Boney M Boney M Career: Musician
Birth: Germany
The son of a leather factory worker who died in World War II and a church choir soloist, Franz Reuter, who later took the pseudonym Frank Farian, was born (7/18/1942) and grew up in the West German city of Saarbrücken, bordering France. neighborhood with dozens of American military bases, whose inhabitants have always been of great interest to him, as they were the bearers of a special free-spirited US culture, so unlike the strict German foundations.
As a teenager, Franz fell madly in love with English and American pop music, but according to his own recollections, instead of the Beatles, he listened to Sam Cooke, Little Richard and Otis Redding. The guy worked on his voice for a long time and, trying to imitate the soul hits popular in America, began to perform in local eateries, which often hung out american soldiers yearning for their homeland. The public loved him very much, and this charged him with inspiration.
In the early 60s, the young vocalist gathered around him a whole group of black music enthusiasts and, calling themselves Frankie Farian And The Shadows, they briskly promoted themselves in their hometown as the very best band that performed covers of Drifters and Otis Redding (everyone started with this mediocre) . But their popularity did not seep beyond Saarbrücken, because many believed that no one could play black music better than blacks, and whites could only imitate. But Farian did not give up, and in the 70s he not only did not abandon his native occupation, but also slowly switched to the production front. The ballad pro-American style in which he was considered an expert on the famous Hansa-Ariola label eventually began to bear fruit, and two of his songs "Dana My Love" (1972) and in particular "Rocky" (1976), which topped the national hit - parade of Germany, entered the golden fund of German English-language pop music. Then there was a sharp transition to a more fashionable disco, and it was the turn of grandiose projects, the most important of which was called BONEY M.
It all started at the end of 1974, when Farian made a recording under the pseudonym Zambie, completely different from everything he had done before, the composition "Baby Do You Wanna Bumb". Farian recorded the song himself, he used his sound and the voices of the regular vocalists of the Europa Sound Studios in Offenbach (Offenbach).
In 1975, Hansa Record Company released the single "Baby Do You Wanna Bump", in the column "artist" the name BONEY M. was indicated. 1990s Australian comedy television series whose main character was named Boney.
"Bump" becomes quite a famous hit in Germany, and also in Holland and Belgium. Single sales reach 500 copies per week. Soon, applications for television and concert performances began to arrive, but since Farian himself was not going to get on stage, he, with the help of the artistic agency Katja Wolf (Katja Wolf), formed the group Boney M., which included model and dancer Maisie Williams (Maizie Williams, 03/25/1951), singers Sheila Bonnick (Sheila Bonnick) and Claudia Barry (Claudja Barry), dancer Mike (Mike). The group was introduced to the press and photographers, and began appearing on television programs and performing in clubs to studio soundtracks.
By the end of 1975, when the happy moment "Baby Do You Wanna Bump" began to subside, Farian decides to take the project seriously and signs new contracts with Maisie Williams (Maizie Williams), Marcia Barrett (Marcia Barrett, 10/14/1945), a singer already in to his credit a solo single, Claudia Barry (Claudja Barry) and disc jockey and dancer Robert (Bobby) Farrell (Bobby Farrell, 10/6/1945). However, Claudia Barry did not believe in the future of the project and left Boney M. at the first opportunity, in the future she successfully performed as a solo artist.
To urgently replace Barry for three performances at the Franks club in Saarbrücken, on the recommendation of Marcia Barrett and Katya Wulf, Liz Mitchell was invited (Liz Mitchell, 12.7.1952), who had already taken part in productions of the musical "Hair" (Hair) in Berlin and Hamburg, She also sang in the famous Les Humphries Singers (1970-73).
Farian saw Liz Mitchell only during the third performance and made an appointment for her in the studio. The next day, Liz recorded demos of "Fever", "Sunny" and "Got A Man On My Mind", songs that had previously been demoed by Marcia Barrett.
Hansa offered Liz Mitchell a one-year contract with an option to renew for another two years.
Farian wanted all members of the group to sing on the album, for Bobby Farrell he planned "No Woman No Cry", the recording was made at the very expensive Union Studios, where such stars as Donna Summer worked, and yet no one liked the result and the song was decided return Liz Mitchell. Farian was more worried about how successfully Bobby opens his lips to the soundtrack than the service with Liz, since by that time Marcia had already recorded demo versions of songs for the first three albums of Boney M ..
