Boney M.
Boney M. are a eurodisco[3][2] group that specialises in R&B, reggae, disco and funk,[5] 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.
Boney M.
1974–1986
1988–1989
1992–present
The band has sold millions of records worldwide and is known for international hits including "Daddy Cool", "Ma Baker", "Belfast", "Sunny", "Rasputin", "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" and "Rivers of Babylon".[6]
History[edit]
1974–1976: Formation and early career[edit]
German singer-songwriter Frank Farian recorded the dance track "Baby Do You Wanna Bump" in December 1974. Farian sang the repeated line "Do you do you wanna bump?" in a deep voice as well as performing the high falsetto 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 series Boney,[7] whose main character was named Napoleon Bonaparte. Farian said:
UK sales mark[edit]
In 1978, "Rivers of Babylon", a cover of a track by The Melodians with lyrics partly based on Psalm 137 and partly on Psalm 19,[39] 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 the B-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 still one of only seven to achieve this feat. (see List of million-selling singles in the United Kingdom)
The group achieved a second UK million-seller with their version of the calypso classic "Mary's Boy Child", released as a medley "Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord", which was previously a million-seller for Harry 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 12 best 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.[40] They are also one of six artists to sell a million copies with two singles in the same year.
Back catalogue[edit]
Compared to other best-selling artists of the 1970s like ABBA, Donna Summer, and the Bee Gees, the Boney M. discography is quite unusual – 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 company BMG-Ariola (now Sony Music), most of the original 7" and 12" versions issued on vinyl in the 1970s and early 1980s remained unavailable on CD until 2007, where they were released on various compilations, most notably The Collection (2008), the Ultimate Boney M. series (2008), Let It All Be Music: The Party Album (2009), Hit Story (2010) and Diamonds (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.[41]
"Greatest hits" collections containing edited and/or overdubbed versions of the original recordings are still being released, such as Boney M. & Friends (Their Ultimate Top 40 Collection) (2017),[42] Rasputin – Big And Strong: The Greatest Hits of Boney M. (2021)[43] and the 2022 re-issue of the 2006 compilation "The Magic of Boney M."
Popularity outside the West[edit]
Boney M. was hugely popular in the Soviet Union in the 1970s, although the song "Rasputin" was banned by the Soviet authorities from being played at the group's concert in Moscow in December 1978.[44] The song has been used in several films and television shows, including Johnny English Strikes Again, The King's Man, Black Mirror and in the Doctor Who special The Power of the Doctor, in which The Master dances to the song while disguised as Rasputin himself.[45]
In the Soviet film Repentance (1984, released 1987), "Sunny" is played at a party of high-ranked communist officials.[46] "Sunny" is played during a few parts of the successful Korean film of the same name, Sunny.[47]
During the 2002 presidential election campaign of South Korea, then-candidate Roh Moo-hyun, who eventually won the presidency at that event, took Bahama Mama to promote his aim of positive political reform.[48]
The 2005 Chinese film Shanghai Dreams features a scene depicting a rural Chinese disco in 1983, with teenagers dancing to "Rivers of Babylon" and "Gotta Go Home".[49]
In the 2008 Kazakh film Tulpan, the tractor driver Boni continually plays a cassette of "Rivers of Babylon", an example of his fascination for all things Western.[50]
In the 2008 Chinese film Cheung Gong 7 hou (English title: CJ7), "Sunny" is a vital part of the soundtrack.[51] "Sunny" is the theme song of the 2011 Taiwanese drama, Sunny Girl.[52] The song has also appeared in The Umbrella Academy and Boogie Nights.
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 with Hindustan 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."[53]