La Mama is a German pop and disco trio who worked in Frank Farian's studios in the first half of the 1980s. Adapting their name from New York theatre La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, they released three singles and two albums and worked as backing singers on a number of recordings for other artists.
The original members Madeleine Davis, Patricia Shockley and Kathy Bartney, all hailing from the United States of America, had settled in Germany in the late 1970s where they had done various session work. While singing backing vocals on ex-Silver Convention singer Ramona Wulf's album Shake What Yo Mama Give Ya, they were introduced to producer Frank Farian by guitarist Mats Björklund. He hired them for backing Precious Wilson on her debut album On the Race Track (1980) - at this time they had not yet adapted the collective name La Mama. Impressed with their harmonies, Farian also used La Mama to demo new songs for Boney M. - even doing one Boney M. recording, "Gadda-Da-Vida" with La Mama and himself doing all the vocals. Also several tracks on Boney M.'s 1981 album Boonoonoonoos ("Silly Confusion" in particular, "Don't Kill the World" and "Malaika") featured La Mama's uncredited backing vocals.
First single "Elephant Funk" / "In and Out" (1982) l-r: Kathy Bartney, Madeleine Davis, Patricia Shockley
While production on Precious Wilson's second album began late 1981, La Mama also commenced work on their first album, produced by Dietmar Kawohl and Mats Björklund. The Double A-side single "Elephant Funk" / "In and Out" was released in February 1982 ("In and Out" being the A-side on the 12" single) followed by a cover version of "Chanson D'Amour" a few months later. Neither single performed well commercially and the LP release was postponed. While Madeleine Davis had contributed lyrics for Precious Wilson's single "I Don't Know", the group also did backing vocals on Boney M.'s "Going Back West".
When their third single was released in December 1982, a cover of Labelle's "Voulez-Vous Coucher Avec Moi (Lady Marmelade)", lead singer Kathy Bartney had left the group after disagreements with Frank Farian, and when the group's LP Voulez-Vous Coucher Avec La Mama was released in January 1983, it sank without much notice. Meanwhile Farian started to use the vocals of singer Judy Cheeks - who had been signed to Ariola Records between 1977 and 1980. It must however be noticed that Judy Cheeks wasn't a member of La Mama. Farian just used her vocals on various projects together with Madeleine Davis and Patricia Shockley.
Farian had Madeleine Davis and Patricia Shockley of La Mama together with Judy Cheeks record a medley of contemporary hits for an Aerobics album Aerobic Fitness Dancing with instructions by Sydne Rome - the album topped the German charts early 1983 and had Farian remix the album without Sydne Rome's vocals for an unsuccessful album project MAD - For Dancin' in the summer of 1983.
1983 album "Voulez-Vous Coucher Avec La Mama"
Also during 1983, La Mama once again contributed uncredited backing vocals to Boney M.'s seventh album Ten Thousand Lightyears on the tracks "I Feel Good", "Barbarella Fortuneteller" and "The Alibama". By the end of the year, Precious Wilson's final album for Hansa, Funky Fingers - a medley-album of popular R&B, soul and disco classics - was released. The first edition of the album credited just Precious Wilson while the second edition credited Precious Wilson & La Mama. Lacking any promotion by the record company, the album was unsuccessful and quickly disappeared.
During 1984, La Mama backed Boney M. on the single "Happy Song" which featured rap of Bobby Farrell, and originally released under Boney M. with Bobby Farrell and The School Rebels and participated as a part of Frank Farian Corporation on the benefit single "Mother and Child Reunion" early 1985. At this time ex-Silver Convention member Rhonda Heath stepped in for session work on Boney M.'s final album Eye Dance on which Madeleine Davis and Patricia Shockley of La Mama also took part. They sang the choruses on the tracks "Todos Buenos" and "Give It Up". Before the group finally split, Patricia Shockley and Rhonda Heath furthermore sang additional backing vocals on Far Corporation's hit single, a cover version of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven".
