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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZBONEY MA German-based Eurodisco group of the 1970s, created by producer/performer Frank Farian to cash in on the European dance sound pioneered by Giorgio Moroder (b 26 April 1940, Ortisel, Italy) on albums with Donna Summer and others. Having written and recorded a typical example of the genre in 'Baby Do You Wanna Bump' (a hit in Belgium and Holland with synthetic strings, minimal lyrics, relentless drumbeat) he needed a group to promote it. An advert in trade papers brought two abortive lineups, then a stable vocal quartet: Marcia Barret (b 14 October 1948, Jamaica), Bobby Farrell (b 6 October 1949, Aruba, West Indies; d 30 December 2010), lead singer Liz Mitchell (b 12 July 1952, Jamaica), Mazie Williams (b 25 March 1951, Montserrat; the only survivor of earlier lineups). Farian recorded backing tapes in Munich, road-testing them in discos to gauge reaction before cutting the group's vocals on top. From late '76 when 'Daddy Cool' made no. 6 UK to mid-'79 he had nine top ten singles in UK, rivalling Abba as the most successful group of the decade: the series mixed covers (Bobby Hebb's 'Sunny', old Harry Belafonte hit 'Mary's Boy Child') with Farian's own nursery-like chants; attempt at outrageous image (underwear, bondage etc) was at odds with their biggest hit: an old Jamaican nursery rhyme 'Brown Girl In The Ring' began as B-side of cover of Melodians' 'Rivers Of Babylon', became the A-side after entering the chart, and the two-sided hit had a 40-week run. The no. 1 LP from which it came, Night Flight To Venus, had four hit singles and was the first of three no. 1 LPs (the last being the TV-promoted The Magic Of Boney M '80s as singles success faded). They played ten concerts in the USSR in 1978. Unlike Summer they failed to sell Eurodisco in USA, where 'Rivers' was their sole top 40 hit. Farrell was recording solo in 1985. 'Rivers'/'Brown Girl' stood as the all-time biggest UK single after Wings' 'Mull Of Kintyre' and Band Aid's 'Do They Know It's Christmas'. |