Boney M. is a legendary disco group from Germany. Formed in 1975 by producer Frank Farian. This happened, one might say, spontaneously. In 1974, Frank, experimenting with the then newly emerging disco style, recorded the single Baby Do You Wanna Bump?. To publish this composition, he needed to come up with a name new group, and he chose “Boney M.” - on the name of the main character of the then fashionable detective film series, and the letter “M.” added for significance. He did not expect that the composition would arouse enormous interest - invitations immediately appeared to perform at concerts and appear on television. Frank realized that he urgently needed to assemble a group, which he did by inviting a Caribbean group.

The final lineup was approved in 1976, and included people from the Caribbean: Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett, Montserrat Maisie Williams and Bobby Farrell. They all went to Western Europe, as teenagers and became professionals there in the artistic environment. The popularity of the quartet “Boney M.” was so great throughout the world (besides the United States of America) that their commercial success was even listed in the Guinness Book of Records. And such songs of the group as “Sunny”, “Rasputin”, “Ma Baker” (translations of the songs can be read below) became immortal disco hits. But, in the early 80s, Bobby had a conflict with Farian due to the fact that he gave him too small a role in the group. And in 1981 Farrell left the team. Bobby replaced Reggie Cibo. However, the public was extremely unhappy with the absence of Farrell, who has incredible charisma. And Frank was forced to ask Bobby to return in 1984. But already in 1986, Frank Farian announced the cessation of the group’s activities. However, until 1989 the team in in full force reunited from time to time to perform at concerts in support of the release of remixes of Boney M songs.

The main owner of the rights to the group was Frank Farian, and since 1989 concert activities under the pseudonym “Boney M.”, only Liz Mitchell could participate. Other former members of the group (excluding Reggie Tsibo) challenged this decision in court and were given the opportunity to perform as a Boney M. show with the obligatory addition own name(each member organized a solo project after leaving the group). Original name"Boney M." it remained at the disposal of the band’s founder and producer Frank Farian. In 2006, for the band's thirtieth anniversary, Frank and Mitchell recorded a disc that included one new composition. The album became number 1 in many countries around the world. Over the next 10 years, permanent producer Boney M., together with Liz Mitchell, released remix albums almost every year and took the highest places in the world charts. And they are not going to stop, given that the fame of Boney M. seems to be imperishable.

The group was created by the singer and music producer Franz Reuter, who later took the pseudonym Frank Farian.

In the early 1960s. the young vocalist gathered around him a whole group of black music enthusiasts. Experimenting with fashionable style disco at the end of 1974, Farian recorded the song Baby Do You Wanna Bumb under the pseudonym Zambie. Farian recorded the song himself, using his own voice and the voices of the staff vocalists at Europa Sound Studios in Offenbach. In 1975, the Hansa Record Company released a single with the name Boney M in the “artist” column.

Baby Do You Wanna Bumb becomes a fairly famous hit in Germany, as well as in Holland and Belgium. Sales of the single reached 500 copies per week. Soon applications for television and concert performances began to arrive, but since Farian himself did not intend to go on stage, he, with the help of an artistic agency, formed the group Boney M.

Farian got the idea for the name of the group after he watched one of the episodes of the popular in Germany in the early 1970s. comedy Australian television series, whose main character was named Boney.

The first line-up of Boney M included Maizie Williams, whose family once emigrated from the Caribbean island of Montserrat, first to London (where Maizie became a model and even won the title “Miss Black Beauty”), and then to Germany, singer Sheila Bonnick ( Sheila Bonnick and Claudja Barry, dancer Mike. These people served primarily as dance extras and sang along with Farian in the background. Claudia Barry was soon replaced by Liz Mitchell, Maisie's friend, whose strong voice became the band's signature.

The final lineup was formed by 1976, when it included vocalists Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett, dancer Maisie Williams and dancer Bobby Farrell.

Boney M had phenomenal success with Farian's songs. In 1976, the group first performed the song "Daddy Cool" on the TV show "Musikladen", after some time, sales of the single "Daddy Cool" reached 100 thousand copies per week, a month later it topped the German charts (in England the single sensationally hit the top ten).

