The Magic of Boney M. | ||||
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Greatest hits album by | ||||
Released | October 27, 2006 | |||
Recorded | 1975–1984 | |||
Genre | Eurodance, pop, Euro disco | |||
Length | 74:24 | |||
Label | Sony BMG (Europe) | |||
Producer | Frank Farian | |||
Boney M. chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
The Magic of Boney M. is a greatest hits album of recordings by Boney M. released by Sony BMG in October 2006.
The compilation which is an updated version of 1992's Gold – 20 Super Hits and 2001's The Greatest Hits includes eighteen of Boney M's best known hits from the 1970s and 1980s, a new remix of 1976 single "Sunny" by German DJ and record producer Mousse T. as well as one new track featuring vocals from original Boney M. lead vocalist Liz Mitchell.
While this compilation is digitally remastered it contains both original recordings and overdubbed or remixed versions dating from Gold - 20 Super Hits .
The compilation was reissued on 18 March 2022 with new artwork as a special "remix edition". This release replaces "A Moment of Love" with the 2021 remixes of "Rasputin" and "Daddy Cool", along with a previously-unreleased Spanish version of "Rivers of Babylon" entitled "Rios de Babylonia". [2]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Daddy Cool" | Frank Farian/George Reyam | 3:28 |
2. | "Sunny" (1992 overdub mix) | Bobby Hebb | 3:57 |
3. | "Rivers of Babylon" (single version, 1992 overdub mix) | Frank Farian/George Reyam | 4:16 |
4. | "El Lute" (remix ‘89 edit) | Hans Blum/Frank Farian/Fred Jay | 4:00 |
5. | "No Woman, No Cry" (1992 overdub mix) | Bob Marley | 4:18 |
6. | "Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday" (1992 overdub mix) | Frank Farian/Fred Jay | 3:56 |
7. | "Rasputin" (single version, 1992 overdub mix) | Frank Farian/Fred Jay/George Reyam | 4:26 |
8. | "Painter Man" (1992 overdub mix) | Kenny Pickett/Eddie Phillips | 3:17 |
9. | "Belfast" (1992 overdub mix) | Jimmy Bilsbury/Drafi Deutscher/Joe Menke | 3:27 |
10. | "Brown Girl in the Ring" (1992 overdub mix) | Frank Farian | 4:01 |
11. | "Kalimba de Luna" (1992 overdub mix) | Gianluigi Di Franco/Giuseppe Amoruso/Tony Esposito/Remo Licastro/Mauro Malavasi | 4:13 |
12. | "Happy Song" (single version edit) | Abacap/Ottavio Bacciocchi/Ivana Spagna | 3:58 |
13. | "Still I’m Sad" (1992 overdub mix) | Jim McCarty/Paul Samwell-Smith | 4:25 |
14. | "Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord" (radio version ‘92) | Jester Hairston/Frank Farian/Fred Jay/Hela Lorin | 4:02 |
15. | "Baby Do You Wanna Bump" (1992 overdub mix) | Zambi | 2:27 |
16. | "Felicidad (Margherita)" (1992 overdub mix) | Pino Massara/Rosella Conz | 2:51 |
17. | "Gotta Go Home" (1992 overdub mix) | Frank Farian/Heinz Huth/Jürgen Huth/Fred Jay | 2:33 |
18. | "Ma Baker" (1992 overdub mix) | Frank Farian/Fred Jay/George Reyam | 4:06 |
19. | "Sunny" (Mousse T. radio mix) | Bobby Hebb | 3:20 |
20. | "A Moment of Love" | Frank Farian/M. Bofaba | 3:13 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Magic Mega Mix 2006" (composes of "Daddy Cool" (intro), "Gotta Go Home", "Rasputin", "Sunny", "Ma Baker" and "Daddy Cool") | 5:11 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
20. | "Rasputin" (Majestic X Boney M.) | 3:06 |
21. | "Daddy Cool" (Lizot X Boney M.) | 2:35 |
22. | "Rios de Babylonia" (Spanish version) | 4:07 |
Chart (2006–2007) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [3] | 28 |
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [4] | 13 |
Danish Albums (Hitlisten) [5] | 16 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [6] | 94 |
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [7] | 27 |
French Albums (SNEP) [8] | 154 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [9] | 19 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [10] | 2 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [11] | 2 |
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [12] | 23 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [13] | 5 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [14] | 39 |
UK Albums (OCC) [15] | 45 |
Chart (2022) | Peak position |
---|---|
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [16] | 10 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [17] | 84 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [18] | 159 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [19] | 7 |
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) [20] | 24 |
Portuguese Albums (AFP) [21] | 36 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [22] | Gold | 35,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada) [23] | Gold | 50,000^ |
Ireland (IRMA) [24] | Gold | 7,500^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Boney M. are a eurodisco 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.
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'.
"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., released in September 1981.
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.
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'.
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.
More Gold – 20 Super Hits Vol. II is a 1993 greatest hits album by Boney M. Producer Frank Farian issued More Gold - 20 Super Hits Vol. II containing the remainder of Boney M.'s best known songs – again most of them appearing in remixed or overdubbed form but credited as the original versions – as well as four new recordings featuring lead singer Liz Mitchell. Two singles were released from the album in Europe, "Ma Baker Remix '93" and "Papa Chico", the latter credited as "Boney M. featuring Liz Mitchell" and released in early 1994.
The Greatest Hits is a greatest hits album of recordings by Boney M. released by BMG in the United Kingdom in late 2001.
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.
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.
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.