The group was created by 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 the fashionable disco style in late 1974, Farian recorded the composition Baby Do You Wanna Bumb under the pseudonym Zambie. Farian recorded the song himself, he used his voice and the voices of the regular vocalists of the Europa Sound Studios in Offenbach. In 1975, the Hansa Record Company released a single, under the title "artist" was Boney M.

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

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

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

The final line-up was formed by 1976, when it included vocalists Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett, dancer Misey Williams and dancer Bobby Farrell.

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

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

In 1977, the single "Ma Baker" repeated the same success. 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 of most European countries for a long time.

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

In 1982, Bobby Farrell was replaced by Reggie Tsiboe from Ghana, who proved to be a talented producer and author of songs that became quite popular. In 1985, Farrell returned to the group.

In early 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 a "classic" line-up. However, until 1989, the group periodically gathered in different compositions at concerts and recording remixes of their classics. The single "Everybody Wants To Dance Like Josephine Baker / Custer Jammin" (November 1989) was the last collaboration between the members of the original lineup.

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

Since 1997, three line-ups have performed under the name Boney M: Liz Mitchell, who has permission from Frank Farian to use the name Boney M, as well as a 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, the legal circulation of albums and singles Boney M exceeded 200 million copies, while the number of illegal copies released worldwide is estimated at least another 300 million.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources

Boney M. - a group that became in the late 70s - early 80s one of the most famous disco groups in the world and definitely the most famous in the USSR. During their heyday, Boney M. was called "black ABBA", but in Europe their popularity quickly faded. But on the territory of the former USSR, it is they, and not the Swedish quartet, that still come to mind at the sight of a mirror ball, embroidered vests and flared trousers.

It all started in Offenbach, a small town in capitalist West Germany. Frank Farian, 33-year-old music producer, wrote the rousing song "Baby Do You Wanna Bump?" and released it on a record under the pseudonym Boney M. - after the name of the Australian TV series. It was 1974. The record "shot", and as yet non-existent group began to be torn apart with offers of concerts. Farian had a hard time - after all, the whole Boney M. consisted of his voice reproduced in the studio. However, he quickly put together a temporary team of Jamaican emigrants and Boney M. began her journey to fame.

By 1976, a permanent composition had already formed, however, also from immigrants from the Caribbean. Marcia Barrett and Liz Mitchell were responsible for vocals, Maisie Williams and Bobby Farrell were responsible for dancing and "Jamaican performance". The group recorded several "killer" hits: "Daddy Cool", "Rasputin" and others, and simply blew up the European charts. However, overseas, in the United States, her success has so far been modest.

Boney M. would have remained just another disco group of the “ABBA times”, if not for an unexpected twist of fate that gave them a sure piece of bread right up to the present day - they are incredibly loved in Russia.

By some miracle, the group got behind the "iron curtain" - on January 1, 1977, the whole country met under "Melodies and rhythms of foreign pop music" with Boney M. Soviet citizens, not spoiled by Jamaican rhythms, felt like a village boy who first saw a giraffe in the zoo .

Then the Melodiya company also released a disc with a collection of the group's songs. For some reason, many hits of Boney M. did not get there, however, there was the song “Sunny”, which became the most popular in the USSR for many years. Real battles unfolded for the record in stores, and black marketers cheated 5000% on it.

Further more. Suddenly, Boney M. came to Moscow, and not just arrived, but gave ten concerts there and even filmed a video on Red Square. What it was is unknown. There were rumors that Brezhnev personally became a fan of the group. Of course, the Olympics-80 in Moscow was on the nose, and the concert of world stars was supposed to show the whole world that the USSR is a normal progressive country.
After such Boney M. forever remained in the domestic "cultural code". In 1986, the group broke up. Each member scored their own "Boney M." and began to give concerts without getting out of the copyright squabbles. In Russia, they have always been welcomed with open arms. Many years later, in 2010, it was in Russia, in St. Petersburg, that Bobby Farrell, the face of “the same” Boney M.

