Boonoonoonoos

Infobox Album
Name = Boonoonoonoos
Type = Studio
Artist = Boney M.


Released = September 1981
Recorded = 1980-1981
Genre = R&B, Pop music, Disco
Length = 59:39 (1994 CD 61:06)
Label = flagicon|United Kingdom Atlantic Records (UK)
flagicon|West Germany Hansa Records (FRG)

Producer = Frank Farian
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|2.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=10:gzfpxql5ldje link]
Last album = "Children of Paradise - The Greatest Hits of Boney M. - Vol. 2"
(1981)
This album = "Boonoonoonoos"
(1981)
Next album = "Christmas Album"
(1981)
Misc = Extra album cover 2
Upper caption = Alternate cover
Type = Studio


Lower caption = Limited edition double album.

"Boonoonoonoos" is the fifth studio album by Boney M. It was released November 1, 1981.

Despite producer Frank Farian having announced that Boney M. were to take a break, recording sessions for a new album began in the spring of 1980, and the title "Boonoonoonoos" (a Caribbean word for "Happiness") already appeared as one of the first completed tracks, a cover of Larry Dillon's ska-title "Train to Skaville" which was intertwined with new rap parts "That's Boonoonoonoos". Two of the new recordings, "I See A Boat On The River" and "My Friend Jack" were issued to promote "The Magic of Boney M. - 20 Golden Hits" in May.

Farian invited the singers Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett and his crew of musicians to Nice in the summer of 1980 where several new songs were recorded. A new double A-side single "Children Of Paradise"/"Gadda-Da-Vida" was released in September, announcing the as of yet untitled new album to be released in November '80. The single reached number 11 in Germany, but in the UK their popularity was now quickly slipping. When released in February 1981, the single peaked at a disappointing #66. In the meantime, Farian had decided to revise the whole album.

While new pressings of "Children Of Paradise" now promoted "The Magic Of Boney M." on the back cover, the band instead issued another single in December, a cover version of "Felicidad (Margherita)" backed with "Strange". "Felicidad", originally recorded by Italian band Massara as "Margherita (Love In The Sun)" in 1979, managed to get Boney M. into the German Top 10 again (#6, 27 weeks) and it became a sizeable hit in most of Europe as well. The single, however, wasn't released by Atlantic Records UK, nor was it released in Spain or Portugal where Massara's original version had been a huge hit two years earlier. In the Netherlands, the single was released with "Strange" as the A-side.

At the same time, singer Marcia Barrett issued the solo single "You" / "I'm Lonely", produced by John Edmed. The single passed unnoticed, and Frank Farian decided to take one of Marcia's songs, "Breakaway", and re-record it as a Boney M. track - with his lead vocal.

New recording sessions took place in the spring of 1981. The band flew to Jamaica in May 1981 to record a TV special, perform live in concert with Rita Marley, shoot photos for the album cover, and one of the final songs "Silly Confusion" was recorded in Bob Marley's Tuff Gong studios in Kingston.

"Boonoonoonoos" - originally intended to be released as a double-album - was subsequently trimmed to a one disc, thirteen track release. A limited edition double album was however issued in Germany, France and the UK, containing slightly longer versions of certain songs, but with the same number of tracks.

Overview

The first single to be lifted off the finished "Boonoonoonoos" album in Germany was double A-side "Malaika"/"Consuela Biaz" in May 1981 which became the first Boney M. single in five years not to reach the Top 10 (#13, 16 weeks). The single was not released in the UK.

"We Kill The World (Don't Kill The World)" was the second single, released in September, and marked the first single since "Belfast" featuring Marcia Barrett as the lead singer. It peaked at #12 in the German charts and was their first UK Top 40 entry in two years (#39) after some disappointing placings of their previous two singles ("Children Of Paradise" #66 and "My Friend Jack" #57), but the single went to #1 in both Spain and South Africa.

