-M" (he sings "Sale!")...
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