As a teenager, Franz fell madly in love with English and American pop music, but according to his own recollections, instead of the Beatles, Sam Cooke, Little Richard and Otis Redding were heard. 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, in which American soldiers who yearned for their homeland often hung out. The public loved him very much, and this charged him with inspiration.

In the early 60s, the young vocalist gathered a whole group of black music enthusiasts around him and, calling themselves Frankie Farian And The Shadows, they quickly became popular in their hometown as the best band that performed covers of Drifters and Otis Redding (usually everyone started with this). 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 business, but also gradually switched to the production front. The ballad pro-American style, in which he was 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 German national hit parade , 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 first of which was called BONEY M.

It all started at the end of 1974, when Farian made a recording under the pseudonym Zambie, absolutely different from everything he had done before, the composition "Baby Do You Wanna Bumb". Farian recorded the song himself, he used his voice 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", with BONEY M. as the artist. Frank Farian came up with the idea for the name of the group after he watched one of the episodes of an Australian comedy television series popular in Germany in the early 70s, the main character of which was called Boney.

"Bump" is becoming quite a famous hit in Germany, as well as 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 go 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 to appear on television programs and perform in clubs to studio soundtracks.

By the end of 1975, when the success of "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), the singer already has in her active solo single, Claudia Barry (Claudja Barry) and disc jockey and dancer Robert (Bobby) Farell (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, later 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, and also sang in the famous ensemble 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 demoed "Fever", "Sunny" and "Got A Man On My Mind", songs that had also 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 a very expensive Union Studios, where such stars as Donna Summer worked, but no one liked the result and decided to give the song to Liz Mitchell . Farian was more worried about how successfully Bobby opens his mouth to the soundtrack than working 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 replace Liz Mitchell with Precious Wilson, as her voice was more suitable for the American market, but this idea was abandoned - Liz Mitchell's voice was already perceived by listeners as the voice of Boney M.

BONEY M. had phenomenal success with Farian's songs. In 1976, the group first performed the song "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, a month later 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 first 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 the real story of the gangster gang of Mother Barker and her sons, found by Farian in a book about crime in the USA (Ma Barker was changed to Ma Baker for a better sound ). The single repeated the success of "Sunny" simultaneously hitting #1 in Germany and the UK, with 8 million copies sold 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" (No. 1 in Germany and No. 8 in the UK), it contains such famous songs as "Love For Sale", "Plantation Boy", vintage 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, became No. 1 in Germany and No. 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 large 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 large harvest 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 No. 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" immediately became number 1 in most countries, in the UK it was at number one for 4 weeks. The following singles from the album were also successful: "Painter Man" (9/1978) - UK No. 1 and "Rasputin" (03/1979) - Germany No. 1, UK No. 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 daily, the British bought 2.2 million copies of the single! The record became No. 5 in single sales in the UK, almost repeating success "Rivers Of Babylon" - No. 2.

The "Nightflight To Venus" LP, with its "cosmic" sleeve and unusual song titles, became one of the best-selling records of all time in Europe. 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, as well as in the Concert Studio of the television center in Ostankino, the program included all the major 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 Boney M. tour, the Melodiya company released the group's disc with a circulation of 100,000 copies.

The arrival of Boney M. caused a stir in Moscow, but 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, even protest songs. Melodies are adjusted to the disco rhythm and flavored with "delicious "intoxicating electronics.

Actually Jamaican folk music - reggae, whose performers are sometimes referred to as "Boney M", does not play a significant role in their repertoire. But still, it was the original rhythm and melody of national Jamaican music that turned out to be the fresh blood that revived Frank Farian's schemes. Although, of course, the group is very far from the genuine temperament, soulfulness and expressiveness of genuine folk song performers, whether it be Jamaican reggae or American soul. This explains the fact that "Boney M" is not very popular in America and in his native 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 Boni M's forte, and the ensemble proved it on tour in Moscow. The mobility and inexhaustible energy of the artists are simply amazing. Without a break, stringing one song onto another, they did not relieve the tension of the hall for a second. You can’t refuse them professionalism, stage skills

The songs of "Boni M" attract listeners primarily with their temperament, perfection of performance, and extraordinary coloring of sound. Bright melodic pieces are not uncommon in their repertoire. Compared to ABBA, an ensemble that is close in concept to Boni M, the latter is more exotic and emotional. Another undoubted quality of "Boni M" music is its easy "comprehensibility". The reaction to such music is unequivocal - a carefree mood, relaxation."