The "Boonoonoonoos" album came with a picture innersleeve and a large fold-out poster with the lyrics on the back. When the LP was released in Germany in September, the album was immediately withdrawn after pressure from singer Liz Mitchell who was unhappy with a photo on the innersleeve, picturing the band in soaked clothes in the Ocho Rios waterfall. The innersleeve was redesigned with a photo of the band in a canoo, and the LP finally released on November 1st, 1981. "Boonoonoonoos" hit the #1 spot in Spain (where the group had just done a big promotion tour) but failed to crack the UK Top 75 (after three consecutive #1 LPs). The album peaked at #16 in Germany, and while still a healthy seller, it was becoming obvious that the band, like so many of their contemporaries, was being affected by the so called "anti-disco backlash".

"Boonoonoonoos" marked Bobby Farrell's debut on record. Having previously only mimed to Frank Farian's vocals on TV (but having sung live in the group's concerts), Farrell was featured on the track "Train To Skaville" as a rapper. He also did the spoken intro on "We Kill The World".

Boney M. member Maizie Williams had also done a small part on "Train To Skaville" (featured in the group's TV special), and so the track would be the first recording to actually feature all four group members, but her part was eventually re-recorded by Liz Mitchell for the released version of the song.

"Boonoonoonoos" also marked the first time Farian used additional singers on a Boney M. record. Vocal group La Mama (Cathy Bartney, Patricia Shockley, and Madeleine Davis) had originally been hired as backing singers for Precious Wilson's first album but since Farian also used them to do demos, their vocals were in some cases kept in the final mix.

Brian Paul was a young boy featured on the second single "We Kill The World (Don't Kill The World)". Even though the record sleeve credits "other children", Brian Paul and his friend Brian Sletten eventually sang all of the children's vocals themselves. They also appeared with the group in a number of TV shows when they promoted the song.

Soon after the release of "Boonoonoonoos" band member Bobby Farrell was fired from the group by producer Frank Farian, leaving the group unavailable to promote the album. "Christmas Album" - originally planned as a Liz Mitchell solo album - was rushed out three weeks after "Boonoonoonoos". Atlantic (UK) planned to release a new version of "Jimmy" as a single in April 1982 but those plans were eventually shelved.

Track listing

Side A:
#"Boonoonoonoos" (Courage, Farian, Jay, Sgarbi) - 4:37
#"That's Boonoonoonoos / Train to Skaville / I Shall Sing" (Dillon, Ehrhardt, Farian, Van Morrison) - 5:56
#"Silly Confusion" (Baierl, Björklund, Courage, Farian, Kawohl) - 7:12
#"Ride to Agadir" (Mike Batt) - 5:09
#"Jimmy" (Farian, Howell, Daansen) - 3:52. MC and CD editions: - 4:10
#"African Moon" (Courage, Farian, Mitchell, Rulofs) - 2:50. MC and CD editions: - 3:00

Side B:
#"We Kill the World (Don't Kill the World)" (Farian, Sgarbi) - 6:28
#"Homeland Africa (Ship Ahoy)" (Gamble, Huff, Farian) - 4:20
#"Malaika" (Farian, Reyam, Traditional) - 2:48
#* Album edit. MC and CD editions: - 3:26. 7" version (- 5:02) remains unreleased on CD.
#"Consuela Biaz" (Courage, Farian, O'Hara) - 3:50
#* Album edit. MC and CD editions: - 4:37. 7" version (- 4:57) remains unreleased on CD.
#"Breakaway" (James) - 3:45. MC and CD editions: - 4:17
#"Sad Movies" (Loudermilk) - 3:22
#"Goodbye My Friend" (Courage, Farian, Rulofs) - 5:10.
#* MC and CD editions: - 5:27.

Alternative album editions

* "Boonoonoonoos" (Direct Master Cutting - Long Versions). Limited edition double album, Germany.

Side A
#"Boonoonoonoos" - 4:52
#"Train to Skaville / That's Boonoonoonoos / I Shall Sing" - 6:33
#"Silly Confusion" - 7:17

Side B

#"Ride to Agadir" - 5:13
#"Jimmy" - 3:52
#"African Moon" - 4:12

Side C

#"We Kill the World (Don't Kill the World)" - 6:33
#"Homeland Africa (Ship Ahoy)" - 4:20
#"Malaika" - 3:26

Side D

#"Consuela Biaz" - 4:36
#"Breakaway" - 4:17
#"Sad Movies" - 3:20
#"Goodbye My Friend" - 5:26

