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"Mary's Boy Child / Oh My Lord" | ||||
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Single by Boney M. | ||||
B-side | "Dancing in the Streets" | |||
Released | 24 November 1978 [1] | |||
Recorded | October 1978 | |||
Genre | Christmas [2] | |||
Length | 5:43 (7" version) 5:40 (French 7" version) 5:22 (Spanish 7" version) 6:18 (12" version) | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | Frank Farian | |||
Boney M. singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Boney M. - Mary's Boy Child (Officical Video)" on YouTube |
"Mary's Boy Child / Oh My Lord" [nb 1] 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".
The single had its premiere on 2 November 1978 on the German TV-show "Starparade" (Episode 44) which aired on ZDF. It topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks [3] and became Christmas number one in the UK, spending eight weeks in the charts. It has sold 1.89 million units as of November 2015. [4] It was the second single for the group in the UK's all-time best selling singles list. The song was later included in the group's Christmas Album , issued in 1981.
In the United States, the track reached number 85 on the Billboard Hot 100, Boney M's last of four singles to chart there. In 2017, it experienced somewhat of a resurgence and peaked at number 89 on the Holiday 100. [5] In certain areas of the U.S., the medley can sometimes be heard during the Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday season on radio stations which change to temporary all-Christmas music formats.
A promotional gatefold single (Hansa, 15 816 AT, Germany) backed with "Never Change Lovers in the Middle of the Night" (from Nightflight to Venus ) was released shortly before the commercial single which had a new track on the B-side "Dancing in the Streets". Different edits were issued in various countries. In Spain and France, the third verse (Now Joseph and his wife Mary came to Bethlehem that night ...) was excised, while the French mix of "Oh My Lord" was a different mix. The full-length 6:18 mix appeared as the B-side of the 12" single "Dancing in the Streets".[ citation needed ]
Two music videos were produced to promote the single. [6] One featured the band in a white room wearing white furry coats, while the second, made to promote the 1988 remix featured the band once again dressed in white with a nativity scene.
After Christmas, Hansa Records flipped the single and released it with "Dancing in the Streets" on the A-side. The non-album track was sung solely by the group's producer Frank Farian, singing the chorus in multi-dubbed falsetto vocals and singing the verse in his deep voice. The mix that came out on the B-side of "Mary's Boy Child" in the UK and US was an early version with shriller falsetto vocals and no answer-back chorus vocals in the verses. Despite the lack of success, the track was chosen as the one to launch Boney M. in the USA which remained the only territory the group had yet to conquer. The group did a promotional tour in April 1979 and also lip-synced the track at important TV shows such as Soul Train but the single stalled at number 105 on the Pop chart and fared only slightly better on the R&B chart (number 75).
7" singles
12" single
Chart (1978–1979) | Peak position |
---|---|
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [7] | 3 |
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [8] | 4 |
Finland (Suomen Virallinen) [9] | 5 |
Germany (Official German Charts) [10] | 1 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [11] | 2 |
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [12] | 8 |
Norway (VG-lista) [13] | 2 |
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [14] | 1 |
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [15] | 1 |
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) [16] | 1 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [17] | 85 |
Chart (2015) | Peak position |
Ireland (IRMA) [18] | 47 |
Chart (2016) | Peak position |
Denmark (Tracklisten) [19] | 16 |
Chart (2017) | Peak position |
US Holiday 100 ( Billboard ) [20] | 89 |
Chart (2018) | Peak position |
Hungary (Single Top 40) [21] | 28 |
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) [16] | 26 |
Chart (2019) | Peak position |
Australia (ARIA) [22] | 56 |
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) [16] | 47 |
Chart (2020) | Peak position |
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) [16] | 80 |
Chart (2021) | Peak position |
South Africa (RISA) [23] | 73 |
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) [16] | 60 |
Chart (2022) | Peak position |
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) [16] | 52 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [24] | Gold | 35,000‡ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [25] | Platinum | 90,000‡ |
France | — | 100,000 [26] |
Germany | — | 1,000,000 [27] |
Netherlands (NVPI) [28] | Gold | 100,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [29] | Gold | 10,000* |
United Kingdom (BPI) [30] | Platinum | 1,885,274 [31] |
Summaries | ||
Benelux | — | 200,000 [32] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
"Rivers of Babylon (Remix)"/"Mary's Boy Child / Oh My Lord (Remix)" | ||||
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Single by Boney M. | ||||
from the album Greatest Hits of All Times – Remix '88 | ||||
A-side |
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Released | October 1988 | |||
Genre | R&B, disco | |||
Label | Hansa (FRG) | |||
Producer(s) | Frank Farian | |||
Boney M. singles chronology | ||||
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"Rivers of Babylon/"Mary's Boy Child / Oh My Lord" is a 1988 remix single by German band Boney M., issued to launch the group's reunion, having been split since their 10th anniversary, 1986. The double A-side single contained new mixes of the band's two very most successful single releases ever. Although their remix album sold well, the single failed to chart.