(A. Troitsky magazine "Musical Life")

The beginning of 1979 Boney M. spent on numerous tours, they were practically 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 a work permit in this country, the paperwork ended during the show.

In the spring of 1979, Farian recorded with Boney M. a new version of the traditional song "Polly Wolly Doodle" that movie star Shirley Temple once sang, it was the famous "Hooray! Hooray! It" s A Holiday "(04/1979) which again became a hit in Germany (No. 4) and the UK (No. 3).

DISCO fever reached its peak in Europe and the German producers decided to make a disco movie, something like the American Saturday Night Fever with John Travolta. German film producer Hans Jahnisch has begun filming DISCO FIEBER (Disco Fever), in which Boney M., teen rock band The Teens, Eruption and La Bionda acted, danced and sang, bringing to life the trivial story of a girl falling in love with a boy who loves another a girl, and the famous bands Eruption and Boney M. are performing in the local disco at that time. However, as soon as it became known that Boney M. was filming in the film, it was purchased for display in 80 countries ...

Boney M.'s 1979 tour ended in South Africa, and after it ended, the band began recording 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 a new song took place during the Intervision competition in Sopot, to which the group was invited as guests, the concert was broadcast by Soviet television. "El Lute" is the true story of a 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 "(Germany No. 7) was released.

"Oceans Of Fantasy" featured Eruption frontman Precious Wilson, who contributed solos to "Let It All Be Music" and "Hold On I'm Coming", Marcia Barrett featured on "No Time To Lose" and alongside Liz Mitchell on "Ribbons Of Blue", "Two Of Us" and "No More Chain Gang".It was later revealed that Precious Wilson was offered to take Maisie Williams's place in Boney M., but opted for a solo career. Hansa 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 just hated each other, but success made us stick together. Farian is a fantastic producer, what would we four singers be without his material. Ultimately, everything depended on him as a songwriter, producer, leader and founder of the group. 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 take a break to give the band members a break from live performances and studio work.

In the spring of 1980, the band's first collection of hits, The Magic Of BONEY M., was prepared for release, which again sold millions of copies. The album features major Boney M. hits such as "Daddy Cool", "Rivers Of Babylon", "Rasputin" as well as "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 No. 5).

In September 1980, the new single Boney M. "Children Of Paradise / Gadda Da Vida" appears on sale and in November "Felicidad (Margerita) / Strange" (FRG No. 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 if they release solo singles.

The album "Boonoonoonoos" appeared on the shelves of music 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 much 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 by a far from newcomer to show business Reggie Tsiboe (Reggie Tsiboe, born in 1950) from Ghana, who performed in "Hair" and even in "Jesus Christ Superstar" and proved himself as a talented producer and author songs that have become quite popular.

In 1982-83, 3 Boney M. singles 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).

The new work of Boney M., the album "10 000 Lightyears" was released in May 1984. It seems that Farian did everything possible to return Boney M. lost ground, but one of the group's best albums almost failed - the public was interested in completely different music ...

In order to somehow change the current situation, dance singles "Kalimba De Luna" (08/1984) and "Happy Song" (10/1984) (under the name "Boney M - with Bobby Farrell and The School Rebels") are urgently recorded. , and then released the creepy compilation "Kalimba De Luna" (11/1984), which is a mixture 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, and 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 Hi Energy style with rather hard computer sound. The end result was very vaguely reminiscent of Boney M. of the 70s and even early 80s. The album, released at the end of the year, was not a success with 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 last appearance on the charts with "The Best Of 10 Years", which peaked at number 35 on the UK charts in 1986.

