Boney M
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Boney M is a Eurodance and disco group, which was phenomenally successful during the 1970s.
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History
The group was created by producer Frank Farian in 1975 and was composed of four West Indian artists working in London, Germany and Netherlands: singers Marcia Barrett and Liz Mitchell, model Maizie Williams and DJ Bobby Farrell. Boney M is noted for the mix of white and black music—the producer Farian is white and the singers are black; significantly many songs are black (freedom) songs, for example "No More Chain Gang" in the album Oceans Of Fantasy.
Farian first released the single "Baby Do You Wanna Bump?" in 1975, under the Boney M name. He performed the sparse vocals of the song himself. The song went on to become a hit and it was then that Farian decided to hire a team of dancers and vocalists to 'front' the group.
The line-up of the groups went through numerous changes- Maizie Williams being the only original member that remained. Not satisfied with merely miming to Farian's songs, one of the members, Claudja Berry, left on short notice in February '76- days before the group was scheduled to appear on a local television gig in Saarbruecken. Liz Mitchell, then an unemployed singer and formerly a member of the Les Humphries Singers, was brought in as a temporary replacement for the gig under the recommendation of Marcia Barret. Farian was impressed with her performance, and she went on to record Boney M's first LP, Take the Heat off Me.
Farian had previously recorded some songs with the Marcia Barrett, the other vocalist of the group. A couple of the songs, "Lovin' or leavin'" and "Daddy Cool" were included in the Take the Heat off Me LP. Response to the album was lukewarm. However, the group rigourously toured discos, clubs and even country fairs to earn a reputation for themselves. The group's big break came when, at the end of that summer, music-TV-producer Michael "Mike" Leckebusch of Radio Bremen, requested the group for his show "Musikladen". Boney M appeared on the live music show on the 18th of September, 1976, after 10pm, in their now trademark daring costumes. By the end of the following week, "Daddy Cool" became Germany's #1 single in the charts. The album was to follow the success of the single.
Despite his success with Boney M, controversy followed the group's founder, Frank Farian in what was to later shadow his involvement with Milli Vanilli. Maizie Williams and Bobby Farrell- the male face of the group, did very little, if any, vocal contribution to the music. Almost all of the male vocals, along with some of the choir sections in songs such as "Dancing in the Streets" and "Bye Bye" Bluebird', were done by Farian himself. Farrell, as Farian finally had admitted on German television in 2003, had been chosen for his personality and innovative dancing.
Success
"Rivers of Babylon", with lyrics partially based on Psalm 137, became the second highest selling single of all time in the UK in 1978, while the B-side "Brown Girl in the Ring" was given extensive airplay on radio. It sold 500 copies short of 2 million.
The group also achieved a second UK million seller with their version of the calypso classic "Mary's Boy Child" which was previously a million seller for Harry Belafonte. On a list of the best selling singles in the United Kingdom, issued in 2002, Boney M appear fifth and tenth places respectively, with the two above singles. They are the only act to appear twice in the Top 10; a feat not even the Beatles were able to achieve.
Boney M, with their sensuous tunes and catchy rythms became one of the few western bands that became well-known outside of Europe and the USA; including Africa, India, Sri Lanka and South-East Asia. To this day, along with ABBA, they are the most widely known western music acts in these regions.
Discography
Albums
- Take The Heat Off Me (1976)
- Love For Sale (1977)
- Nightflight To Venus (1978)
- Oceans Of Fantasy (1979)
- Boonoonoonoos (1981)
- Christmas Album (1981)
- 10,000 Lightyears (1984)
- Kalimba De Luna (1984)
- Eye Dance (1985)
Singles
- "Baby Do You Wanna Bump?"
- "Daddy Cool"
- "El Lute"
- "Sunny"
- "Ma Baker"
- "Belfast"
- "Rivers of Babylon"
- "Nightflight to Venus"
- "Rasputin"
- "Painter Man" (about Andy Warhol)
- "Mary's Boy Child"
See also
- Best selling music artists - World's top-selling music artists chart
External links
- THE First and Original Boney M Homepage (http://www.groovecave.com/boneym/)
- Boney M - Nightflight to Venus with Boney M (http://www.diezi.com/boneym/)
- [1] (http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/boneym)
- [2] (http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/frankfarian)
- [3] (http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/lizmitchell)de:Boney M