"Christmas Mega Mix" | ||||
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Single by Boney M. | ||||
from the album The Most Beautiful Christmas Songs of the World | ||||
Released | November 1992 | |||
Genre | R&B, disco | |||
Label | Hansa (FRG) | |||
Producer(s) | Frank Farian | |||
Boney M. singles chronology | ||||
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"Christmas Mega Mix" is a 1992 remix single by German band Boney M., issued to launch a new edition of their Christmas album, The Most Beautiful Christmas Songs of the World. The Christmas Mega Mix was in fact just another name for a new remix of "Mary's Boy Child - Oh My Lord". In the UK, the new mix was put on the B-side of their "Mega Mix" single.
7" single
CD
(Hansa 74321 11933 2–211, Germany)
Chart (1988) | Peak position |
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UK Singles (OCC) [33] | 52 |
The song was covered by the Australian pop band The Eclectics featuring Jared Lerner. It was covered by Johnny Mathis in 1982. It was covered by Anne Murray in 1988. It was covered by Glee in the episode "Previously Unaired Christmas" from the fifth season.
Boney M. are a disco group that specialises in R&B, reggae, disco and funk. The group 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 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.
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.
"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'.
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.
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".
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 20 Greatest Christmas Songs is a compilation/remix album by Boney M. In 1986 producer Frank Farian took the master tapes from 1981's Christmas Album, added six recordings by Liz Mitchell, Reggie Tsiboe and two session singers from 1984, remixed them and created Die 20 schönsten Weihnachtslieder der Welt, internationally released as The 20 Greatest Christmas Songs. The 1986 version of the Boney M. Christmas album has since been re-issued as The Most Beautiful Christmas Songs of the World (1992), A Wonderful Christmas Time (1998) and Christmas Party.
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 Best of Boney M. is a compilation album of recordings by Boney M. released by BMG UK's midprice label Camden in 1997.
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.
Christmas with Boney M. is a Christmas compilation by Boney M., released on 16 November 2007. It is a reissue of The 20 Greatest Christmas Songs with a reordered tracklist that restores the two songs from the original Christmas Album which were originally excluded, and a 2007 recording by the Daddy Cool Kids as a bonus track. This compilation follows the 2007 re-release of Boney M.'s original studio albums.
"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.
"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".
"Mega Mix" is a 1992 single by German band Boney M. It returned the group to the UK Top 10 for the first time since 1979, peaking at #7, and was also a hit single in the rest of Europe and launched a Boney M. revival with the subsequent compilation album Gold – 20 Super Hits. The German 12" and CD single included a new remix of the 1983 recording "I Need a Babysitter" while the UK edition was backed by the new remix of the group's 1978 chart-topper "Mary's Boy Child / Oh My Lord". While the original members were no longer together, lead singer Liz Mitchell's line-up with Carol Grey, Patricia Foster and Curt Dee Daran did the promotion for the single and album. The promotion video however showed old imagery of the well known Boney M. edition.
"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".
"Brown Girl in the Ring" is a traditional children's song in the islands of the West Indies. Originally said to have originated in Jamaica, as part of the children's game also known as "Brown Girl in the Ring". The songs lyrics instruct the game's performance: as a girl enters the ring, formed by children holding hands, and performs a dance.