Boney M. is areggae,funk anddisco music group founded in 1974 in West Germany. It achieved popularity during the disco era in the second half of the 1970s.[1] The band was created by German record producerFrank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter and singer. Originally based inWest Germany, the four original members of the band's official line-up wereLiz Mitchell andMarcia Barrett fromJamaica,Maizie Williams fromMontserrat, andBobby Farrell fromAruba. Since the 1980s, various line-ups of the band have performed with different members.
German singer-songwriterFrank Farian recorded the dance track "Baby Do You Wanna Bump" in 1974. Farian sang the repeated line "Do you do you wanna bump?" in a deep voice, as well as performing the highfalsetto chorus. When the record was released as a single in early 1975, it was credited to "Boney M.". Farian had created this pseudonym for himself after watching the Australian television detective seriesBoney,[3] whose main character was named Napoleon Bonaparte. Farian said:
I turned on the TV one day and it was the end of a detective series. I just caught the credits and it said Boney. Nice name, I thought – Boney, Boney, Boney... Boney M. Boney, Boney, Boney M. Nice sound. Simple.[3]
After a slow start, the song became a hit in the Netherlands and Belgium. It was then that Farian decided to hire performers to create a troupe for TV appearances.
In 1975, model-turned-singerMaizie Williams (originally from Montserrat) recalls that she and her friendSheyla Bonnick were approached by an agent while at a restaurant in Hanover, Germany, and invited to join a new pop group. The job offered was to dance and mime to the studio recording of “Baby Do You Wanna Bump”. Williams and Bonnick were joined by two other performers identified only as “Nathalie” and “Mike”, and together the four embarked on a discothèque tour and made a few television appearances in the subsequent months.[4] However, no footage of this early lineup of Boney M. has ever surfaced. Nathalie left the group and was replaced byClaudja Barry. Bonnick decided that lip-synching was not for her and departed with the aim of pursuing a solo career, and Mike also left. They were then replaced by new membersMarcia Barrett, a singer fromJamaica, andBobby Farrell, a dancer fromAruba. When Claudja Barry also left, Barrett brought inLiz Mitchell, also from Jamaica and formerly a member of theLes Humphries Singers, and the group’s classic lineup was finally complete.
1976–1979:Take the Heat off Me and international success
Boney M.'s first album,Take the Heat off Me, was released in 1976. It featured tracks that Marcia Barrett had already recorded with Farian, including the title track and "Lovin' or Leavin'", both of which were previously recorded in German by another Farian act,Gilla. As Maizie Williams' voice was not considered suitable for recording purposes by Farian, and a try-out with Bobby Farrell performing "No Woman No Cry" did not work, Farian decided to use only Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett, along with his own studio-enhanced voice, to create the Boney M. sound.
The album's commercial performance was initially lukewarm. However, the group rigorously toured discos, clubs, and even country fairs to earn a reputation for themselves. The group's big break came at the end of the summer of 1976 when West German television producer Michael "Mike" Leckebusch ofRadio Bremen requested them for his showMusikladen. Boney M. appeared on the live music show on 18 September 1976, after 10:00 p.m. and in their daring stage costumes, where they performed the song "Daddy Cool". The song quickly went to no.1 inWest Germany, with the album following the success of the single. Another single, "Sunny", a cover of the 1966Bobby Hebb song, gave the group their second no.1 hit. The group's popularity had also grown throughout Europe, with "Daddy Cool" reaching no.1 in Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Spain, France, and Austria. Both singles were also Top 10 hits in the UK, which would become one of their biggest markets.
In 1977, Boney M. released their second album,Love for Sale, which contained the hits "Ma Baker" and "Belfast". The group embarked on their first major concert tours with a live band of musicians called The Black Beauty Circus, given their name after Maizie Williams' first band, Black Beautiful People.Love for Sale was certified Gold a year after its release in the UK.[5] Both singles from the album reached no.1 in West Germany and the UK Top 10.