The recording of "No Woman No Cry" changed Farian's plans, after listening to the tape, he immediately redistributed the songs between Marcia Barrett and Liz Mitchell. Needless to say, this did not lead to a stronger friendship between Liz and Marcia. During the first finishing recordings, in December 1975, it became clear that the best result is achieved when Liz Mitchell, Marcia Barrett and Frank Farian are working in the studio, who record all the leading and supporting parts. In 1978, Hansa management suggested that Farian change Liz Mitchell to Precious Wilson, as her sound was more suitable for the American market, but this idea was abandoned - Liz Mitchell's sound was already perceived by listeners as the sound of Boney M.
BONEY M. was waiting for a phenomenal happy moment with Farian's songs. In 1976, for the first time, the group performed the composition "Daddy Cool" on the air of the TV show "Musikladen", after some time the sales of the single "Daddy Cool" (07/1976) reached 100,000 copies a week, after a month it topped the German charts (in England, the single sensationally hit in the top ten). "Daddy Cool" was certified gold in nine European countries, and Boney M.'s flagship album "Take The Heat Off Me" topped the charts throughout Europe. Then a remake of Bobby Hebb's song "Sunny" (12/1976) made a double (took 1st place in Germany and the UK).
In May 1977, the single "Ma Baker" (05/1977) was released - the plot of the song was based on real story gangster gang of Mother Barker and her sons, found by Farian in a book about crime in the United States (Ma Barker was changed to Ma Baker for a better sound). The single repeated the happy moment of "Sunny" while reaching #1 in Germany and the UK, selling 8 million copies worldwide - "Ma Baker" became the best-selling disco record of all time.
The second album of Boney M. "Love For Sale" was released in the summer of 1977, in addition to the singles "Ma Baker" and "Belfast" (1 in Germany and 8 in the UK), it contains such famous songs as "Love For Sale", "Plantation Boy" , old gospel "Motherless Child", great cover versions of Creedence hits "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" and Yardburds "Still I'm Sad", emotionally sung by Liz Mitchell.
The next single "Belfast" (10/1977), for which Marcia Barrett recorded a solo, went to number 1 in Germany and 8 in the UK, despite the fact that the single hit the British Top 10, it was banned from broadcast by radio stations in Northern Ireland.
In order to refute reports in the press that Boney M. are using studio soundtracks, the band performed "Belfast" live on a regular Musicladen program. The band held a "Love For Sale" concert tour, featuring a hefty group of musicians and backing vocalists. Despite the fact that critics were skeptical about the concerts of Boney M., the audience received the group's performances very warmly. At the end of 1977, the group collected a hefty crop of awards: Carl Allen Award as the most successful group in the UK, Golden Otto from BRAVO magazine, The Golden Europe, Golden Antenna, Golden Lion and awards from the recording industry in the form of numerous platinum, gold and silver discs .. ..
1978 was THE YEAR of BONEY M. The band cemented their star status with the release of the album "Nightflight To Venus", with the single "Rivers Of Baylon" (05/1978), which became a #1 hit worldwide and spent 4 weeks at #1 in Australia, edging out ABBA, 5 weeks in the UK and 16 (!) weeks in Germany. At the end of the year, Boney M. became third with "Rivers" and 25 with "Rasputin".
One of the most played on British radio was the song "Brown Girl In The Ring", the single reached number two in the UK Charts and stayed on the charts for 40 weeks. The album "Nightflight To Venus" went straight to number 1 in most countries, in the UK it was number one for 4 weeks. The following singles from the album were also successful: "Painter Man" (9/1978) - UK 1 and "Rasputin" (03/1979) - FRG 1, UK 2.
The group performed with 15 musicians at the UK's TOP OF THE POPS TV show, and was received by Queen Elizabeth after performing at the Royal Variety Concert.
At the end of December 1978, up to 175,000 copies of the Christmas single Boney M. "Mary's Boy Child (Oh My Lord)" were sold every day, the British bought 2.2 million copies of the single! The record became 5 in single sales in the UK, almost repeating the "Rivers Of Babylon" - 2.
