First of all, I must apologise for the delay in sending this edition of the newsletter to you. Many of you have, quite rightly, been writing to the club asking why there has been no "Boney M News" for some time. Well, quite simply there has been very little news to tell you because our four friends have been inactive since May and only recently have they started working again. This lay off has of course been due to Liz Mitchell's pregnancy and I know that you will have all been pleased to hear that Liz gave birth to a baby boy (Aaron) in a Reading hospital on June 20th.

As your annual club membership covers four editions of "Boney M News", the delay in getting this edition off to you means that your current membership will be valid for longer than one year as nobody will receive a renewal form until they have received four editions of the newsletter. However, we will now be getting back to normal with the frequency of the newsletters as the group are now working hard once again with recording and live shows, so there will be lots of "Boney M News" in the coming weeks.

Since the last edition of the newsletter, our four friends have had a number one selling album with "The Magic Of Boney M" which at the time of going to print, is still listed in the album charts after an incredible 25 weeks. Further good news is that the new Boney M album should be completed by late October and we are hoping that it will be available for sale before the end of the year. Friends club members will, hopefully, be able to place an advanced order for the album through the club and I shall be sending you a newsletter within the next few weeks to tell you how to go about doing this. One track from the album, "Children Of Paradise", has already been released as a single in Germany and I am hoping that a British release date will be fixed soon - so listen out for that one.

Bobby, Liz, Maizie and Marcia started work on the concert scene with a tour of Belgium in mid September and they have concerts lined up in Dusseldorf (6th October) and Switzerland (l6th-18th October). Looking ahead, there should be some British concerts arranged for early 1981 when fan club members will definitely receive priority bookings for their show seats. I know that you will be pleased to hear that the 1981 Boney M diary is now on sale exclusively to club members. The pocket diary is printed in gold
coloured lettering on the front cover as follows:

Fiends Of Boney M.
The Official Worldwide
Boney M Fan Club

The diary contains seven days per page, has pages for appointments, a 1982 calendar and space to write personal details. Ideal for keeping a note of Boney M tour dates, record releases and important dates on the Boney M calendar, the diary is available for just 50p plus a stamped addressed envelope (measuring at least 9" x 4" if possible. If not possible, send one 1op stamp). Last year, lots of members were disappointed to find that the diaries had sold out before their orders were received so do please, send your order as soon as possible to avoid further disappointment. Just write your name and address together with the number of diaries required on a sheet of paper and return with correct monies (plus SAE or 10p stamp) to the
usual fan club address.

I am sorry there is no more news at the moment but rest assured I shall be in touch as soon as there is news of the new album and some concert dates.

With best wishes,
Mel Kirtley
Friends Of Boney M is at 42 Barrington Drive, Glebe, Washington, Tyne-Wear.

Hello everyone and welcome to this edition of "Boney M News". Since the previous edition there has been one Boney M single release which was, of course, "Children Of Paradise" / "Gadda Da Vida". I personally thought that this was a good single from our four friends and I was extremely disappointed
(as I am sure you were) that the record spent only two weeks on the charts at positions 75 and 66. I am sure the main reason the record was not a bigger hit was that it received very few plays on the radio and therefore most people were not even aware that a new Boney M single was available. This is a very sad situation and I am sure that each and every Friend Of Boney M would like to play a part in putting the name Boney M back on the charts where it belongs and the first thing we can do to help with this is to make sure that our four friends' next single is played as much as possible on the radio. Therefore I hope as soon as the new single is released, everyone will send requests for the record to local radio, Radio Two and those Radio One shows which play requests (Junior Choice etc.) to let the Disc Jockeys know that there are lots of people out there who want to hear the new Boney M record on the radio.

Talking of the next single, this will almost certainly be the recent German hit "Felicidad (Margherita)" / "Strange" which is the best double sided Boney M single for quite a while. "Felicidad (Margherita)" is an extremely infectious song with a great hook line and after a couple of plays you will find you have to join in & sing along. "Strange" breaks new ground for Boney M as it is a different style to anything they have recorded previously and I like it a lot. Both sides are superbly produced by Frank Farian (of course) with the 'A' side written by Reno Massara & Rosella Conz and the 'B' side by Bobby Dobson.  The single was released in Germany earlier this year .where after only two weeks on. release it climbed up one chart from position '49 to number 7, eventually becoming a top five record. The single was released in a picture bag which showed Bobby, Liz, Maizie and Marcia getting on to a London bus. At the time of writing, there is no definite release date for "Felicidad (Margherita)" in the U.K. but keep checking at your local record shop - and once it is available, don't forget those radio requests.