1978 was the group's biggest year. They released a new double A-sided single, "Rivers of Babylon" / "Brown Girl in the Ring", which was a hit all over Europe, reaching no.1 in several countries as well as becoming one of the biggest selling singles of all time in the UK. It also became their most successful single in the United States, peaking at no.30 on theU.S. pop singles chart. Following this came their biggest-selling album,Nightflight to Venus, which spawned further hit singles with "Rasputin" and "Painter Man". Continuing with their success, they released "Mary's Boy Child / Oh My Lord", which was the 1978Christmas number one single in the United Kingdom and became another of the biggest selling singles of all time there. The same year, Boney M. made a much-publicised promotional visit to theSoviet Union, one of the very few Western acts along withElton John to do so, although tracks like "Rasputin" were not released in the Soviet Union due to their subject matter.[6]
While it had never been a secret that Bobby Farrell never sang on the group's records (Farian did the male vocals in the studio), in 1978 it became public knowledge that Maizie Williams did not sing on the studio recordings either, since "her voice wasn't suited for this kind of music" as Farian stated in an interview with German teen magazineBravo. Because this had become common practice within the disco genre of the late 1970s, few people cared— unlike when Farian repeated the practice to much more severe backlash withMilli Vanilli in the late 1980s. While only two of Boney M.'s official members actually contributed to the sound ofthe band's records, all four members of the group, including Williams and Farrell, performed the vocals live at Boney M. concerts.[7] The band's live sound was also augmented by severalbacking vocalists, which served to mitigate any vocal deficiencies the group may have had compared with the studio productions.
1979 saw Boney M. release a brand new single, "Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday", which became another Top 10 hit across Europe. Later in the year they released their fourth album,Oceans of Fantasy, featuring two hit singles –"Gotta Go Home" / "El Lute" and"I'm Born Again" / "Bahama Mama". The album also included lead and backing vocals credits for the first time.Oceans of Fantasy reached no.1 in the UK and was certified Platinum, though their run of Top 10 singles had now ended, with "Gotta Go Home" peaking at no.12 and "I'm Born Again" peaking at no.35.
1980–1986:The Magic of Boney M.; departure of Farrell and split
In 1980, Boney M. released a greatest hits album,The Magic of Boney M. – 20 Golden Hits, which also featured two new songs, "My Friend Jack" and "I See a Boat on the River". It made the no.1 spot in the UK, reaching Gold status within six weeks of release, though it was their last big-selling album in the UK.
Boney M.'s fifth album had been scheduled for release in November 1980, but the recording sessions dragged on through 1981. WhenBoonoonoonoos was finally released by the end of that year, Bobby Farrell departed from the group due to issues with Frank Farian. While still a healthy seller in continental Europe,Boonoonoonoos failed to crack the UK Top 100 after three consecutive no.1 albums, due to the group being unable to promote it without Farrell. Following this, the group releasedChristmas Album.
In 1982, "Rasputin" was played by local broadcasters in Vietnam during the waiting periods before live games of theEspaña 82 – the 1982FIFA World Cup. This led to the popularity of the band in Vietnam for decades following.[8]
Reggie Tsiboe was hired to replace Farrell as the new male member of Boney M. in 1982, but the singles "The Carnival is Over" and "Jambo" fared poorly, and the group's seventh albumTen Thousand Lightyears, issued in 1984, marked another commercial low point, peaking at number 23 in the German album charts. However, they returned to the German Top 20 in the autumn of 1984 with "Kalimba de Luna" (a Top 10 hit in France) and "Happy Song", the latter seeing Farrell return to the group. Both songs were carbon-copies of the original Italian hits byTony Esposito andBaby's Gang respectively.
By 1985, Farian clearly began losing interest in the group, and their eighth and final studio albumEye Dance was widely regarded as uninspired and disappointing. After celebrating Boney M.'s 10th anniversary in early 1986, the group officially disbanded after the release of the commercially unsuccessful single "Young, Free and Single",[9] which peaked at no. 48 in West Germany.[10]
From this point, different versions of the group were formed by members, some with the cooperation of Farian, others without, for example by independently obtaining the rights to use the Boney M. name in a different country. One version began touring in the first half of 1987 with Marilyn Scharbaai (Carrilho) taking Liz Mitchell's place. Mitchell returned for a second leg of the tour late 1987, and Marcia Barrett soon left the band. At the same time, Bobby Farrell had set up a deal for a new Boney M. album to be recorded without Farian in Belgium. When Farrell failed to show up for either recording or tour, and as Maizie Williams had never sung on record, the album ended up being released as Liz Mitchell's first solo album,No One Will Force You. Mitchell and Williams completed a tour during 1987–88, adding singer Celena Duncan and Ron Gale as replacements for Barrett and Farrell. Carol Grey later replaced Celena Duncan and Curt De Daran later replaced Ron Gale.