LP "Nightflight To Venus" with "space" sleeve and unusual names songs became one of the best-selling European records of all time. In the UK it stayed on the charts for 65 weeks! In addition to the singles, there are other brilliant numbers on the album: Neil Young's cover of "Heart Of Gold" or "Never Change A Lover In The Middle Of The Night" with Marcia Barrett's solo.
December 9, 1978, Boney M. began touring in the USSR. They performed in the concert hall "Russia" in Moscow, gave a closed concert in the Kremlin, and also in the Concert Studio of the television center in Ostankino, the program included all the main hits of the group, with the exception of "Rasputin". The group also filmed material on Red Square for the video for the single "Mary" s Boy Child ". For the tour of Boney M., the Melodiya enterprise released the group's disc with a circulation of 100,000 copies.
The arrival of Boney M. caused a stir in Moscow, and yet tickets for the concerts were distributed in advance and were not available for free sale.
Here is what the Soviet press wrote about the performances of Boney M.:
"The technology for making songs according to the recipe of Farian and Bonnie M is technically complex, but musically simple. Any source material is suitable - sentimental ballads, Negro spirituals, rock and roll, moreover, protest songs. Melodies are adjusted to the disco rhythm and flavored" delicious" intoxicating electronics.
Actually Jamaican folk music - reggae, whose performers are sometimes referred to as "Boni M", does not play a significant role in their repertoire. But still, exactly the original rhythm and melody of national Jamaican music turned out to be the fresh blood that revived Frank Farian's schemes. Although, of course, the group is extremely far from the genuine temperament, soulfulness and expressiveness of genuine folk song performers, whether it be Jamaican reggae or American soul. This explains the sort of fact that "Boney M" is not very popular in America and in his close Jamaica. Strictly speaking, the revival of interest in the folk music of the West Indies is not the goal of Farian. His tasks are more pragmatic.
Concert performances are a strong edge of "Boni M", and the ensemble proved this on tour in Moscow. The mobility and inexhaustible energy of the artists is easily amazing. Without a break, stringing one song onto another, they did not take off the strain of the hall for a second. You can’t refuse them professionalism, stage skills
The songs of "Boni M" attract listeners once only with their temperament, perfection of performance, extraordinary coloring of sound. Bright melodic pieces are not uncommon in their repertoire. Compared to ABBA, an ensemble that is in many ways similar in concept to Boni M, the final one is more exotic and emotional. Another undoubted property of "Boni M" music is its easy "comprehensibility". The reaction to such music is unequivocal - a carefree arrangement, rest."
(A. Troitsky magazine "Musical Life")
Boney M. spent the beginning of 1979 on numerous tours, they were, in practice, the first Western pop group to visit Israel, Syria and Jordan. In Jordan, members of the group were poisoned by fish dishes during dinner and King Hussein sent his personal doctor to get them in shape for the upcoming concert. Something similar happened in Bangkok. In Singapore, the concert was interrupted for ten minutes, as the musicians did not have permission to work in this country, the paperwork ended during the show.
In the spring of 1979, Farian recorded with Boney M. new version the traditional song "Polly Wolly Doodle" which was once sung by movie star Shirley Temple, it was the famous "Hooray! Hooray! It" s A Holiday "(04/1979) which again became a hit in Germany (4) and the UK (3).
DISCO fever reached its peak in Europe and the German producers decided to make a disco movie, something like an American Saturday Night Fever with John Travolta. German film producer Hans Jahnisch has begun filming the film DISCO FIEBER (Disco Fever), in which Boney M., teen rock band The Teens, Eruption and La Bionda, played, danced and sang, bringing to life the trivial story of how a girl fell in love with a boy who loves another girl, and the famous bands Eruption and Boney M. are performing in the local disco.
Boney M.'s 1979 tour ended in South Africa, and following its completion, the band began to record a new album. In August 1979, the pilot single "El Lute / Gotta Go Home" is released. One of the first performances of Boney M. with new song took place during the Intervision competition in Sopot, when the group was invited as guests, the concert was broadcast by Soviet television. "El Lute" is a true story young man in Spain during the Franco regime - the single was banned in several countries.
