The record label Hansa also continues their tradition of putting the wrong track times on the label. 'Ma Baker' is said to last 4 minutes and 10 seconds (and actually lasts for 4 minutes and 33 seconds) and 'Baby do you wanna bump' is listed as 6 minutes and 10 seconds, but in reality adds 43 more seconds. Basically you get more - which is always good, of course.
My collection: 7" single no. 6931
Found: Easter market, Den Haag, 9 April 2023
Tracks: 'Ma Baker' / 'Baby do you wanna bump'
Collecting Boney M singles has become a very amusing pastime for me. The original singles from the Seventies are all in my collection, but in the second half of the Eighties an endless stream of remixes was apparently released on single. I have already found a couple of these (and you can see them on this blog here), but yet another one turned up.
Bobby Farrell died last month, legendary dancer of Boney M, who also lipsynched so well to the words that were in actual fact sung by producer Frank Farian. I didn't write an entry about Boney M at the time since all my Boney M singles were already up on this blog. But I've found a new single to write about.
Boney M officially disbanded after the commercially unsuccessful and ininspired album 'Eye dance' (1985). From that point, several different versions of the group were formed. The classic line-up reformed in 1988 for the album 'Greatest hits of all times - remix 88', but this reunion didn't last very long: within the year Liz Mitchell left the group, to be replaced by Madeleine Davis.
With Bobby Farrell out of the line-up of Boney M and new male singer Reggie Tsiboe in, the group was facing difficult times. With already three singles landing outside of the top 40 in Germany, 'Somewhere in the world' was the fourth attempt at having more success - but another failure.
By the end of 1981, Boney M was in a little trouble. They'd recorded the album 'Boonoonoonoos', originally scheduled for release in November 1980, but released almost a year later because of the recording sessions dragging on. Boney M's 'Christmas album' was released almost at the same time in November 1981. By that time, male member Bobby Farrell was fired from the group due to his unreliable working discipline.
The height of Boney M's success was gone, vanished by the end of the Eighties. Still, someone thought it would be a good idea to release a 'Summer Megamix', consisting of their biggest summer hits: 'Sunny', 'Ma baker', 'Hooray! Hooray! It's a holi-holiday', 'Gotta go home' and 'Kalimba de luna'. The megamix was made by Michael Newman and Charles Key B, together with Pete Hammond from Pete Waterman Limited.
When Abba had a comeback of sorts with the 'Abba Gold' compilations in the early Nineties, other acts followed suit. 'Boney M Gold' was released in 1992, and this single was released to promote the compilation. It was a megamix of five big Boney M hits: 'Rivers of Babylon', 'Sunny', 'Ma Baker', 'Daddy Cool' and 'Rasputin'.
The word 'ill-advised' comes to mind whenever I hear this song. Several ill-advised things happened with this single. First of all, Boney M sang a song about nuclear weapons, which is a very serious subject and not necessarily compatible with their variety of carefree dance music. Then there's the last two minutes of this song, performed with a children's choir. Much too saccharine. And then there was the unfortunate dismissal of Bobby Farrell, rendering the band unable to promote the single.
'Sunny' was originally written and performed by Bobby Hebb in 1966. It was covered by Boney M in 1976, and released as a single from their debut album 'Take the heat off me', following their breakthrough single 'Daddy cool'. Hebb himself released a disco version of the song, also in 1976, and had minor success on Billboard's R&B chart.
Malaika means 'Angel' in Swahili. The song was first recorded by Kenyan musician Fadhili William and his band Jambo Boys in 1960. In 1981, the song was covered by Boney M for their album 'Boonoonoonoos'. The single reached number 13 in the German charts and number 20 in the Dutch Top 40.
'Kalimba de Luna' was originally released as a single by Italian musician Tony Esposito in 1984. It was covered almost instantly by Boney M for the German market. The lead vocals were performed by new group member Reggie Tsiboe, who was originally scheduled to release it as a solo single. The plans were changed, and 'Kalimba de luna' became a new Boney M single, released in the autumn of 1984.
'Rivers of Babylon' is a song written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of The Melodians in 1972. It is based on the Biblical hymn Psalm 137, a hymn expressing the yearnings of the Jewish people in exile following the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 586 BC. The rivers of Babylon are the Euphrates river, its tributaries, and the Chebar river. The song also has words from Psalm 19:14.
Not long after the American band Styx released their single 'Boat on the river', Boney M released 'I see a boat on the river'. It was another big hit for the band, reaching number 7 in the Netherlands. The track appeared on the compilation album 'The magic of Boney M', along with the B-side, 'My friend Jack'. This track was released as an A-side in the UK, but only made number 57 there.