In October 1988, the classic Boney M. line-up reunited without producer Frank Farian for the albumGreatest Hits of All Times – Remix '88, but tensions ran high between the members, and Mitchell left in the spring of 1989, to be replaced by Madeleine Davis. While Mitchell promoted her solo album, the group recorded the single "Everybody Wants to Dance Like Josephine Baker", without Farian's knowledge or approval. Threatened with legal action by the producer over the use of the Boney M. name, the single was subsequently withdrawn and Farian issued "Stories" with his own new Boney M. line-up featuring Mitchell, Reggie Tsiboe and two new members, Sharon Stevens and Patty Onoyewenjo. "Stories" peaked at number 11 in the Swiss charts, and a second remix album,Greatest Hits of All Times – Remix '89 – Volume II, was released, but fared poorly.
1992 saw a renewed interest in Boney M.'s music with the "Boney M. Megamix" single returning the group to the UK Top 10 for the first time since 1980, and a subsequent greatest hits album,Gold – 20 Super Hits, reaching the UK Top 20 in 1993. While Marcia Barrett, by then living inFlorida, had cancer and was unable to perform, Boney M. toured the world with a line-up of Liz Mitchell, Carol Grey, Patricia Lorna Foster and Curt Dee Daran (replaced by Tony Ashcroft in 1994). They released the single "Papa Chico",[11] but it failed to chart. Maizie Williams assembled her own Boney M., with an ever-changing line-up. Bobby Farrell also toured with varying trios of female performers.
Boney M. featuring Maizie Williams performing at a concert
Mitchell was touring the world with her line-up of Boney M., which was the only line-up officially supported by Farian; a court ruling in 1990 stated that all four members are entitled to perform their own Boney M. shows. Farrell and Mitchell have released solo albums featuring their own re-recordings of Boney M.'s classic hits. Williams released her first solo album in 2006, and her own single version of "Sunny". In 2007, her rendition of "Daddy Cool" withMelo-M hit the number one spot in the Latvian (LMK) Charts.[12] Marcia Barrett has released two solo albums, with a third scheduled for release in 2010.[13][needs update]
A musical based on the music of Boney M.,Daddy Cool, opened in London in August 2006 to mixed reviews and sluggish ticket sales, causing it to close in February 2007. From April to July 2007, the show played in a mobile theatre inBerlin, which was specially designed for it.
In April 2007, Australian pop singer Peter Wilson released a song co-written byFrank Farian entitled "Doin' Fine". It was described as "paying tribute to the sound of Boney M." and features the famous string arrangement from their first number 1 hit, "Daddy Cool". Boney M. (featuring Marcia Barrett) made a live appearance at the 37thInternational Film Festival of India (IFFI), which took place on 23 November 2006 inPanaji, the state capital ofGoa, India.
In the UK, a new album of their greatest hits, entitledThe Magic of Boney M. was released viaBMG on 27 November 2006. Special additions to this release were aMousse T. remix of "Sunny" and a brand new song from 2006, featuring Liz Mitchell, entitled "A Moment of Love". On 10 April 2007, Boney M.'s first four albums were reissued on compact disc with bonus tracks, this time also in the United States (the first time these were available to the U.S. music market since their original releases in the 1970s).
In September 2007, Boney M.'s last four original albums,Boonoonoonoos,Ten Thousand Lightyears,Kalimba de Luna - 16 Happy Songs andEye Dance were reissued on compact disc in Europe and the United States, all including bonus tracks. In November 2007, a newChristmas compilation was scheduled for release, as well as the DVDFantastic Boney M. – On Stage and on the Road, featuring a live performance recorded inVienna on 1 November 1977 (the DVD cover erroneously states it to be a live show fromHamburg), and a film from the band's 1981 visit toJamaica (made to promote theBoonoonoonoos album that year).
Bobby Farrell's Boney M. performed a concert at the Amphi inRa'anana, Israel, in May 2007. On 28 June 2007 Boney M. featuring Matthew Felsenfeld and Liz Mitchell performed at theOktiabrsky concert hall inSt. Petersburg, Russia. In September 2007, Maizie Williams' Boney M. line-up performed live at theRoyal Albert Hall in London to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in Africa, performing her own renditions of "Brown Girl in the Ring" and "Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday".