In 1989, Madeleine Davis received a phone call by Boney M. member Maizie Williams who invited her to take the place of original lead singer Liz Mitchell who had just left the group. Davis appeared in the group's official video of "The Summer Mega Mix", toured extensively with the group and also sang on their 1989 single "Everybody Wants to Dance Like Josephine Baker", not produced nor approved by Farian and subsequently withdrawn. Madeleine Davis now lives in Georgia, US, and works as a jazz singer.
Boney M. are a R&B, 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.
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. Mitchell now lives in Reading, UK.
Eruption were a British disco, R&B and soul recording act in the 1970s and 1980s. They are best known for their covers of Ann Peebles's "I Can't Stand the Rain" and Neil Sedaka's "One Way Ticket", which were big disco hits in 1978 and 1979.
"Lady Marmalade" is a song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan that is famous for the French refrain of "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?", which is a sexual proposition that translates into English as: "Do you want to sleep with me, tonight?" The song first became a popular hit when it was recorded in 1974 by the American funk rock group Labelle and held the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week, and also topped the Canadian RPM national singles chart. In 2021, the Library of Congress selected Labelle's version for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Marcia Barrett is a Jamaican-British singer and one of the original singers with the vocal group Boney M.
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".
Ten Thousand Lightyears is the seventh studio album by Boney M. and the first to feature new member Reggie Tsiboe, who had taken over Bobby Farrell's role as the band's leading man in early 1982.
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'.
Eye Dance is the eighth and final studio album by the vocal group Boney M., released in 1985. The cover artwork was symbolic of the state the group was in at that time, as neither the famous "Boney M." logo nor the group members appeared on the cover, and were replaced by an anonymous drawing.
The Complete Collection is a compilation album of recordings by Boney M. released by BMG/CMC Records in Denmark in late 2000.
Christmas with Boney M. a.k.a. (New) Christmas with Boney M. is an aborted second Christmas album turned into a compilation. The album was exclusively released in South Africa where the group's popularity—contrary to the rest of the world—remained high during the early 80s. The album is a sought-after item for Boney M. collectors since it includes the original recording "Mother and Child Reunion" with Reggie Tsiboe and La Mama which was remixed and overdubbed with additional vocals for a 1985 charity single for Ethiopia, released by Frank Farian Corporation. The album has never been released on CD.
Precious Wilson is a Jamaican soul singer.
"Felicidad (Margherita)" is a 1980 single by German band Boney M., not included in any original album by the group. It returned the group to the German Top 10, peaking at #6 but was not released in either the UK or Spain. In the Netherlands, the B-side "Strange" was chosen as the A-side track. "Felicidad" and its B-side "Strange" were included in the 2 x 12" set Boney M. for Dancin' and were added as bonus tracks to the 2007 re-issue of Boney M.'s Boonoonoonoos album.
"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.
"Happy Song" is a 1983 hit single by Italian disco music act Baby's Gang. The single became a European hit single when covered by German band Boney M. the following year.
"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.
"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.
"Malaika" / "Consuela Biaz" is a double A-side single by German band Boney M. and the first single taken from their fifth album Boonoonoonoos (1981). It peaked at #13 in the German charts, their lowest placing so far after their commercial breakthrough. 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. "Consuela Biaz" was first promoted as the A-side in Germany where the group performed it in pop show Musikladen. After a promotional visit to Spain where the group found "Malaika" had become a Top 10 hit, the title was remixed and then promoted as the A-side. It was the second consecutive Boney M. single not to be released in the UK and Japan.
"Jambo Bwana" is a Kenyan pop song also popular in Tanzania. It was first released in 1982 by Kenyan band Them Mushrooms, and later covered by a number of other groups and artists, including Mombasa Roots, Safari Sound Band, Khadja Nin, Adam Solomon, Mani Kollengode, and the German group Boney M. Some versions come under different titles, such as "Jambo Jambo" and "Hakuna Matata".
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