I am told that Boney M are making a video for the U.K. which will probably feature the next single so keep a look-out for that on television. As soon as the record enters the charts, there must be an excellent chance that the video will be shown on Top Of The Pops.

There is an interesting Boney M record in Germany at the moment entitled "Boney M For Dancin'". This is a double 12" single release featuring long versions of "Felicidad" (10:20 min.), "Gadda Da Vida" (9:00 min.), "Children Of Paradise" (5:12 min.) and "Strange" (4:20 min.). The only way I can suggest you could obtain this release would be from a record dealer who specialises in imports and if you wish to order it this way, the label and serial number is Hansa 501 500 565.

The long awaited new Boney M album will be available during the summer and I shall rush out the next newsletter as soon as the title and release" date are known. There will also be an order form enclosed with the newsletter which will enable Friends Of Boney M to place an advanced order for the
album through the club. Frank Farian is currently producing the album and choosing the titles - there are so many good songs that the main problem is deciding which ones to leave off the album. More news on that soon. I thought you would all be interested to hear that Marcia Barrett will soon
have a solo single available on Hansa/WEA entitled "You" / "I'm Lonely", both sides of which were recorded in Germany in late 1980 and we are all hopeful that the record will be a big hit. The fact that Marcia has made a solo single does not of course affect her position in Boney M. Marcia continues to be a member of the group and she has recorded these songs simply because she likes them so much as they are ideally suited to her voice, as 1 am sure you will agree when you hear the record.
 

On the 'live' circuit, our four friends have been appearing throughout Europe in recent months and we are all hopefully anticipating some concert dates for the U.K. - although at the moment it 'seems as if late summer is likely to be the earliest we will see them. As I promised in a previous "Boney M News” members will be the first to hear of the tour dates and a priority hooking service will operate to ensure that Friends Of Boney M will be able to book their concert seats through the fan club, before the box offices open to the public.

That's about all for now. The next "Boney M News" will be rushed to you just as soon as I have details of the new album. In the meantime - keep enjoying Boney M music.
 

All the best wishes,
Mel Kirtley
Friends Of Boney M is at 42 Barrington Drive, Glebe, Washington, Tyne- Wear.

 

I am delighted to Toe able to tell you that things have really started to happen again for Boney M in Britain and in the very near future WEA/Hansa will be releasing the brand new album "Boonoonoonoos". Everyone who has been involved with the album firmly believes that this is the best ever collection of songs from our four friends - and considering all the good songs which have gone before, that is really some recommendation. Frank Farian has been working on the production of this album for many months and I am sure that, like me, you can hardly wait to hear the final result.
"Boonoonoonoos" should be in the shops very soon so keep an eye open for it.

Also set for early release is the next Boney M single which is entitled "We Killed The World (Don't Kill The World)". Following the disappointments of not having the recent Boney M hits released in Britain, let us hope that this new single will put Boney M back where they belong, in the British charts. For your information, the two recent Boney M European hits were "Felicidad" and "Malaika"/"Consuela Biaz" and of course neither were released in Britain. There is also news of the possibility of an
additional Boney M Christmas release but at the time of going to print it is still not clear whether the Christmas song will be featured on the other side of "We Killed The World (Don't Kill The World)".

At the moment, there are plans for Boney M to play some shows in Britain during the first half of 1982 and it is likely that these will include weekly cabaret engagements. Just as soon as there is some definite news about this, another "Boney M News" will be issued which I am sure you will agree will make up for the lack of news in recent months.

As you may have heard, Marcia Barrett will soon be launching a solo career in addition to her work with Boney M. Marcia together with five London girls are at present involved in intensive rehearsals and the first major dates are not scheduled until the new year. Only one member of Marcia's new backing group has had professional experience and she is Carmen Scott who has previously provided musical backing for Boney M. The other four girls have been chosen by Marcia from four hundred hopefuls in accordance with her aim to help unemployed London girls. The new group does not •
interfere with Marcia's involvement with Boney M.
 