The legal rights to the name "Boney M." have been a matter of controversy, and even court cases, between the former members of the band and producer Frank Farian ever since the late 1980s. Farian, the man who in effect created the group, continued to work with Liz Mitchell and her line-up all through the 1990s and 2000s. In January 2007, Bobby Farrell's daughter Zanillya Farrell and his ex-wife Yasmina Ayad-Saban renewed the trademark to the name Boney M. in Germany for a 10-year period.
In January 2009, Farian released the single "Felicidad America (Obama Obama)", a version of the 1980 Boney M. song "Felicidad (Margherita)" with new lyrics about newly elected U.S. presidentBarack Obama. The song was recorded with two new vocalists, and credited to "Boney M. feat. Sherita O. & Yulee B."
In July 2010, Maizie Williams headlined a Boney M. performance atRamallah's Cultural Palace, in theWest Bank, as part of the Palestine International Festival. The band played "Daddy Cool", "Ma Baker" and "Brown Girl in the Ring", but refrained from playing "Rivers of Babylon", rumoured to be at the event organisers' request because of its description of the Jewish yearning for Zion.[14][15][16]
Bobby Farrell died at the age of 61 from heart failure on 30 December 2010. His agent said Farrell was complaining of breathing problems after performing with his band the evening before.[17][18] Farrell lived inAmsterdam until his death. His final performance was in Saint Petersburg, Russia, the city whereRasputin first became famous and was later killed. Farrell died in a hotel room there,[19] 94 years to the day after Rasputin.
Maizie Williams' line-up of Boney M. toured Australia in June 2014.[20] They sang atGuilfest,Guildford, UK, on 20 July 2014,[21] and Watchet Live music festival UK, on 24 August 2014.[22]
In March 2015, Farian releasedDiamonds, a three-CD box celebrating the 40th anniversary of Boney M. It featured re-mastered versions of the original hit singles or of previously unreleased versions, a remix disc and the new digital single "Song of Joy", featuring Liz Mitchell. A major DVD set was also released.
In February 2017, the group performed at the closing ceremony ofPatras Carnival inPatras, Greece.[23][24][clarification needed] At the end of 2017, the albumWorld Music for Christmas was released under the name Boney M. and Friends, with Mitchell singing on three songs, along with the single and video "Like Diamonds in the Sky" featuring Mitchell, based on the song "El Cóndor Pasa".[25][26][27]
In 2021, a remix of "Rasputin" by house music producer andKiss FM DJ Kevin Christie was released bySony Music'sMinistry of Sound[28] label. Credited to Majestic & Boney M (with the former being the DJ alias of Christie), the record reached number 11 on the UK singles chart[29] and was released with a video featuringBimini Bon-Boulash fromRuPaul's Drag Race UK. In December 2021, Mitchell was one of the contributors to theChannel 5 music programmeBritain's Biggest 70s Hits, alongside other musicians from the era such asDean Friedman andBarry Blue, and radio presenters likeDavid Hamilton.[30]
Sheyla Bonnick, who had been part of the short-lived original 1975 line-up and performed with Boney M. featuring Maizie Williams in the 1990s, later formed her own Boney M. show, which performed inJõhvi in 2022.[31]
In August 2023, Boney M., headed by Mitchell, embarked on a multi-city US tour, along withSamantha Fox andBad Boys Blue, which included stops inBoston,Los Angeles,Chicago, New York City andSan Jose.[32] The shows were put together by Los Angeles-based promoters LA Concert Group.[33]
In January 2024, the group's producer and main founder Frank Farian died, aged 82.[34][35]
The group were scheduled for a farewell tour in Australia in June and July 2024.[36][37]
In 1978, "Rivers of Babylon", a cover of a track byThe Melodians with lyrics partly based onPsalm 137 and partly onPsalm 19,[38] became (at the time) the second highest-selling single of all time in the UK. After remaining at no.1 for five weeks, "Rivers of Babylon" began dropping down the chart, at which point theB-side "Brown Girl in the Ring" was given extensive radio airplay, and the single ascended to no.2. The single spent six months in the UK Top 40, including 19 weeks in the Top 10. It eventually sold more than two million copies, the second single to do so, and is stillone of only seven to achieve this feat.
The group achieved a second UK million-seller with their version of thecalypso song "Mary's Boy Child", released as a medley, "Mary's Boy Child / Oh My Lord", the first title having previously been a million-seller forHarry Belafonte. The single sold more than 1.8 million copies, 1.6 million of which were in the four weeks the song was at No. 1 in December 1978.