"Daddy Cool" certified gold in nine European countries, and Boney M.'s first album "Take The Heat Off Me" took leading positions in the charts throughout Europe. The remake of Bobby Hebb's "Sunny" reached number one in Germany and the UK.

In 1977, the same success was repeated with the single "Ma Baker". The singles that followed were “Rivers Of Babylon/Brown Girl In The Ring”, “Rasputin”, “Belfast”, “Mary’s Boy Child”, “Painter Man”, “Hooray! Hooray! It's A Holi-Holiday, along with their albums, did not leave the top ten in most European countries for a long time.

In 1978, Boney M became the first Western group to tour in the USSR. On December 9, 1978, the group arrived in Moscow, where they gave 10 sold-out concerts. A video clip was shot about the group on Red Square.

In 1982, Bobby Farrell was replaced by Reggie Tsiboe from Ghana, who distinguished himself as talented producer and the author of songs that have become quite popular. In 1985, Farrell returned to the group.

At the beginning of 1986, Farian announced the end of the existence of Boney M. On January 16, the group gave a farewell show on the ZDF television channel in the “classic” line-up. However, until 1989, the group periodically gathered in different lineups for concerts and recording remixes of their classics. The single "Everybody Wants To Dance Like Josephine Baker / Custer Jammin" (November 1989) was the last working together members of the original band.

Since 1992, Frank Farian regularly releases remixes of Boney M songs, which are successful in European countries.

Since 1997, three groups have performed under the name Boney M: Liz Mitchell, who has permission from Frank Farian to use the name Boney M, as well as the group of Bobby Farrell and Maisie Williams. Marcia Barrett performs as a solo artist.

The team entered the Guinness Book of Records as having sold the largest number of singles. According to some estimates, legal sales of Boney M's albums and singles have exceeded 200 million copies, while the number of illegal copies released worldwide is estimated at at least another 300 million.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

translation www.site

Night flight to Venus

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard the starship 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. A path in uncharted 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.

To the left you can see the Moon Mountains. And right in the center under a huge plastic dome is Luna City. There are huge gold and diamond deposits here, the city is developing rapidly.
As for Venus, it took almost ninety years to cool the planet from 500 degrees to a comfortable 75 degrees Fahrenheit. And turn the atmosphere suitable for life for Earthlings.

Night flight to Venus. A 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 was glowing.

"Captain - undefined object in an 8-hour flight - 2 million km." Prepare for a dangerous maneuver. "The object began to approach at the speed of light - we have another eight seconds."

"The object is closer - we have five more seconds." - Change course by four point six degrees. "Captain, the order has been carried out."

(It was Meteor, ladies and gentlemen, it passed us by. Well, you see, even in space the traffic is getting more intense).
Ladies and gentlemen, in a few minutes we will land on Venus, Press the button on the left side, the safety mechanism will do the rest, We hope you enjoy the world's first flight to Venus, have a good time.

Night flight to Venus

Start

The history of the Boney M. group began in the now distant year 1974, when the young and incredibly enterprising German musician Frank Farian decided to try himself in a style that was new to Europe - by that time already very popular in American clubs. He recorded a test single: “Baby Do You Wanna Bump”, which he himself performed in a low, insinuating voice, which later became the “calling card” of the group...

By the early 70s, Farian already had two solo albums to his name (and probably ambitions as a singer and musician), and such an “experimental” song could have been a risk for his solo career. Among the German pop music of that time, which was still dominated by pop-rock, the composition stood out sharply due to its unusual rhythm and vocal performance. No one knew (and could not know) how the audience would react to a song where the same phrase is repeated for almost seven minutes! And Farian did not dare to release it under his own name, taking the funny nickname “Zambi”. Thus, his reputation as a producer remained out of danger, while the success of the single could bring a good profit!

The song was recorded at Europa Sound Studios in Offenbach. The record was released in 1975 under the name of the non-existent group Boney M. On the cover of the disc, as a sign of quality, there was an American flag!

