Rahul Sharma (Editor)

The Magic of Boney M. – 20 Golden Hits

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Released
  
February 1, 1980

Length
  
71:49

Release date
  
1 February 1980

Label
  
Hansa Records

Recorded
  
1975–1980

Artist
  
Boney M.

Producer
  
Frank Farian

The Magic of Boney M. – 20 Golden Hits httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaenee0Bon

The Magic Of Boney M. - 20 Golden Hits (1980)
  
Children of Paradise – The Greatest Hits of Boney M. – Vol. 2 (1981)

Genres
  
Disco, Pop music, Euro disco, Reggae, Rhythm and blues, Contemporary R&B

Similar
  
The Greatest Hits, The Best of Boney M, Christmas Album, Oceans of Fantasy, Love for Sale

The Magic of Boney M. – 20 Golden Hits is a greatest hits album by Euro-Caribbean group Boney M. issued in February 1980 which contained all their biggest hits up until that point, including non-album singles "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" and "Hooray! Hooray! It's A Holi-Holiday", key album tracks from Take The Heat Off Me, Love for Sale, Nightflight to Venus and Oceans of Fantasy as well as their most recent double A-side single release "I See A Boat On The River"/ "My Friend Jack" (Germany #5). The album was packaged in a glittery golden gimmick cover, with the four strokes in the band's characteristic 'M' being cut out so that each showed one of the four members. The innersleeve featured two different photos and could be inserted either way to that effect. The Magic Of Boney M. - 20 Golden Hits was another major commercial success for the band, topping most of the European charts and becoming their third consecutive UK number one album. The cover version of The Smoke's 1967 hit "My Friend Jack" however proved to be less successful in the UK, peaking no higher than #57, at the time making it their lowest charting single since debut "Baby Do You Wanna Bump" in 1975.
Since most of the singles released by Boney M. between the years 1976 and 1980 had been double A-sides there was certainly enough material to make the first greatest hits compilation a double album. Nineteen of the twenty tracks on The Magic Of Boney M. had in fact been singles, the only exception being "Oceans of Fantasy". Instead producer Frank Farian went for a one disc release, which subsequently meant that due to the time limitations of the vinyl album format and the number of tracks included, most of the songs appeared in slightly edited form. These abbreviated versions would re-surface on a large number of hits compilations in the future while most of the original 7" mixes twenty five years later remain unreleased on CD.
A German Club Edition LP, entitled Greatest Hits Of Boney M. appeared in the same gimmick cover but featured only 16 songs - the same mixes as used on the commercial LP but in a different running order. The remaining 4 songs would be included on Children of Paradise - The Greatest Hits of Boney M. - Vol. 2 in June '81.

Contents

Track listing

Side A:

  1. "Rivers of Babylon" (Dowe, McNaughton) - 3:59
  2. Edited version
  3. "Daddy Cool" (Farian, Reyam) - 3:25
  4. Original album version
  5. "Sunny" (Bobby Hebb) - 3:14
  6. Edited version
  7. "Belfast" (Billsbury, Deutscher, Menke) - 2:25
  8. Edited version
  9. "El Lute" (Farian, Jay, Blum) - 4:24
  10. Edited version
  11. "No Woman, No Cry" (Ford, Bob Marley) - 2:58
  12. Edited version
  13. "Rasputin" (Farian, Jay, Reyam) - 3:40
  14. Edited version.
  15. "Painter Man" (Phillips, Pickett) - 3:10
  16. Original album version
  17. "Ma Baker" (Farian, Jay, Reyam) - 3:44
  18. Edited version
  19. "Gotta Go Home" (Farian, Jay, Huth, Huth) - 3:45
  20. Oceans of Fantasy album edit. Original 7" mix ( - 4:40) remains unreleased on CD.

Side B:

  1. "My Friend Jack" (The Smoke) - 4:31
  2. Slightly edited 7" mix
  3. "I See a Boat on the River" (Farian, Jay, Rulofs) - 4:29
  4. 7" mix. N.B. 1992 CD edition: edited version - 3:03, taken from Fantastic Boney M.
  5. "Brown Girl in the Ring" (Farian) - 3:06
  6. Edited version
  7. "Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord" (Jester Hairston, Farian, Jay, Lorin) - 4:31
  8. Edited version
  9. "Bahama Mama" (Farian, Jay) - 3:17
  10. Oceans of Fantasy album edit
  11. "I'm Born Again" (Jay, Rulofs) - 3:57
  12. Edited 7" mix
  13. "Oceans of Fantasy" (Kawohl, Jay, Zill) - 3:19
  14. Edited version
  15. "Ribbons of Blue" (Keith Forsey) - 3:04
  16. Edited version
  17. "Still I'm Sad" (McCarthy, Samwell-Smith) - 3:40
  18. Edited version
  19. "Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday" (Farian, Jay) - 3:11
  20. Edited version

'Greatest Hits Of Boney M.' (German Club Edition LP)
Side A:

  1. "Sunny" (Bobby Hebb) - 3:14
  2. "Daddy Cool" (Farian, Reyam) - 3:25
  3. "Belfast" (Billsbury, Deutscher, Menke) - 2:25
  4. "Ma Baker" (Farian, Jay, Reyam) - 3:44
  5. "El Lute" (Farian, Jay, Blum) - 4:24
  6. "Rasputin" (Farian, Jay, Reyam) - 3:40
  7. "I'm Born Again" (Jay, Rulofs) - 3:57
  8. "Bahama Mama" (Farian, Jay) - 3:17

Side B:

  1. "I See a Boat on the River" (Farian, Jay, Rulofs) - 4:29
  2. "My Friend Jack" (The Smoke) - 4:31
  3. "Gotta Go Home" (Farian, Jay, Huth, Huth) - 3:45
  4. "Rivers of Babylon" (Farian, Reyam) - 3:59
  5. "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" (Jester Hairston, Farian, Jay, Lorin) - 4:31
  6. "Brown Girl in the Ring" (Farian) - 3:06
  7. "Ribbons of Blue" (Keith Forsey) - 3:04
  8. "Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday" (Farian, Jay) - 3:11

Personnel

  • Liz Mitchell - lead vocals (A1, A3, A5, A6, A8, B2, B3, B4, B6, B8, B9 & B10), backing vocals
  • Marcia Barrett - lead vocals (A4), backing vocals
  • Frank Farian - lead vocals (A2, A5, A7, A9, A10, B6 & B7), backing vocals

    • (track denotations refer to original Hansa issue)

    Production

  • Frank Farian - producer

    • Release history

  • UK: Atlantic Records BMTV 1.
  • Germany: Hansa Records 201 666-502. Re-issued as 202 505-320.
  • Club Edition Greatest Hits Of Boney M. Hansa 30 943 5

    • CD releases

  • 1992 Germany: Hansa Records/BMG 252 505-217.

    • Single releases


    UK
    7"

  • "My Friend Jack" (Edited 7" Mix) - 4:40 / "I See A Boat on the River" - 4:29 (Atlantic Records K11463, 1980)


    • Germany
    7"

  • "I See A Boat on the River" - 4:29 / "My Friend Jack" (7" Mix) - 4:56 (Hansa Records 101 750-100, 1980)

    • 12"

  • "My Friend Jack" (12" Mix) - 8:24 / "I See A Boat on the River" (12" Mix) - 6:01 (Hansa Records 600 233-213, 1980)

    • Charts

    Album
    Single

    Songs

    1Sunny3:16
    2Daddy Cool3:28
    3Belfast2:25

    References

    The Magic of Boney M. – 20 Golden Hits Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA