Both singles from the album reached no.1 in Germany and the UK Top 10.ġ978 was their biggest year as 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. Love for Sale was certified Gold a year after its release in the UK. The group embarked on their first major concert tours with a live band of musicians called ‘The Black Beauty Circus’ (given their name after Maizie Williams’ first band, ‘Black Beautiful People’). released their second album, Love for Sale, in the year 1977, which contained the hits “Ma Baker” and “Belfast”. Both singles were also Top 10 hits in the UK, which would become one of their biggest markets.īoney M. The group’s popularity had also grown throughout Europe, with “Daddy Cool” reaching no.1 in Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, and Austria. Another single, “Sunny” (a cover of the 1966 Bobby Hebb song) gave the group their second no.1 hit. The song quickly went to no.1 in Germany, with the album following the success of the single. appeared on the live music show on 18 September 1976, after 10 pm and in their daring stage costumes, where they performed the song “Daddy Cool”. The group’s big break came when, at the end of summer 1976, German television producer Michael ‘Mike’ Leckebusch (of Radio Bremen) requested the group for his show Musikladen. However, the group rigorously toured discos, clubs and even country fairs to earn a reputation for themselves. The album’s commercial performance was initially lukewarm. As Maizie Williams’ voice wasn’t considered suitable for recording purposes by Farian, and a try-out with Bobby Farrell performing “No Woman No Cry” didn’t work, Farian decided to use only Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett along with his own studio-enhanced voice to create the Boney M.
It contained tracks that Marcia Barrett had already recorded with Farian, including the title track and “Lovin’ or Leavin’”, both of which were previously recorded in German by another Farian act, Gilla. Take the Heat off Me, Boney M.’s first album, was released in 1976. Singer Marcia Barrett (also from Jamaica) joined the group, who brought in Liz Mitchell, former member of the Les Humphries Singers and Boney M was finalised. Farian found Maizie Williams (originally from Montserrat) who brought in Bobby Farrell, a male exotic dancer from Aruba.
It was then that Farian decided to hire performers to ‘front’ the group for TV performances. Simple.Īfter a slow start, the song became a hit in the Netherlands and Belgium. Nice name, I thought – Boney, Boney, Boney… Boney M. I just caught the credits and it said Boney.
I turned on the TV one day and it was the end of a detective series. When the record was released as a single, it was credited to “Boney M.”, a pseudonym Farian had created for himself after watching the Australian detective show Boney. Farian sang the repeated line “Do you do you wanna bump?” in a deep voice (entirely studio created) as well as performing the high falsetto chorus. In December 1974, German singer-songwriter Frank Farian,real name Franz Reuther,recorded the dance track “Baby Do You Wanna Bump”. Since the 1980s, various line-ups of the band have performed with different personnel. The group was formed in 1976 and achieved popularity during the disco era of the late 1970s. Originally based in West Germany, 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 from Aruba. was a German vocal group created by German record producer Frank Farian.