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Boney M is a Eurodance and disco group, which was
phenomenally successful during the 1970s. 

==History==
The group was created by producer Frank Farian in
1975 and was composed of four British West
Indies|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 Barry, 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 United Kingdom|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 music|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
rhythms 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 (planet)|Venus"
* "Rasputin (song)|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 ==
* http://www.groovecave.com/boneym/ THE First and
Original Boney M Homepage
* http://www.diezi.com/boneym/ Boney M -
Nightflight to Venus with Boney M
* http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/boneym
discussion group for Boney M fans
* http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/frankfarian
discussion group for Fran Kfarian
* http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/lizmitchell
discussion group for Liz Mitchell

	Web Quotableonline.com Frasescelebres.org Greatbookscollection.org

Boney M is a Eurodance and disco group, which was
phenomenally successful during the 1970s. 

==History==
The group was created by producer Frank Farian in
1975 and was composed of four British West
Indies|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 Barry, 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 United Kingdom|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 music|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
rhythms 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 (planet)|Venus"
* "Rasputin (song)|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 ==
* http://www.groovecave.com/boneym/ THE First and
Original Boney M Homepage
* http://www.diezi.com/boneym/ Boney M -
Nightflight to Venus with Boney M
* http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/boneym
discussion group for Boney M fans
* http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/frankfarian
discussion group for Fran Kfarian
* http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/lizmitchell
discussion group for Liz Mitchell