Boney M. are a reggae, funk and disco music group founded in 1974, who achieved popularity during the disco era of the second half of the 1970s. The band was 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 band's official line-up were Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett from Jamaica, Maizie Williams from Montserrat, and Bobby Farrell from Aruba. Since the 1980s, various line-ups of the band have performed with different members.
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 performers. 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.
Roberto Alfonso Farrell was an Aruban dancer, visual performer, singer and DJ. He was a member of the 1970s R&B 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.
"Daddy Cool" is a song produced and co-written by Frank Farian who had founded the group Boney M. to visually perform to his songs on TV and while touring discos. Farian also provided the male voice parts on the record. The song was included on their debut album Take the Heat off Me. It was a 1976 hit and a staple of disco music and became Boney M.'s first hit in the United Kingdom.
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.
Take the Heat off Me is the debut album by Euro-Caribbean group Boney M. The album became a major seller in Europe, specifically in the Nordic countries, but in the U.S. the album just missed the album chart. Tracks include the hits "Daddy Cool", "Sunny" and the debut single "Baby Do You Wanna Bump".
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".
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.
20th Century Hits is a remix album of recordings by Boney M. released by BMG in 1999. This remix project which was credited as 'Boney M. 2000' spun off a series of new single releases; "Ma Baker – Somebody Scream" in early 1999 and previously included on French compilation Ultimate, "Daddy Cool '99" featuring Mobi T., "Caribbean Night Fever / Hooray! Hooray! It's A Holi-Holiday" and "Sunny".
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.
Norske Hits is a compilation album of recordings by Boney M. released by BMG-Ariola in Norway in late 1998.
"Megamix" is a 1988 single by German band Boney M. The single peaked at #1 in the French charts and was a minor success in the UK where it peaked at #52. The megamix is a medley of remixed Boney M. hits, "Rivers of Babylon", "Sunny", "Daddy Cool" and "Rasputin", the 12" version being extended with "Ma Baker" and "Gotta Go Home".
"6 Years of Boney M. Hits " is a greatest hits medley by Boney M., inspired by the success of the hit medleys by Stars on 45. Originally released on the B-side of the band's 1981 Christmas single "Little Drummer Boy", the single was flipped over in January 1982 with the medley as an A-side. While failing to chart in Germany, the medley reached #6 in the Spanish charts and was also an A-side release in France and Japan. The 12" version featured a faded version on the German pressing and an unfaded version on the French pressing, while the UK version was extended with their Christmas chart-topper "Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord".