Boney M. is the only artist to appear twice in the top 12best selling singles of all time in the UK, with "Rivers of Babylon" in seventh place and "Mary's Boy Child / Oh My Lord" at number 11.[39] They are also one of six artists to sell a million copies with two singles in the same year.
Compared to other best-selling artists of the 1970s, likeABBA,Donna Summer, and theBee Gees, the Boney M. discography is quite unusual, in that while the greater part of the band's back catalogue has been remixed, remade, remodeled and reissued all through the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s by producer Frank Farian and record companyBMG-Ariola (nowSony Music), most of the original 7" and 12" versions issued on vinyl in the 1970s and early 1980s remained unavailable on CD until 2007, when they were released on various compilations, most notablyThe Collection (2008), theUltimate Boney M. series (2008),Let It All Be Music: The Party Album (2009),Hit Story (2010) andDiamonds (2015). Some of these CDs were compiled by Frank Eberlein, who had also been interviewed on a fansite called "Fantastic Boney M." about the compiling process.[40]
"Greatest hits" collections containing edited and/or overdubbed versions of the original recordings are still being released, such asBoney M. & Friends (Their Ultimate Top 40 Collection) (2017),[41]Rasputin – Big And Strong: The Greatest Hits of Boney M. (2021)[42] and the 2022 re-issue of the 2006 compilationThe Magic of Boney M.
In the Soviet filmRepentance (1984, released 1987), "Sunny" is played at a party attended by high-ranked communist officials.[45] The song is also played during a few parts of the successful Korean film of the same name,Sunny.[46]
During the2002 presidential election campaign of South Korea, then-candidateRoh Moo-hyun, who eventually won the presidency at that event, used "Bahama Mama" to promote his aim of positive political reform.[47]
The 2005 Chinese filmShanghai Dreams features a scene depicting a rural Chinese disco in 1983, with teenagers dancing to "Rivers of Babylon" and "Gotta Go Home".[48]
In the 2008 Kazakh filmTulpan, the tractor driver Boni continually plays a cassette of "Rivers of Babylon", an example of his fascination for all things Western.[49]
Boney M. was immensely popular in India throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Liz Mitchell recalled her visits to India in the 1980s in a 2015 interview withHindustan Times: "It was amazing. We've had the most-wonderful tours here. We even went out shopping to so many places. We met several Bollywood stars and had dinners with them."[52]
During Boney M.’s televised performance at theSopot International Song Festival in Poland on 24 August 1979, three uncredited backing vocalists appeared alongside the main lineup. Based on visual analysis of the performance footage and corroborated by fan sources, the trio is believed to have included:
Sylvia Tella — A British-Jamaican singer affiliated with Frank Farian’s studio ensemble. She was active in Germany during the late 1970s and performed with Boney M. as part of theBlack Beautiful Circus, a live backing band supporting their concerts between 1977 and 1979. Tella is positioned on theleft in the performance footage and later launched a successful solo career in lovers rock and soul.
Jacinth Mitchell — Sister of lead vocalistLiz Mitchell. She toured with Boney M. during the late 1970s and was also a member of the vocal trioBody, Soul & Spirit, which released singles such asShow Me the Way in 1979. She is believed to be thecenter backing vocalist in the Sopot footage.
Elizabeth Chin — A vocalist of Caribbean or African descent, widely believed to be therightmost performer in the footage. Although frequently confused with individuals of the same name, including academics and filmmakers, fan consensus supports her identification as part of the Black Beautiful Circus.
These vocalists, though uncredited in official releases, provided live harmonies and visual presence that contributed significantly to Boney M.’s sound during their 1979 tour. Their contributions have been acknowledged in fan communities and archival research efforts.
^Mahdawi, Arwa (7 September 2006)."Shanghai Dreams".the Guardian. Retrieved23 January 2023.But she finds herself tempted from her studies by a pair of red stilettos and by the lure of the local disco – a miniature Gomorrah where the kids dance in a desultory fashion to the sounds of Boney M.
^Kisyk (26 January 2011)."Тюльпан" [Tulip].Азаттық Радиосы (in Kazakh).Archived from the original on 23 January 2023. Retrieved23 January 2023....listened to the group "Boni-M" (he sings "Sale!")...
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