"Gotta Go Home" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Boney M. | ||||
from the album Oceans of Fantasy | ||||
B-side | "El Lute" | |||
Released | 1979 | |||
Label | Hansa Records (FRG) | |||
Composer(s) | Heinz Huth, Jürgen Huth, Frank Farian | |||
Lyricist(s) | Fred Jay | |||
Producer(s) | Frank Farian | |||
Boney M. singles chronology | ||||
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Audio video | ||||
"Gotta Go Home" on YouTube |
"Gotta Go Home" is a 1979 double A-side single by German group Boney M. It was the lead single from their fourth album Oceans of Fantasy (1979) and was the group's eighth and final number-one single in the German charts.
In the UK, where "Gotta Go Home" was chosen as the main A-side, the single was their first one since their debut single not to reach the Top 10, peaking at number 12. Boney M. used the double A-side format over the next years, typically with the A1 being the song intended for radio and A2 being more squarely aimed at discos. The sides were usually switched on the accompanying 12" single.
In 2010, "Gotta Go Home" was sampled on the Duck Sauce dance hit "Barbra Streisand".
"El Lute" tells the true story of Spanish outlaw Eleuterio Sánchez, who was still in prison at the time the song was released, though he was shortly to be released following a pardon. The song presents his claim that he was wrongly convicted of murder and links his liberation from prison to the liberation of his country from oppression after the rule of Franco. During a promotional visit in Spain, Boney M. met Sánchez and gave him a golden record for the sales of the single. [1]
Margot Borgström wrote lyrics in Swedish, as Wizex recorded the song on the 1979 album Some Girls & Trouble Boys . [2] Released under Kikki Danielsson's name, the song became a Svensktoppen hit for 10 weeks between 25 November 1979 – 10 February 1980, even topping the chart for one week. [3] [4] Liz Mitchell later released a version on the album No One Will Force You titled "Mandela" with the lyrics altered to describe the life of Nelson Mandela, who was still in prison at the time.
"Gotta Go Home" was re-written from a German single "Hallo Bimmelbahn" (1973) by Nighttrain with the brothers Heinz and Jürgen Huth, both also credited as co-writers on Boney M.'s version. Boney M. first promoted it in a few TV shows in its early version "Going Back Home". Several single versions featured a 4:40 version (timing on label 4:22), a slightly remixed edit of the full 5:04 version, and longer than the 3:45 album edit. Later single pressings featured a 4:00 edit, which is the same as the album edit but with the "going back home.." break slightly extended. In 2010 "Gotta Go Home" was sampled on the Duck Sauce track "Barbra Streisand". [5] [6]
"Gotta Go Home" was issued as an A-side in Canada, and was a Top 40 hit on the RPM Magazine charts there, peaking at number 35 in November 1979.
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Germany (BVMI) [30] | Gold | 500,000^ |
Netherlands (NVPI) [31] | Gold | 100,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [32] | Silver | 250,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
The song was sampled by Vietnamese rapper named Antoneus Maximus (Long Mộng Gà) and Phương Vy - female singer for their 2014 single "On and On".
On November 8, 2023, Finnish folk metal band Korpiklaani released a cover of Gotta Go Home. [33] [34]
Elizabeth Rebecca Pemberton-Mitchell is a Jamaican-British singer, best known as one of the original singers of the 1970s disco/reggae band Boney M.
"Ma Baker" is a song by disco group Boney M., released as a single in 1977. It was the first single of their second album Love for Sale and their third consecutive chart-topper in Germany.
"Rivers of Babylon" is a Rastafari song written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of the Jamaican reggae group The Melodians in 1970. The lyrics are adapted from the texts of Psalms 19 and 137 in the Hebrew Bible. The Melodians' original version of the song appeared on the soundtrack album for the 1972 movie The Harder They Come, which made it internationally known.
Nightflight to Venus is the third studio album by Euro-Caribbean group Boney M., and was released in June 1978. The album became a major success in continental Europe, Scandinavia, and Canada, topping most of the album charts during the second half of 1978 and also became their first UK number one album. In Canada, it received a nomination for a 1980 Juno Award in a category 'International Album of the Year'.
"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".
Oceans of Fantasy is the fourth studio album by Euro-Caribbean group Boney M. Released in September 1979, Oceans of Fantasy became the second Boney M. album to top the UK charts and features the hits "El Lute / Gotta Go Home" and "I'm Born Again / Bahama Mama".
Love for Sale is the second studio album by Euro-Caribbean group Boney M. The album includes the hits "Ma Baker" and "Belfast". It also includes three covers: "Love for Sale", "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?", and "Still I'm Sad".
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..
Christmas Album is the sixth studio album by Boney M. It was recorded in the summer of 1981 and released on 23 November 1981. In certain territories the album was given the alternate title Christmas with Boney M.
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.
Norske Hits is a compilation album of recordings by Boney M. released by BMG-Ariola in Norway in late 1998.
"Mary's Boy Child / Oh My Lord" is a 1978 Christmas single by Boney M., a cover of Harry Belafonte's 1956 hit "Mary's Boy Child", put in medley with the new song "Oh My Lord".
"I See a Boat on the River" / "My Friend Jack" is a double A-side single by German band Boney M., taken from their 1980 compilation album The Magic of Boney M. - 20 Golden Hits. "I See a Boat on the River" peaked at #5 in Germany but marked the group's waning popularity in the UK where "My Friend Jack" was promoted as the A-side, faring even worse than their former single "I'm Born Again", stalling at #57. Boney M. would use the double A-side format over the next years, 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.
"Kalimba de Luna" is a 1982 single by Italian musician and drummer Tony Esposito. It was written by Esposito with his long-time collaborator Remo Licastro, pianist Giuseppe "Joe" Amoruso, keyboardist Mauro Malavasi and vocalist Gianluigi Di Franco. It was taken from Esposito's album Il grande esploratore. "Kalimba de Luna" was a European success and reached no. 12 in the Austrian chart, no. 6 in the Swiss charts and no. 14 in the Italian charts.
"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".
The discography of German disco group Boney M. includes 8 studio albums, 50 singles, and numerous compilation albums.