Contrary to
what many people thought, Boney M. a Euro-Caribbean vocal group was a creation
of Frank Farian, a German record producer in 1976. None of the group members
knew themselves prior to the formation. 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, a
performing artist from Aruba.
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| BONEY M. |
Frank Farian
decided to use Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett voice along with his own
studio-enhanced voice to create the Boney M. sound. Maizie Williams and Bobby
Farrell were not allowed to sing in the studio. They only perform in live
shows. This has been the standard for the group which achieved popularity
during the disco era of the late 1970s. Since the 1980s, various line-ups of
the band have performed with different personnel.
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| BONEY M. ON STAGE |
Boney M. has
sold around 100 million records worldwide and is known for international hits
such as "Daddy Cool", "Ma Baker", "Sunny", "Rasputin",
"Mary’s Boy Child – O My Lord" and "Rivers of Babylon".
Boney M. recorded a total of eight albums: Take the Heat off Me (1976); Love for Sale
(1977); Nightflight to Venus (1978); Oceans of Fantasy (1979); Boonoonoonoos
(1981); Christmas Album (1981); Ten Thousand Lightyears (1984); Eye Dance
(1985).
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| BONEY M. |
Boney M. started to disintegrate from 1985 due to internal squabbles and disagreements
and from this point, different versions of the group were formed by members,
some with cooperation of the creator and founder, Frank Farian, others without
him, for example by independently obtaining the rights to use the Boney M. name
in a different country. One version began touring in the first half of 1987
with Marilyn Scharbaai (Carrilho) taking Liz Mitchell's place. Mitchell
returned for a second leg of the tour late 1987, and Marcia Barrett soon left
the band. At the same time, Bobby Farrell had set up a deal for a new Boney M. album to be recorded without Frank Farian in Belgium.
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| BONEY M. ON STAGE |
However, in
October 1988, the classic Boney M. line-up reunited without producer Frank
Farian for the album “Greatest Hits of All Times – Remix ’88”, but tensions ran
high between the members, and Liz Mitchell left in the spring of 1989 to be
replaced by Madeleine Davis. While Mitchell promoted her solo album, the group
recorded the single “Everybody Wants to Dance Like Josephine Baker”, without Frank
Farian's knowledge or approval. Threatened with legal action by the producer
over the use of the Boney M. name, the single was subsequently withdrawn and
Farian issued "Stories" with his own new Boney M. line-up featuring
Liz Mitchell, Reggie Tsiboe and two new members, Sharon Stevens and Patty
Onoyewenjo. Liz Mitchell continued to tour the world with her line-up of Boney
M., which is the only line-up officially supported by Frank Farian.
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| BONEY M. |
Furthermore,
the court ruling of 1990 did not help matters in the attempt for another unification
of the original members of the group. The court ruling stated that all the
original four members of the group are entitled to perform their own Boney M. shows. Bobby Farrell and Liz Mitchell have released solo albums containing
their own re-recordings of Boney M.'s classic hits. Maizie Williams released her
first solo album in 2006 and her own single version of Boney M.'s
"Sunny". Marcia Barrett has released three solo albums also.
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| BONEY M. ON STAGE |
On a sad
note, Bobby Farrell died at the age of 61 from heart failure on 30 December
2010. His agent said Farrell was complaining of breathing problems after
performing with his band the evening before. Farrell lived in Amsterdam until
his death. The singer was found dead in a hotel room in Saint Petersburg,
Russia, where he had been performing. With his death the original four members
of Boney M. will never stage a comeback again!
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