In 1988, Farian re-assembles the group to record two parts of the Greatest Hits Of All Times remix collection.

By that time, relations in the group had become so aggravated that Liz Mitchell refused to participate in the tour and came only for recordings on television. At the same time, she was preparing her first 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 her solo single on TV shows, they also tried to get 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), which 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 collaboration between the original members of the band.

Since 1992, Frank Farian has regularly released remixes of Boney M. songs, which are a success in European countries. "Boney M Megamix" (1992) reached No. 7 on 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", which marked the beginning of 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, under the name Boney M., three compositions have performed: Liz Mitchell, who has permission from Frank Farian to use the name Boney M., as well as a group of Bobby Farrell and Maisie Williams. Marcia Barrett performs as a solo artist.

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.

Night flight to Venus

Start

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

By the beginning of the 70s, Farian already had two solo albums on his account (and, probably, the ambitions of a singer and musician), and such an “experimental” song could become a risk to his solo career. Among the German stage of that time, which was still dominated by pop-rock, the composition stood out sharply for its unusual rhythm and vocal performance. No one knew (and could not know) how the audience would react to the 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 the 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.?

The attentive reader will ask: why Boney M.? What was Farian thinking about when he chose this name? This question journalists do not get tired of asking Frank for the fourth decade.

The answer is simple, though not obvious. At that time, the Australian detective series “Boney” was on the German blue screens, the main character of which was an inspector (aka “Bony”), who worked undercover. The letter M. to Boni - Bonaparte Farian attributed himself - 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 Boney M. group 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 Katya Wolf (it was not so easy to find dark-skinned vocalists in Germany in the 70s!), which helped to select the first line-up.

Team selection

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

Claudia Barry

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

When she was only six, her family emigrated to Canada, settling in the town of Scarborough. After graduation, Claudia moved to New York where she landed a role in the musical Hair. The performance 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, the work in the group, where it was required only to open her mouth in time to the soundtrack, soon got bored with her, and in 1976 Claudia left the group forever. After leaving Boney M. Claudia continued her solo career and very successfully! Her song " Dancin' Fever" hit on the 72nd line of Billboard, and " Boogie Woogie Dancin' Shoes"In 1979, it took 37th place on the US R&B charts 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 Mario Van Pibbles film "Rappin". 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 Claudia made “the worst mistake of her life” by leaving Boney M., 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 did not work out, while Claudia Barry quite brightly "lit" in 70s , 80s And 90s what is many examples !

But three days before the important performance, Claudia suddenly leaves, and Sheila Bonnick leaves after her, saying that she deserves more (which did not prevent her from declaring herself a former participant many years later). So very quickly, only Maisie Williams remained from the first line-up.

However, the singles continued to sell out, and Frank decided to recruit new extras. Claudia's place was taken by a participant in the Hamburg musical "Hair" Liz Mitchell. Frank liked her performance so much that he invited her to the Hansa studio, where a one-year contract was signed. Why so few? the attentive reader will ask. Because then no one could have imagined what a great future awaits the group! It was about the one-song project "Baby Do You Wanna Bump", which was supposed to completely exhaust itself in 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 Jony Spruce. During the dance, it is supposed to produce rhythmic hip thrusts for every beat of the music. In a couples dance, this movement can be more intimate, with the two hitting each other's hips lightly (or harder). Most famous compositions: Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)"Parliament Funkadelic (USA) and " Nutbush City Limits» Ike & Tina Turner (Great Britain).
• 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 has largely reworked it and changed the lyrics;
• When recording the song, Frank sang not only in a low, insinuating voice, but also in falsetto. On the album version of Take The Heat Off Me, Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett were overdubbed 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 in the American, British, Brazilian and Japanese versions of the Take The Heat Off Me album, not because its sound is outdated (as some authors write), but because the rights to release it in the UK belonged to Creole Records, on which the very first single was released. In 1978, the studio re-released this single, increasing the playing time to 12 minutes.

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

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

Shortly after returning to England, Liz received an invitation to work in the group Boney M. The singer was recommended to Farian by Maricia Barett, 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 her, and now a replacement was urgently needed.