I know from the mail that many of you are also fans of Precious Wilson, "both from her time as lead singer with Eruption and also as the sensational solo singer that she is today. I am sure that you will be interested to hear that Precious has a Frank Farian produced single released during the last week of 1981 on the Epic/Hansa label. The song is entitled "I Need You" and Precious will be singing the number during the first weeks of the new year on Yorkshire Television's "5-2-1" and Grampian Television's "The Entertainers" so remember to look out for those two shows. The following members have written to tell me that they would like to hear from other Boney M fans as pen pals:

Linda Kroes, Netherlands.
John Healy, Eire.
Edward Hulin, Derby.
Steven Wood, Canada.
Linda Carter, Hants S01 9YF.
Robert Daniels, Herts.
James Harvey, Tyne-Wear.

Finally, I must not forget to tell you that Bobby, Liz, Maizie & Marcia have made a special video recording to promote the new single on British television and although they are no specific transmission dates decided yet, I hope that you will keep an eye on all the likely television shows because I am told that the video is really something special.

That just about wraps up this much awaited edition of "Boney M News". Thank you all for being so patient during the recent quiet spell and now that things are moving again, I look forward to preparing the next edition of "Boney M News" - soon.

With best wishes as always,
Mel Kirtley

 

Hello everyone and welcome to the summer '82 edition of "Boney M News". First of all, let me say how very disappointing it is for everyone that the most recent Boney M recordings have not been released in the U.K. The latest single in this country was "We Killed The World" which was a top forty hit in November '81 and since then there have been a number of releases on the continent but sadly nothing at all in this country.

The main purpose of this newsletter is to tell you all what you have been missing and to suggest that you pop along to your local record dealer who specialises in imports to see if you are able to get hold of the Boney M records which you have missed (all are on the German Hansa label, by the way). In December '81, there was a single in Europe which was Boney M's version of the Christmas standard "Little Drummer Boy" and also a Christmas album of traditional festive songs by Boney M. During the
first six months of this year there have been no fewer than three singles released elsewhere in Europe; these being "Six Years Of Boney M Hits" (available here on the 'B' side of the 12" version of "We Killed The World"), "Jimmy" and "Ride To Agadir". The brand new single release overseas is "The Carnival Is Over" / "Going Back West" and a 12" version is also available backed with "Silly Confusion".

I have been holding back on "Boney M News" as there have been plans on and off to release a new single and I wanted to be first to tell you of the news. "Jimmy" was originally intended to be the first single of 1982 when it was scheduled for March release, then April before the idea was abandoned. In May, there was definite news of a single featuring a new Boney M recording of a traditional favourite for release that month. That song turned out to be "The Carnival Is Over" and it turned out to be
released in most countries except Britain.

At the moment there is no definite news as to what the next Boney M single will be although I am told that there will be one fairly soon. You can rest assured that as soon as there is some news I shall be in
touch with another "Boney M News". Most of you will, I am sure, agree that there is little point in issuing a newsletter if there is little news to tell you and it is more sensible to extend the period of your membership to cover the mailing of four newsletters over a longer time. Some news that I can tell you is that Bobby Farrell has now left Boney M and has been replaced by Reggie Tsiboe who used to sing with Sugar Cane. I know that the four members of Boney M are particularly grateful for the continued support of the British fans during this unusually quiet spell for the group and let us keep our fingers crossed that things start to pick up again very soon. In the meantime, members may like to know that there are some special bargains on Boney M goodies during August and September. The giant, self adhesive Boney M stickers are reduced from 55p to 20p (or seven for £1.00), Certificates are reduced from 25p to 15p (or six for 60p)and Boney M combs -in special printed cases are reduced from 55p to 25p (or two for 40p). Please add 15p to total cost when ordering to cover packing & postage costs. That's all for now but there will be another newsletter as soon as there is news of a new single..
 

Best wishes,

Mel Kirtley
Friends Of Boney M is at 42-Barrington Drive, Glebe, Washington, Tyne Wear,