Who is Boney M.?

An attentive reader will ask: why Boney M.? What was Farian thinking when he chose this name? Journalists have not tired of asking Frank this question for four decades now.

The answer is simple, although not obvious. At that time, the Australian detective series “Boney” was running on German silver screens, the main character of which was an inspector (aka “Bony”) who worked undercover. Farian himself attributed the letter M to Boni - Bonaparte - apparently “for balance.” The name turned out to be very successful, and outlived its original for a long time! Forty years later, the film has long been deservedly forgotten, and the group Boney M. has entered the treasury of world pop music!

From the very beginning, the Boney M. group was conceived as a quartet of black (as befits a decent disco group!) musicians. Without further ado, Frank turned to the casting agency of Katya Wolf (it was not so easy to find black vocalists in Germany in the 70s!), which helped select the first line-up.

Team selection

The first lineup included: Maisie Williams with her friend Sheila Bonnick, a certain Natalie and a certain Mike. However, the group did not last long in this form - Natalie was replaced by a professional vocalist.

Claudia Barry

Claudja Barry was born in Jamaica in 1952. Singer and actress, participant in the European versions of the musicals “Hair” and “Catch My Soul”.

When she was only six, her family immigrated to Canada, settling in the town of Scarborough. After graduating from high school, Claudia moved to New York, where she landed a role in the musical Hair. The play toured Europe for a long time, and in the spring of 1975, Claudia ended up in West Germany, where she signed a contract with the Hot Foot label to record the single “ Reggae Bump" At the same time, Claudia met Frank Farian, who invited her to become a member of the Boney M group.

However, she soon became bored with working in a group where she only had to open her mouth in time to the soundtrack, and in 1976 Claudia left the group forever. After leaving Boney M. Claudia continued her solo career and was very successful! Her song " Dancin' Fever" hit number 72 on Billboard, and " Boogie Woogie Dancin' Shoes"In 1979, it took 37th place on the American R&B hit parade and 56th place on the pop chart, which, you see, is very good even by today's standards!

In 1985, Claudia made her debut as an actress in the film “Rappin” by Mario Van Pibbles. Today, Claudia Barry has 9 solo albums. The singer remains one of the recognized stars of American classic disco of the 70s.

For those who believe that by leaving Boney M. Claudia made “the worst mistake in her life,” we hasten to remind you that neither Liz Mitchell, nor Marcia Barrett, nor Bobby Farrell (not to mention Maisie Williams) has a full-fledged Solo career never worked out, while Claudia Barry “lit up” quite brightly in 70s , 80s And 90s what to eat many examples !

But three days before the important performance, Claudia suddenly leaves, and Sheila Bonnick leaves after her, declaring that she deserves more (which did not stop her from declaring herself many years later). former member). So very quickly, only Maisie Williams remained from the original cast.

However, the singles continued to sell out, and Frank decided to recruit new extras. Claudia's place was taken by Liz Mitchell, a participant in the Hamburg musical "Hair". Frank liked her performance so much that he invited her to Hansa studio, where a one-year contract was signed. Why so few? – the attentive reader will ask. Because back then no one could have imagined what a great future awaited the group! It was about a project of one song, “Baby Do You Wanna Bump,” which was supposed to completely exhaust itself within a year.

More about "Baby Do You Wanna Bump"

• "Bump" - popular dance disco era, most common in the US and UK, first performed by musician Johnny Spruce. During the dance, you are supposed to make rhythmic hip thrusts to every beat of the music. IN pair dance this movement can be more intimate when two people hit each other's hips lightly (or harder). The most famous compositions: « Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)"Parliament Funkadelic (USA) and " Nutbush City Limits» Ike & Tina Turner (UK).
• The song "Baby Do You Wanna Bump" is a cover of the Jamaican song " Al Capone» Prince Buster. In the original, you can catch the main theme of the melody, but Frank largely reworked it and changed the lyrics;
• When recording the song, Frank sang not only in a low, insinuating voice, but also in falsetto. The album version of "Take The Heat Off Me" featured Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett over his voice;
• All female parts of the song “Baby Do You Wanna Bump” feature the voice of Sheila Bonnick;
• The song was not included on the American, British, Brazilian and Japanese versions of the Take The Heat Off Me album, not because its sound was outdated (as some authors write), but because the rights to release it in the UK belonged to Creole Records, which The very first single was released. In 1978, the studio re-released this single, increasing the playing time to 12 minutes.

