Boney M. discography

The discography of German disco group Boney M. includes 8 studio albums, 50 singles, and numerous compilation albums.

Albums

Studio albums

Charting and/or certified compilation albums

Singles

Videography

• Boney M – VHS, Mirror Vision (1981)
• Gold – VHS/VCD (in Hong Kong) (1993)
• Gold DVD (2001, Europe)
• Greatest Hits (2001, UK)
• Special Edition (2002, South Korea)
• Special Edition EP (2003, UK)
• The Magic of Boney M. (2006)
• Fantastic Boney M. – On Stage and on the Road (2007)
• Legendary TV Performances (2010)
• Diamonds (2015)

Songs that were re-worked into Boney M. titles

Frank Farian's right hand Hans-Jörg Mayer (aka Georg Reyam) sought out songs from all over the world, often public domain (non-copyrighted) folk tunes but as well works from other musicians/composers (usually not credited) and rewrote them for Boney M.

Borrowed themes

• The first Boney M. recording "Baby Do You Wanna Bump" (1975) is based on Prince Buster's "Al Capone" (1967).
• "Motherless Child" (1977) is a rewrite of "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child".
• "Ma Baker" is a rewrite of a Tunisian traditional song, Sidi Mansur.
• "Brown Girl in the Ring" (1978) is a traditional Caribbean nursery rhyme and uses an arrangement from Malcolm's Locks "Brown Girl" (1975).
• "Nightflight to Venus" (1978) with its characteristic drums, the rock guitar theme, and the march interludes, was rewritten from Cozy Powell's No.3 hit "Dance with the Devil" (1974).
• "Rasputin" (1978) features a melody line present in both a Serbian ("Ај, русе косе цуро имаш") and Turkish traditional ("Üsküdar'a Gider İken / Kâtibim").
• "He Was a Steppenwolf" (1978) borrows arrangement-wise from The Temptations' lengthy epic "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone (1972)" and The Drifters' "Under the Boardwalk" (1964).
• "Dancing in the Streets" borrowed the arrangement from the Bee Gees' "You Should Be Dancing" and the hookline "Keep on dancing in the streets" is melodically similar to The Beatles' "Say the word and you'll be free" "(The Word)"
• "Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday" (1979) is a rewrite of "Polly Wolly Doodle".^[32]
• "Gotta Go Home" (1979) was a rewrite of German band Nighttrain's "Hallo Bimmelbahn" (1973),^[33] while the middle-part 'Doo-doo-doop, doo doo doo doo doop' (sung by Farian in his head voice) was borrowed from The Beatles in Hello, Goodbye (1967) as 'hey-la, hey helloa'. The Beatles also whistle it at the closing of Two of Us (1969) which is also covered on that LP.
• "No More Chain Gang" (1979) borrows the bridge 'Then one night he laid in waiting' from folklore "St. James Infirmary Blues" and an arrangement inspired by Johnny Wakelin's "In Zaire" (1976).
• "I'm Born Again" (1979) is based on the Irish traditional "Buachaill Ón Éirne".
• "Children of Paradise" (1980) is based on Younès Mégri's "Leïli Twil" (1973).
• Both "Boonoonoonoos" and "Ride to Agadir" (1981) contain a theme taken from Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)", "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" and "Run Like Hell" (1979).
• "Train to Skaville / That's Boonoonoonoos" (1981) is partly inspired by the No. 1 hit Pop Muzik (1979) by M (the walking bass, the rap parts, and 'Boo-Boo-Boo-Boonoonoonoos' – 'Pop Pop Pop Muzik').
• "Homeland Africa (Ship Ahoy)" (1981) borrows the chorus and lyrics from The O'Jays' "Ship Ahoy" (1973).
• "I'll Be Home for Christmas" (1981) borrows not only the title from the well-known Christmas song but also a theme from Don Williams' "Some Broken Hearts Never Mend" (1977) and also has a strong resemblance to Jona Lewie's "Stop the Cavalry" (1980).
• "Exodus (Noah's Ark 2001)" (1984) features a guitar theme borrowed from The Temptations' "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" (1972) while the chorus borrows from Bob Marley's "Exodus" (1977), and the interlude borrows a bit from Yes's "Owner of a Lonely Heart" (1983).
• "Wild Planet" (1984) is based on Hungarian rock band Omega's "Ajanlott Utvonal" (1982)^[34]
• "Future World" (1984) is based on Hungarian rock band Omega's "Tízezer lépés" (10,000 Steps) (1969).
• "10 000 Lightyears" (1984) is based on "Theme From "The Persuaders"", the TV series theme song by John Barry (1971).
• "Somewhere in the World" (1984) borrows 'mood wise' from Paul McCartney's "Tug of War" (1982), and in specific the chorus line "In another world".
• "Bel Ami" (1984) features an arrangement and brass intro very similar to Mezzoforte's "Garden Party" (1983).
• "The Alibama" (1984) is reworked from a South African standard "Daar kom die Alibama".^[35]
• "Living Like a Moviestar" (1984) features a flute theme from Jeff Wayne's "The Eve of the War" (1978).
• "Eye Dance" (1985) is based on Herbie Hancock's "Doin' It" from his album Secrets (1976), written by Melvin Ragin and Ray Parker Jr.
• "Todos Buenos" (1985) borrows elements from Titanic's "Sultana" (1971) and "Mas Que Nada" by Jorge Ben (1963), the latter made famous by Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 (1966).
• "Sample City" (1985) features the same chord pattern as "I Can't Stand the Rain" (1973), the Ann Peebles classic and a 1978 hit single for Farian's soul band Eruption.
• "Bang Bang Lulu" (1985) is a traditional folk song.

