| Boonoonoonoos | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 28 September 1981 | |||
| Recorded | 1980–1981 | |||
| Length | 59:39 (MC + 1994 CD 61:06) | |||
| Label | Hansa (FRG), Atlantic (UK) | |||
| Producer | Frank Farian | |||
| Boney M. chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
 Limited edition double album. | ||||
| Singles from Boonoonoonoos | ||||
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| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    link |
Boonoonoonoos is the fifth studio album by Boney M.,released in September 1981.
Despite producer Frank Farian having announced by the end of 1979 that Boney M. were to take a break,recording sessions for a new album began in the spring of 1980,and the title "Boonoonoonoos" (a Caribbean word for "Happiness",derived from Latin "Bonus" = good) already appeared as one of the first completed tracks,a cover of Larry Dillon's ska-title "Train to Skaville",which was intertwined with new rap parts as "That's Boonoonoonoos". Two of the new recordings,"I See a Boat on the River" and "My Friend Jack" were issued to promote The Magic of Boney M. –20 Golden Hits in April 1980.
Farian invited the singers Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett and his crew of musicians to Nice in the summer of 1980,where several new songs were recorded. A new double A-side single "Children of Paradise"/"Gadda-Da-Vida" was released in September,announcing the as yet untitled new album to be released in November '80. The single reached number 11 in Germany,but in the UK their popularity was now quickly slipping. When released in February 1981,the single peaked at a disappointing number 66. In the meantime,Farian had decided to revise the whole album.
While new pressings of "Children of Paradise" now promoted "The Magic of Boney M." on the back cover,the band instead issued another single in December,a cover version of "Felicidad (Margherita)" backed with "Strange". "Felicidad",originally recorded by Italian band Massara as "Margherita (Love In The Sun)" in 1979,managed to get Boney M. into the German Top 10 again and it became a sizeable hit in most of Europe as well. In the Netherlands,the single was released with "Strange" as the A-side.
At the same time,singer Marcia Barrett issued the solo single "You" / "I'm Lonely",produced by John Edmed,and written by Kelvin James. Released in Germany in December 1980,and belatedly released in the UK in September 1981,the single failed to chart in either of the countries. Another song from the same sessions,"Breakaway",ended up on Boonoonoonoos as a Boney M. track with Frank Farian on lead vocals.
New recording sessions took place in the spring of 1981. The band flew to Jamaica in August 1981 [1] to record a TV special and perform live in concert with Rita Marley,shoot photos for the album inner sleeve and a projected photo book that was never published,and one of the final songs "Silly Confusion" was recorded in Bob Marley's Tuff Gong studios in Kingston. [2]
Boonoonoonoos –originally intended to be released as a double-album –was subsequently trimmed to a one disc,thirteen track release. (By narrowing the grooves on vinyl,actually the shortened versions of the album by the Hansa Records longer than 46 minutes.) A limited edition double album was,however,issued in Germany,France and the UK,containing slightly longer versions of certain songs,but with the same number of tracks.
The first single to be lifted off the finished Boonoonoonoos album in Germany was double A-side "Malaika"/"Consuela Biaz" in June 1981 which became the first Boney M. single since their breakthrough not to reach the German Top 10. The single was not released in the UK.
"We Kill the World (Don't Kill the World)" was the second single,released in November,and marked the first single since "Belfast" featuring Marcia Barrett as the lead singer. It peaked at #12 in the German charts.
"Boonoonoonoos" marked Bobby Farrell's debut on record. [3] Having previously only mimed to Frank Farian's vocals on TV (but having sung live in the group's concerts),Farrell was featured on the track "Train to Skaville" (part of the song "Boonoonoonoos",as a rapper). He also did the spoken intro on "We Kill the World". [3]
Boney M. member Maizie Williams had also done a small part on "Train to Skaville" (featured in the group's TV special),and so the track would be the first recording to actually feature all four group members,but her part was eventually re-recorded by Liz Mitchell for the released version of the song. [4]
Note: Tracklist based on cassette / CD releases. Lengths vary between LP releases.
Side A:
Side B:
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| Chart (1981–82) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [6] | 14 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [7] | 7 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [8] | 35 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [9] | 15 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [10] | 21 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [11] | 31 |
| Chart (2020) | Peak position |
| Portuguese Albums (AFP) [12] | 42 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | — | ~250,000 [13] |
| Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong) [14] | Gold | 10,000* |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE) [15] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
| Yugoslavia | — | 59,032 [16] |
* 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.
Malaika Nakupenda Malaika is a Swahili song written by Tanzanian artist, Adam Salim in 1945 and recorded for the first time by a Kenyan musician, Fadhili Williams. This song is possibly the most famous of all Swahili love songs in Tanzania, Kenya and the entire East Africa, as well as being one of the most widely known of all Swahili songs in the world. Malaika in this context means "angel" in Swahili, and this word has always been used by the Swahili speakers to refer to a beautiful girl.
Maizie Ursula Williams is a British model, dancer and singer who became one of the original members of the successful 1970s disco music group Boney M. Though she did not sing on the studio recordings of their songs, she did perform live and subsequently established an independent career as a singer.
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.
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".
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.
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'.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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.
"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.
| Studio albums | |
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| Greatest hits album | |
| Compilations | |
| Christmas compilations | |
| Remix albums | |
| Related articles | |