In November 1979, the album "Oceans Of Fantasy" was released, fantastic "underwater" themes were used in the design of its sleeve, the disc immediately took a leading position in the world charts. The new songs were in the style of Boney M., but new soul, funk and rock elements were added to the sound. The drum parts sounded in a new way - their arrangement was done by Michael Cretu. The new album was presented on the TV show Fantastic BONEY M. In December, the next single "I" m Born Again / Bahama Mama "(FRG 7) was released.
"Oceans Of Fantasy" features Eruption lead singer Precious Wilson on "Let It All Be Music" and "Hold On I'm Coming", Marcia Barrett on "No Time To Lose" and co-starring with Liz Mitchell on "Ribbons Of Blue", "Two Of Us" and "No More Chain Gang" It was later revealed that Precious Wilson was offered the position of Maisie Williams in Boney M., but she chose not to solo career. Hansa's constant attempts to make changes in the composition of Boney M. did not improve relations between the members of the group. Marcia Brett once said in an interview: “At times we simply hated a friend of a friend, and yet a happy moment made us stick together. Farian is a fantastic producer, what would we, four singers, without his material mean. In the end it all depended on him as a songwriter, producer, leader and founding member of the band. We had to play by his rules."
The success of the new Boney M. album was ensured by a massive advertising campaign - the group performed in 50 (!) TV shows. After 18 months of hard work, Farian decided to build a break to give the band members a break from live performances and work in the studio.
In the spring of 1980, The Magic Of BONEY M., the band's seminal hits collection, was prepared for release, again selling in the millions. The album features Boney M.'s biggest hits such as "Daddy Cool", "Rivers Of Babylon", "Rasputin", plus "No Women No Cry" and "Still I'm Sad". The album included the new single "I See A Boat On The River / My Friend Jack" (Germany 5).
In September 1980, Boney M.'s fresh single "Children Of Paradise / Gadda Da Vida" appears on sale, and in November "Felicidad (Margerita) / Strange" (FRG 6). Both singles were released without the live support of the group, whose members went about their business: Liz spent time with her family, Bobby and Marcia worked on solo projects. But all four have confirmed that they will remain members of Boney M. even more so if they give solo singles.
The album "Boonoonoonoos" appeared on the shelves of record stores in October 1981, the two singles "Malaika" and "We Kill The World" did not rise above 12th place in the charts, and the album itself sold significantly worse than the group's previous works.
By Christmas, "Christmas Album" was released in Germany and "Mary's Boy Child - The Christmas Album" in the UK. This album became the basis for several Christmas compilations of the group: "The 20 Greatest Christmas Songs Of The World" 1986, "Happy Christmas "1991 and "The Most Beautiful Christmas Songs Of The World" 1992.
In 1982, Bobby Farrell was replaced far from being a newcomer to show business, Reggie Tsiboe (Reggie Tsiboe, b. author of songs that have become quite popular.
In 1982-83, 3 singles by Boney M. were released: The Carnival Is Over / Going Back West (07/1982), Zion's Daughter / White Christmas (11/1982), Jambo (Hakuna Matata) / African Moon (07/ 1983).
Boney M.'s new service, 10,000 Lightyears, was released in May 1984. It seems that Farian did everything possible to return Boney M. lost positions, but the only one of the best albums of the group disappeared in practice - the public was interested in completely different music
In order to somehow change the current situation, the dance singles "Kalimba De Luna" (08/1984) and "Happy Song" (10/1984) (under the name "Boney M - with Bobby Farrell and The School Rebels"), followed by the spooky compilation "Kalimba De Luna" (11/1984), which is a hodgepodge of singles and songs from albums released in the 80s.
In 1985, the recording of the album "Eye Dance" began, Bobby Farrell returned to the group, members of another Farian project, the La Mama group, were also involved in the work on the album. Arrangements of all compositions were made in the Hi Energy style with a rather hard computer sound. The end result was very vaguely reminiscent of Boney M. sample of the 70s and even the early 80s. The album, released at the end of the year, was not a success with the listeners, despite the fact that it included the singles "My Cherie Amour" (05/1985) and "Young, Free And Single" (09/1985).
Boney M. made his final appearance on the charts with "The Best Of 10 Years", which peaked at number 35 on the UK charts in 1986.