By 1976, a permanent composition was finally formed. It included:

Elizabeth Rebecca Mitchell was born on July 12, 1952 in Clarendon, Jamaica. In 1963 she moved to London with her family. In the late 60s, replacing Donna Summer in the musical Hair, she moved to Berlin. Participant German group « The Les Humphries Singers, in which she began an affair with Malcolm Magharon. After leaving the group together, they founded " Malcolm Locks"and even released the album "Caribbean Rocks", which, however, was not successful.

Soon after returning to England, Liz received an invitation to work in the group Boney M. The singer was recommended to Fariana by Maricia Barrett, whom Liz met a couple of months before she decided to return home. During this time, Marcia joined the Boney M group, and Claudia left it, and now a replacement was urgently needed.

Initially, Liz was supposed to join the group for only three days so that the performance would not be disrupted. Who could have known that she would soon become the main soloist, and even one of the most permanent participants?

Born in Jamaica, in the parish of St. Catherine on October 14, 1948. Before starting work in the group, Boni M. already had experience performing in nightclubs, and also worked in several projects of the Hansa studio as a dancer and even a solo single “Could Be Love” (1971). Although while working in the group the main parts belonged to Liz Mitchell, Marcia complemented her perfectly, which made Boney M.’s sound more harmonious.

Maisie Ursula Williams

Maisie Ursula Williams was born on March 25, 1951 on the island of Montserrat in the West Indies, a dancer and model, and was awarded the title of Miss British Commonwealth in 1971. Before joining the group, she performed in restaurants and clubs with her friend Sheila Bonnick. Unlike the other girls, she was a completely "silent" member, although she sang along with them during live performances.

Maisie received an invitation to work in the group right in the restaurant, where she performed with Sheila Bonnick. Here's how she remembers this episode:

“Everything happened like in a movie! My friend and I were sitting in a restaurant and eating, when suddenly this lady from Hansa Records came up to us. She didn’t speak English, but she had a translator with her who explained that the lady was recruiting a group for Frank Farian, the one who recorded the record... And this Frank was looking for dancers, dance group who would dance to this song. I looked at the couple and thought: “Well, well, let’s pour it in, I don’t fall for such things!”

Robert Alfonso Farrell was born on the island of Aruba on October 6, 1949, a former sailor, dancer, DJ, an inexhaustible showman who always knew how to put on a great show! IN different time supported the performances of various Farian groups.

Bobby joined the group Boney M. with light hand Maisie Williams, who told Farian about him. Having gone to Hanover with casting agent Katya Wolf, Frank saw with his own eyes what kind of somersaults Bobby does on stage, and was simply delighted! Since then, Bobby has become an important part of the Boney M. show!

“He was a very sociable, lively and energetic person who knew how to create funny situations... I still remember our first appearance in MusikLaden. Bobby experienced enormous fear before going on stage. But fate smiled on us, and he literally captivated the audience!”

(Frank Farian)

Daddy Cool

The next composition was also released without any particular claim to success. Her goal was to extend the life of the project. It was called... “Daddy Cool”! Needless to say, Frank's expectations were so pessimistic!

Much of it was innovative: an introduction consisting only of drums, complemented by a ticking sound, monotonously repeated phrases, but most importantly, the words of the song - like nursery rhyme, completely devoid of any hint of meaning!

"Daddy Cool" instantly becomes a No. 1 hit at home and soars to No. 6 in the UK chart. But that is not all! Having flown over the ocean, “Daddy” ends up in 65th place American chart Billboard Hot 100 and #20 Canadian chart! Otherwise, how can such a “breakthrough” fast start can't be named!