Personnel

* Liz Mitchell - lead vocals (A2, A5, A6, B3, B4, B6 & B7), backing vocals
* Marcia Barrett - lead vocals (B1, B5), backing vocals
* Frank Farian - lead vocals (A4 & B5), backing vocals
* Bobby Farrell - rap (track A2), spoken intro (B1)
* Cathy Bartney (La Mama) - backing vocals (A3, B1 ("Don't Kill the World") & B3)
* Madeleine Davis (La Mama) - backing vocals (A3, B1 ("Don't Kill the World") & B3)
* Patricia Shockley (La Mama) - backing vocals (A3, B1 ("Don't Kill the World") & B3)
* Brian Paul - lead- and backing vocals (B1 ("Don't Kill the World"))
* Brian Sletten - backing vocals (B1 ("Don't Kill the World"))
* Dave King - bass guitar
* Günther Gebauer - bass guitar
* Helmut Rulofs - guitar
* Johan Daansen - guitar
* Mats Björklund - guitar
* Curt Cress - drums
* Keith Forsey - drums
* Harry Baierl - keyboards
* Kristian Schultze - keyboards
* Max Greger Jr. - keyboards
* Dino Solera - saxophone (A5, A6)
* Tom Scott - saxophone (A1, B5)
* London Philharmonic Orchestra - orchestra (A4)

Production

* Frank Farian - producer
* Christian Kolonovits - arranger
* Geoff Bastow - arranger
* Giorgio Sgarbi - arranger
* Harry Baierl - arranger
* Stefan Klinkhammer - arranger
* Tammy Grohé - sound engineer
* Recorded at Abbey Road Studios London, AIR Studios London, Audio Studio Berlin, Atlantic Studios Munich, Rainbow Studios Munich, Union Studios Munich, Vigilant Studios Nice, Bob Marley Studios Kingston Jamaica, Hitsville Recording Studios Hollywood California. Mixed at Farian Studios.

Release history

* UK: Atlantic Records.
* Germany: Hansa Records 203 888-320, 301 850-570 (double album - see above).

CD releases

* Germany 1994: BMG 74321 21267 2. (The CD cover featured slightly different photos than original LP)
* Europe 2007: Sony-BMG 88697 09481 2, including two bonus tracks: 14. Felicidad (Margherita) (Rosella, Conz) - 4:33. 15. Strange (Dobson) - 3:28, both originally released on Hansa single 102 681-100 (1980).

ingle releases

Germany
7"

* "Malaika" (7" Mix) - 5:02 / "Consuela Biaz" (7" Mix) - 4:57 (Hansa 103 350-100, 1981)
* "We Kill The World (Don't Kill The World)" (7" Edit) - 5:38 / "Boonoonoonoos" (7" Edit) - 5:35 (Hansa 103 666-100, 1981)

12"

* "Malaika" (12" Mix) - 5:35 / "Consuela Biaz" (7" Mix) - 4:57 (Hansa 600 400-213, 1981)
* "Boonoonoonoos" (12" Mix) - 11:23 ("Boonoonoonoos" - 4:52 / "That's Boonoonoonoos/Train to Skaville/I Shall Sing" - 6:31) / "We Kill The World (Don't Kill The World)" - 6:30 (Hansa 600 455-213, 1981) UK
7"
* "We Kill The World (Don't Kill The World) (UK 7" Edit) - 4:31 / "6 Years Of Boney M. Hits (Boney M on 45)" (7" Edit) - 4:48 (Atlantic K11689, 1981)

12"

* We Kill The World (Don't Kill The World)" - 6:30 / "6 Years Of Boney M. Hits (Boney M. on 45)" (12" Mix - long version) - 13:26 (Atlantic K 11689T, 1981)

Charts

;Album;Single

ources and external links

* [http://rateyourmusic.com/search?searchterm=boney+m&searchtype=a Rate Your Music, detailed discography]
* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Boney+M., Discogs.com, detailed discography]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:a9foxqr5ldte~T1, All Music Guide, biography, discography etc.]
* [http://pub19.bravenet.com/faq/show.php?usernum=1587861940&catid=3231&keywords=&q=7594&v=n, Boney M. FAQ]