In 1988, Farian still gathers a group to record two parts of the Greatest Hits Of All Times remix collection.
By that time, relations in the group had escalated to such an extent that Liz Mitchell refused to participate in the tour and came only for recordings on television. At the same time, she was preparing a paramount solo album. It was tantamount to leaving the group. Mitchell was accused of using the name Boney M. to advertise her solo project. Marcia, Bobby and Maisie were able to get Liz Mitchell banned from performing with her solo single on TV shows, they also tried to get the legal rights to the name "Boney M.".
Farian was outraged by what was happening, he took the side of Liz.
In early 1989, Farian recorded with Liz, Reggie Ciboe and two girls Patty (Patty Onywenju) and Sharon (Sharon Stevens) the single "Stories" (03/1989), the one that was released under the name Boney M. feat. Liz Mitchell.
The rest of Boney M., along with Mitchell's replacement Madeline Davis, formerly Boney M.'s backing vocalist and member of La Mama, recorded and released the single "Everybody Wants To Dance Like Josephine Baker / Custer Jammin" ( 11.1989) This was the last joint service of the members of the original line-up of the group.
Since 1992, Frank Farian has been constantly releasing remixes of Boney M. songs that have been successful in European countries. "Boney M Megamix" (1992) reached number 7 in the UK charts, at the end of 1992 the single "Christmas Megamix" and the album "The Most Beautiful Christmas Songs Of The World" were European bestsellers. The two compilations "Gold" (1992) and "More Gold" (1994) were well received in Germany and Europe. "More Gold" published 4 new songs - "Papa Chico", "Time To Remember", "Da La De La", "Lady Godiva", recorded by Liz Mitchell, and a remix of "Ma Baker - Remix "93".
Following the success of the "Gold" compilations, BMG reissued all Boney M. albums on CD in 1994: "Take The Heat Off Me", "Love For Sale", "Nightflight To Venus", "Oceans Of Fantsay", "Boonoonoonoos", "10,000 Lightyears", "Kalimba De Luna" and "Eye Dance".
In 1999, DJ Sash received permission from Frank Farian to remix "Ma Baker", the one that laid the foundation for a new remix album "20th Century Hits", released by a team led by Farian under the name Boney M 2000 in November 1999.
In 2000, the collection "25 Jaar Na Daddy Cool" was released on BMG Nederland, in the same year Farian prepared the collection Boney M. - "Their Most Beautiful Ballads".
Since 1997, three compositions have performed under the name Boney M.: Liz Mitchell, who has permission from Frank Farian to use the name Boney M., and the group of Bobby Farrell and Maisie Williams. Marcia Barrett performs as a solo artist.
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translation www.website
Night flight to Venus
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard the Boney M. This is the first passenger flight to Venus.
Countdown: 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 - ignition - start!!!
Night flight to Venus. Path in unknown space. Night flight to Venus is our new goal
Ladies and gentlemen, the launch was successful on the first flight to Venus. Travel time will be 8 hours. We will be flying at 2183 miles per second. That is, seven and a half million kilometers per hour. The distance from Earth to Venus is sixty million miles.
On the left you can see the Lunar Mountains. And right in the center under a huge plastic dome - Luna City. There are huge gold and diamond deposits here, the city is developing rapidly.
As for Venus, it took nearly ninety years for the planet to cool from 500 degrees to a comfortable 75 degrees Fahrenheit. And turn the atmosphere into habitable Earthlings.
Night flight to Venus. Path in unknown space. Night flight to Venus is our new goal
Night flight to Venus All systems are normal. Night flight to Venus The sky shone.
"Captain - unidentified object in 8 hours of flight - 2 million km." Prepare for a dangerous maneuver. "The object has begun to approach at the speed of light - we have another eight seconds."
"The object is closer - we have five more seconds." - Alter course four and six tenths of a degree. "Captain, order completed."
(It was a Meteor, ladies and gentlemen, it passed us. Well, you see, even in space, the movement is getting more intense).
Ladies and gentlemen, we'll be landing on Venus in a few minutes, Press the button on the left side, the safety mechanism will do the rest, We hope you enjoyed the world's first flight to Venus, and have a good time.