“I basically foresaw the success of “Daddy,” but everything that followed was an unexpected surprise for me,” Frank will say in an interview. Indeed, it was with this single that the real ascent of Boney M began!

Sunny

The third hit is a cover of Bobby Hebb's song " Sunny"("Sunny"), performed by Boney M., finds a rebirth, replacing the bard sound with a disco dance rhythm.

What is this song about? According to Bobby Hebb himself, at the moment when he wrote it, all he wanted was “just to wait for happier times or at least a sunny day, because then times were not the best.” In November 1963, Hebb was shocked by two events at once: the death of John F. Kennedy and the murder of his own brother, stabbed to death outside a nightclub.

The song was written as the direct opposite of Johnny Bragg's " Just Walkin" in the Rain" Its release brought Habb such success that in 1966 he took part in a joint tour with The Beatles themselves!

By Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) the song is ranked 25th on the "Top 100 songs of the century".

No Woman No Cry

The flip side of the single "Daddy Cool" featured a cover of Bob Marley's " No Woman No Cry" Authors of articles and music critics They really like to translate its name literally: “No women - no crying.” This is partly the fault of the group itself, which placed the title of the song in the form “No Wom e n No Cry" on the cover of the record!

Well, maybe they are right somewhere, but the true meaning of the song is completely different: the hero of the song is a wandering minstrel who assures his crying woman that he will definitely return: “no woman, don’t cry”!

And again Farian sang behind the scenes. No, at first he did not at all intend to usurp the place of the lead singer, and he hired Bobby Farrell precisely as a singing musician (and not just a dancing one). And this is exactly the song Bobby should have sung. However, none of Frank's experiments with Farrell's voice led to anything good. He did not fit into the sound of Boney M. at all, and, in the end, Frank finally decided that only he, Liz, and less often Marcia would sing. And Bobby and Maisie will only open their mouths.

This is how the Boney M. group became one of the first studio projects in Europe!

Take The Heat Off Me

In June 1976, the group's first album, Take The Heat Off Me, was released. The public greeted him rather restrainedly, but when in September the group performed the song on a music TV show MusicLaden, Frank was able to appreciate for the first time magical power television! Demand exceeded all expectations - more than 100 thousand records were sold in one week!

Success grew as snowball! The largest music companies acquired licenses to publish Boney M. The circulation of discs and cassettes was already in the millions!

In England, the first album was released by the major label Atlantic Records, replacing the track “Baby Do You Wanna Bump” with a 6-minute “ Help! Help!", which she previously performed Gilla.

Apparently, at first Frank tried to adapt American disco, and the first album contains the tracks: “ Take The Heat Off Me », « Lovin' Or Leavin' », « Fever”, which strongly resemble the work of overseas disco stars of that time like Gloria Gaynor. But there are other songs in it - from their first sounds you can unmistakably recognize the characteristic “warm” sound of Boney M.!

« Got a Man On My Mind », « Sunny », « No Woman, No Cry"were distinguished by a more playful combination of bass and string parts and sounded so warmly, as if it was not disco at all, but music from some Jamaica or the Cayman Islands!

Constant experiments with instruments and a passion for exotic melodies gradually lead Frank away from the canonical American disco. His music acquires some special charm, which will later develop into form style Boney M.

Photo of the BONEY M team Maisie Williams:

Photo of the BONEY M team Marcia Barrett (Marcia Barrett):

Boney M - invite foreign group Boni M or order for a celebration, as well as organizing solo concerts of the group Boni M

group BONI M - personal page on the official website of an agent in Russia and the CIS countries for organizing concerts and performances (Official Booking).

History of the group Boney M (THE WHOLE TRUTH about the creation of the group!) >>>>>

The group BONEY M. (Boney Em) is a German disco group created in 1975 by music producer Frank Farian.