Initially, Liz was supposed to enter the group only for three days, so as not to break the performance. 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 district of St. Catherine on October 14, 1948. Before joining the group, Boni M. already had experience performing in nightclubs, and also worked in several Hansa studio projects as a dancer and even the solo single "Could Be Love" (1971). Although during the work in the group the main parts belonged to Liz Mitchell, Marcia perfectly complemented her, which made the sound of Boney M. more harmonious.

Maisie Ursula Williams

Maisie Ursula Williams was born March 25, 1951 on the island of Montserrat in the West Indies, dancer and model, in 1971 she was awarded the title of "Miss British Commonwealth". 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 at the restaurant, where she performed with Sheila Bonnick. Here is how she recalls the episode:

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

Robert Alphonso Farrell was born on the island of Aruba on October 6, 1949, a former sailor, dancer, DJ, inexhaustible showman who always knew how to put on a great show! At various times, he supported the performances of various Farian groups.

Bobby got into the Boney M. group with the light hand of Maisie Williams, who told Farian about him. Going to Hannover with casting agent Katya Wolf, Frank saw firsthand what somersaults Bobby does on stage, and was simply delighted! Since then, Bobby has become a big part of the Boney M. show!

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

(Frank Farian)

daddy cool

The next composition was also released without much pretense of success. Her goal was to extend the life of the project. It was called ... "Daddy Cool"! Needless to say, how pessimistic Frank's expectations were!

There was a lot of innovation in it: an intro of some drums, complemented by a ticking sound, monotonously repeating phrases, but most importantly, the words of the song - like a nursery rhyme, completely devoid of a hint of any meaning!

"Daddy Cool" became an instant No. 1 hit at home and skyrocketed to No. 6 in the UK. But that is not all! Having crossed the ocean, "Daddy" hits the 65th place on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and the 20th place on the Canadian charts! Such a quick start cannot be called otherwise than a “breakthrough”!

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

Sunny

The third hit is a cover of Bobby Hebb's song " Sunny"("Sunshine"), which is performed by Boney M., takes on a rebirth, changing the bard sound to a disco dance rhythm.

What is this song about? In the words of Bobby Hubb 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 the times were not the best.” In November 1963, two events shocked Hubb at once: the death of John F. Kennedy and the murder of his own brother, who was stabbed to death near a nightclub.

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

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

No Woman No Cry

The back of the single "Daddy Cool" featured a cover of Bob Marley's " No Woman No Cry". The authors of articles and music critics are very fond of translating its name literally: "No women - no crying." This is partly the fault of the group itself, which placed the name of the song precisely in the form of “No Wom e n No Cry" on the album cover!

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 weeping woman that he will definitely return: “no woman, don’t cry”!

And again Farian sang behind the scenes. No, at first he was not at all going to usurp the place of the soloist, and he hired Bobby Farrell precisely as a singing musician (and not just a dancing one). And that was the song that Bobby was supposed to sing. 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 himself, Liz, less often Marcia, would sing. And Bobby and Maisie will only open their mouths.

So Boney M. became one of the first studio projects in Europe!

Take The Heat Off Me

In June 1976, the band's first album, Take The Heat Off Me, was released. The audience met him rather reservedly, however, when in September the group performed the song on a musical TV show MusikLaden, Frank was able to appreciate the magical power of television for the first time! Demand exceeded all expectations - more than 100 thousand records were sold in one week!

Success grew like a snowball! The largest music companies acquired licenses for the publication of Boney M. The circulation of discs and cassettes was already in the millions!

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

Apparently, at first, Frank was trying to adapt American disco, and the first album has the tracks: " Take The Heat Off Me », « Lovin' Or Leavin' », « Fever”, which strongly resemble the work of overseas disco stars of the time like Gloria Gaynor. But there are other songs in it - already by 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” had a more playful combination of bass and string parts and sounded so warm, as if it were not disco at all, but music from some Jamaica or the Cayman Islands!

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