Take the Heat off Me | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | June 28, 1976 | |||
Recorded | December 1974 – April 1976 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 36:05 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | Frank Farian | |||
Boney M. chronology | ||||
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Singles from Take the Heat off Me | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Christgau's Record Guide | B [2] |
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 (number 1 in Sweden and Finland, number 2 in Norway), but in the US the album just missed the album chart. Tracks include the hits "Daddy Cool" (number 1 in eight European countries, number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100), "Sunny" (top 5 in many European countries) and the debut single "Baby Do You Wanna Bump".
Producer Frank Farian was in a hurry to capitalize on the sudden success of "Daddy Cool" and put together the first Boney M. album quickly, made possible by the use of cover versions and by reusing already existing recordings.
While "Baby Do You Wanna Bump" was reworked from Prince Buster's "Al Capone" (although credited to Farian's alias 'Zambi'), "Sunny", "No Woman No Cry" and "Fever" are cover versions of well-known tracks, albeit rearranged. The title track "Take the Heat off Me" is also a cover, of the 1974 Italian hit "Nessuno mai" ("No one ever") by Italian artist Marcella Bella.
Versions of three tracks had previously been released by another Farian produced artist Gilla in German, "Take the Heat off Me" ("Mir ist kein weg zu weit"), "Lovin' or Leavin'" ("Lieben und frei sein") and the UK/US exclusive "Help, Help" ("Ich brenne"), the last of which Gilla also recorded in English. Gilla would furthermore record German versions of "Sunny" and "No Woman No Cry", using the same backing tracks. The B-side of the single "Sunny" and the non-album track "New York City" also recycle two of Gilla's tracks: "Tu Es" (English version "Why Don't You Do It") and "Ich brenne" ("Help, Help!"). "Got a Man on My Mind" was rewritten from Farian's "Am Samstagabend", which was the B-side of his 1976 hit single "Rocky".
All in all, "Daddy Cool" is in fact the only truly original track on the album.
Side A
Side B
Musicians
Production
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Canada combined sales with second album | — | 48,000 [16] |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [17] | Silver | 25,000 [18] |
Finland (Musiikkituottajat) [19] | Gold | 26,259 [19] |
France | — | 300,000 [20] |
Germany (BVMI) [21] | Gold | 250,000^ |
Greece (IFPI Greece) [22] | Gold | 50,000^ |
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong) [23] | Platinum | 20,000* |
Spain combined sales with first album | — | 300,000 [24] |
Sweden (GLF) [25] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [26] | Silver | 60,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Boney M. are a disco group that specialises in R&B, reggae, disco and funk, 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.
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.
Nightflight to Venus is the third studio album by Euro-Caribbean group Boney M., and was released in July 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 recorded by Boney M. and 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. The song was produced and co-written by the group's founder Frank Farian, who also provided the male voice parts on the record.
"Sunny" is a soul jazz standard written by Bobby Hebb in 1963. It is one of the most performed and recorded popular songs, with hundreds of versions released and its chord progression influencing later songs. BMI rates "Sunny" No. 25 in its "Top 100 songs of the century".
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.
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 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".
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 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.
"Baby Do You Wanna Bump" is a song recorded by German record producer Frank Farian under the name Boney M., and included on the group's 1976 debut album Take the Heat off Me. Released as the first Boney M. single, it became a minor hit in the Netherlands and Belgium, prompting Farian to create a proper group to promote his studio project. In the United Kingdom, the single was released by Creole Records, but went unnoticed.
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.
Norske Hits is a compilation album of recordings by Boney M. released by BMG-Ariola in Norway in late 1998.
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.
Gilla is an Austrian singer from the late 1970s disco era.
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