Boney M, The Weather Girls, and Hot Chocolate

Boney M. formed in 1976 and though the group was based out of Bon, West Germany none of it’s core members were natives of the country. Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett were both born in Jamaica, Maizie Williams was originally from Montserrat, West Indies and Bobby Farrell was from Aruba. Though these singers did not start performing together until 1976 this project was already underway in 1974.

During this year Farian had already come up with the group’s name (which he derived from a popular TV series) and had recorded it’s 1st single “Baby do You Want to Bump”. The track caught on in the Netherlands and Belgium and this spurt of popularity cited Farian to compile a group of singers and dancers to front his work. For the group’s first incarnation he recruited singers Maizie Williams, Sheyla Bonnick, and a dancer known simply as Mike. The group expanded to include Claudja Barry and Bobby Farrell. The group finally reached a degree of stabilization when Maricia Barrett and Liz Mitchell joined.

In 1976 the group released their studio debut album “Take the Heat off Me”. Although the group had coalesced into a stable line up, Barrett and Mitchell were essentially the only performers to appear on the album alongside Farian (who contributed the majority of the male vocalizations). The album was an obvious nod to the disco genre and included two original singles “Daddy Cool” and “Baby Do You Want to Bump” as well as the Bob Marley cover “No Woman, No Cry”. Though the album just barley missed the cut on the US Billboard Album charts, it was a huge success in many European countries, topping both Sweden and Finland’s album chart, landing at No. 6 on Austria’s album chart and No. 2 on Norway’s.

The band’s sophomore album, “Love for Sale” was released 1 year later. It was a commercial hit, going on to achieve Gold certification in the UK and featuring two hit singles “Ma Baker” and “Belfast”, which peaked at No.1 on the German Singles chart. Prior to this release the band had been rigorously performing at local disco’s and nightclubs, but after the release of “Love for Sale” they were able to embark on their first headlining tour.

In 1978 the group released what is considered to be their best album, “Nightflight to Venus”. This release was their first to take No.1 on the UK album charts. Though the album continued to draw inspiration from R&B, Dance and Disco music, some of the tracks chosen for this album were stylistic variations from these genres, such as the cover of Neil Young’s classic folk tune “Heart of Gold” and the Country standard “King of the Road”. The group’s biggest hit was a Wiest Indies Children’s traditional “Brown Girl in the Ring”.

Their 4th album “Ocean’s of Fantasy” saw release in September 1979. It was their second album to reach No.1 in the UK. This album featured the two singles “Gotta Go Home”/”El Lute” and “I’m Born Again”/”Bahama Mama”.

Boney M’s hype started to fade in the 80s. They released a successful greatest hits compilation in 1980, but a comparatively weak 5th studio album “Boonoonoonoos”. This release was followed by the departure of Bobby Farrell. Later that year the band put out a Christmas album and in 1984 released “Ten Thousand Lightyears”, their first album without Farrell’s promotional support. Farrell returned in 1984 in time for the release of two moderately successful singles “Kalimba de Luna” and “Happy Song”. The group’s 8th and final studio album “Eye Dance” was issued in October 1985; however, Farian had noticeably lost interest in the group at this point and the resulting album was panned by critics and also did poorly on the market.

Boney M’s “Greatest Hits of All Times - Remix ’88” came out in 1988; however, the band was basically defunct at the time. Several different incarnations emerged and imploded throughout the 90s and 2000s, with the longest lived being Maizie William’s line up who embarked on an Australian tour in 2014.

Hot Chocolate was first formed in 1969 and was originally named Hot Chocolate Band by Mavis Smith but was quickly shortened to Hot Chocolate. The band started recording a reggae version of John Lennon’s “Give Peace A Chance,” without knowing that they needed permission from Lennon and his label. They did eventually find out that Lennon liked the Hot Chocolate version and the same label, Apple Records, subsequently signed them; however, the association didn’t last long and the group signed with RAK Record Label.

In 1970 Hot Chocolate began to release songs starting with “Love Is Life,” “Emma,” “You Could Have Been A Lady,” and “I Believe In Love.” The string of success continued with the band continually to find charting success in the United Kingdom. They found their peak of success in the 70s with their singles “You Sexy Thing” and “Every 1s a Winner,” both of which also found huge success in the United States. By 1977 they had fifteen hits, and became one of three acts that had a hit every year during the 70s. Success kept coming well into the 80s until they decided to go separate ways in 1986, and it wasn’t until 1992 that the group, with a new lineup resurfaced to make live performances.