Boney M. is a Caribbean vocal group created by German record producer Frank Farian. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group's official line-up were Jamaican-born singers Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett, 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 different personnel.
1978 was the group's biggest year. They released a new double A-sided single, "Rivers of Babylon/Brown Girl in the Ring", which became a massive hit all over Europe, reaching No. 1 in several countries as well as becoming ...
Boney M. is a Caribbean vocal group created by German record producer Frank Farian. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group's official line-up were Jamaican-born singers Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett, 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 different personnel.
1978 was the group's biggest year. They released a new double A-sided single, "Rivers of Babylon/Brown Girl in the Ring", which became a massive 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 the U.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 1978 Christmas number one single in the United Kingdom and became another of the biggest selling singles of all time there. Also during 1978, Boney M. made a much publicized promotional visit to the Soviet Union, one of the very few Western acts along with Elton John to do so, although tracks like "Rasputin" were not released in the Soviet Union due to their lyrics.
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 magazine Bravo. Since this had become common practice within the disco genre of the late '70s, few people cared – unlike when Farian did the same thing with Milli Vanilli in the late 1980s. While only two of Boney M.'s official members actually contributed to the band's records, all four members of the group, including Williams and Farrell, performed the vocals live at Boney M. concerts. The band's live sound was also augmented by several backing vocalists, which served to enhance any vocal deficiencies the group may have had compared with the studio productions.
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, became (at the time) the second highest-selling single of all time in the UK. After reaching 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 climbed back up the chart to No. 2. The single spent six months in the UK Top 40, including 19 weeks in the Top 10. It eventually sold over two million copies, the second single to do so, and is still one of only 7 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 over 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. are the only artists to appear twice in the top 10 best selling singles of all time in the UK, with "Rivers of Babylon" in 7th place and "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" at number 10. 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 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 80s, 90s 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 70s and early 80s remained unavailable on CD until 2008 and the release of the box set The Collection and the single CD compilation Rivers of Babylon (A Best of Collection).
well i had the opperttunaty to meet Bobby Farell more than one time in my life and had him on my dancefloor as costumer in the club whjere i worked the man stole my heart he was from DenHage Netherlands thats where the complete family lives i miss the man R I P Bobby