Boney M (Boney Em) - we all, to one degree or another, tend to dream about the future and analyze the past, care about progress and fall into a nostalgic mood, remembering good times of their youth (what they wore, what they believed, what they listened to, and what they danced to). It is enough just to remember the name of the famous German producer Frank Farian, who for the last 25 years has been steadily supplying the European dance scene with super popular groups and performers, among which the familiar name - BONEY M - does not fade.
European listeners of the second half of the 70s and early 80s doted on them in the group Boni M. The composition of the group changed, but despite this, about 40 million discs and more than 65 million singles were sold.
BONEY M have achieved phenomenal success in countries of Eastern Europe and especially in the USSR, where they were one of the first Western artists to visit. The group performed on Red Square and even filmed a video clip there. Over their long career, Boni M are legends and pioneers of Eurodisco.
They topped the single charts in many European countries eight times, placed their albums at the highest level of popularity three times and last decade literally inundated us with various collections of their best songs, Christmas albums, remixes and megamixes.
BONEY M continue to live in four current compositions- however, only the one headed by Liz Mitchell is officially recognized - touring with solo concerts and filming for television.
It’s hard to believe that the idea of ​​putting together such a team arose in Farian’s head exactly a quarter of a century ago. Son of a tannery worker who died in World War II and a soloist church choir, Franz Reuter, who later took the pseudonym Frank Farian, was born on July 18, 1942 and grew up in the West German city of Saarbrücken, bordering France, next to dozens of American military bases.
Farian switched to the production front in the 70s. The pro-American ballad style, in which he was listed as an expert on the famous Hansa-Ariola label, finally began to bear fruit, and two of his songs, “Dana My Love” (1972) and especially “Rocky” (1976), which topped the national charts in Western Europe Germany, entered the golden fund of German English-language pop music.
Then there was a sharp transition to more fashionable disco, and it was the turn of grandiose projects, the first of which was called BONEY M.
At first, Farian had no large-scale plans. He was driven by the usual calculations of a young producer who had just written a cute song (“Baby Do Ya Wanna Bump?”), released it as a single with his own vocals, and needed to consolidate his success on tour and television. Frank recruited a group of black session musicians, immigrants from the Caribbean, most of whom sang well, and in just five years produced a winning series of 100% dance hits with simple English lyrics and catchy disco rhythms.

The first line-up of BONEY M included: Maizie Williams, whose family once emigrated from their native Caribbean island of Montserrat, first to London (where Maizie became a model and even won the title “Miss Black Beauty”), and then to Germany; Sheila Bonnick; a girl named Natalie and an African Mike. Then they added Claudja Barry, who was soon replaced by Jamaican girl Liz Mitchell, and friend Maisy, her strong voice became the hallmark of the group. Liz always dreamed of becoming a professional singer, and her first success came after starring in the famous English musical "Hair".

Where did Farian get such a strange name for the group - it’s all very simple, a big fan of television series really liked the Australian crime soap about a brave, resourceful policeman named Bonnie. The letter "M" completed the picture phonetically, and the name was ready for use.

BONEY M had phenomenal success with Farian's songs. When, in July 1976, the second line-up of the group, which is now commonly called the “original”, namely: Liz Mitchell, Maisy Williams, another emigrant from Jamaica, Marcia Barrett, and a native of the Caribbean island of Aruba, Bobby Farrell, who for some time worked unsuccessfully as a dancer and DJ in one of the Dutch clubs, for the first time performed the song “Daddy Cool” on the TV show “Musikladen”, a month later it topped the German charts (in England it sensationally hit the top ten), and after hits poured out like from a cornucopia.

In 1986, the group officially disbanded for very vague mysterious reasons, but almost every year they gathered in different lineups.
A website for organizing concerts and ordering corporate performances of the Boni M group. The official website of the vipartist, where you can familiarize yourself with the biography, and using the contact numbers indicated on the site, you can invite the Boni M group with a concert for a holiday or order a performance by the Boni M group for an event. Boni M's website contains photo and video information.
Personal page of the group Boney M on the official website of the agent in Russia and the CIS countries for organizing concerts and performances (Official Booking Boney M).