See also

• List of best-selling music artists

References

1. "Offizielle Deutsche Charts: Boney M". GfK Entertainment (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
2. Australian chart peaks:
   • Top 100 (Kent Music Report) peaks to 19 June 1988: Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). Sydney: Australian Chart Book. p. 41. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid 1983 and 19 June 1988.
   • Top 50 (ARIA Chart) peaks from 26 June 1988: "australian-charts.com – Discography Boney M." Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
   • Top 100 (ARIA Chart) peaks from January 1990 until December 2010: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
3. "Boney M. in der Österreicherischen Hitparade". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
4. For Canadian peaks:
   • For Nightflight to Venus: "RPM 50 albums: Top Albums/CDs – Volume 31, No. 6, May 05 1979" (PDF). RPM. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
   • For Oceans of Fantasy: "RPM 50 albums: Top Albums/CDs – Volume 32, No. 20, February 09 1980" (PDF). RPM. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
5. "Artiest: Boney M. (Albums)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
6. "Boney M. in Norwegian Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
7. "Boney M. in New Zealand's Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
8. "Boney M. in Swedish Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
9. "Official Charts Company: Boney M." Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
10. "Billboard 200 (Boney M)". Billboard Magazine. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
11. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Boney M.)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
12. "British certifications – Boney M". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 11 April 2024. Type Boney M in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
13. "Music Canada: Boneyb M". Music Canada. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
14. "NVPI: Goud/Platina". NVPI. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
15. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2002 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
16. For Canadian peaks:
    • For The Magic of Boney M: "RPM 50 albums: Top Albums/CDs – Volume 34, No. 8, January 31, 1981" (PDF). RPM. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
17. "Artist: Boney M. (Albums)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
18. "IFPI Austria – Gold & Platin" (in German). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry — Austria. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
19. "Boney M's Finnish Certifications". IFPI Finland. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
20. "Hitparade: Boney M". SwissCharts. International Federation of the Phonographic Industry — Switzerland. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
21. "InfoDisc: Les Certifications depuis 1973" [InfoDisc: Certifications from 1973] (in French). InfoDisc. Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
22. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
23. "Trofeer: 1993–2011" (in Norwegian). ifpi.no. Archived from the original on 25 July 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
24. "Search for Irish singles by Boney M." Irishcharts.ie. Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
25. "Peak chart positions of Boney M. singles in the Netherlands". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
26. "Peak chart positions of Boney M. singles in Switzerland". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
27. "Boney M Chart History | Billboard". Billboard. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
28. "InfoDisc Les Certifications depuis 1973 (singles)". InfoDisc. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
29. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2022" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
30. "ARIA Accreditations 2020". ARIA. January 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
31. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2021 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
32. "Boney M. cover of Shirley Temple and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson's 'Polly Wolly Doodle All Day'". WhoSampled.com. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
33. "Images for Nighttrain (2)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
34. "Boney M. – Full Discography (1975–2009) – Форум ShareReactor.ru". Forum.sharereactor.ru. Archived from the original on 14 February 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
35. "Daar kom die Alabama By Sursumkorda". YouTube. Retrieved 19 July 2017.^{[dead YouTube link]}

External links

• The Magic Of Boney M – Unofficial website with discography, history, biography and more.