A CD called "Die Party Box" is set for release on 23rd March 2012 according to Sony Music.

Other sites are stating a CD called "Best Of Disco" for release on 23rd March 2012.

New album available on 28th October 2011.

Tracking-list "Back To Back"

DVD1: "The Magic Of Boney M".

DVD 2: "Fantastic Boney M".:Live November ´77 aus dem Hamburger CCH mit allen grossen Hits von "Daddy Cool", "Sunny", "Belfast", "Ma Baker" bis "Love For Sale". Dazu das TV Special "Ein Sound geht um die Welt - Boney M. in Jamaika" von 1981. Spielzeit 85 Min.

DVD3: "Legendary TV Performances (ZDF Kultnacht)".

A double CD called "Back To Back" with Boney M. and Kool & The Gang is set for release on 30th September 2011 by Universal Music.

According to jpc.de a 3 DVD-Box "The Complete DVD Collection" will be released by Sony on 14th October 2011.

No tracking-list is available yet. Price has been set to EUR 21,99.

According to cdon.com a box called "Original Album Classics" will be released on 1st August 2011.

An Asian edition of the double CD "Ultimate 2.0" is set for release on 28th June. The Asian edition will be including "Bahama Mama" instead of "Happy Song".

"Der Hitmix" is now available. It's including the remix album "The Best Of 10 Years" from 1986, the medley "Boney M. On 45 (long version)" from 1981 and the "Boney M. Mega Mashup-Mix-Medley Vs. No Mercy, Eruption & La Bouche" from the "Boney M. Goes Club" album.

According to Sony a new DVD called "ZDF Kultnacht Presents: Boney M. - Legendary TV Show" is set to be released on 17th June 2011.

The DVD will probably include the TV-Show "Kultnacht: Boney M." aired on ZDF back in December 2006.

Will be re-released on 4th March 2011 in a new box, but with the same photo on cover.

The final arrangements for the Boney M. Fan Meeting in Berlin on 26th February are finished.

Special Guest Star: Marcia Barrett

Click on the photo above to read the info sheet. Will open as a PDF-file.

According to Sony Music the 3CD Box "The Collection" will be re-released as "Boney M." on 4th March 2011.

The release date for "Barbra Streisand - The Album" has now changed once again. New release date is 18th February 2011.

Final info about the upcoming Fan Meeting in Berlin on 26th February 2011 will be coming real soon - stay tuned! More info on info@boneym.es or info@musiclange.dk

Click on "Play" to start clip.

Source: www.rnw.nl / C. Janssen

It's with sadness that we have been informed that Bobby Farrell is no longer among us.

Bobby passed away on 30th December while being on tour in Russia.

Our thoughts and prayers go to his family and friends.

The release date for "Barbra Streisand - The Album" has now changed from 21st January to 28th January 2011.

An alternative tracking-list has been announced today. The release date is still 21st January 2011.

According to Sony Music the new Boney M. CD will now be called "Barbra Streisand" with the subtitle "Boney M. Goes Club". The release date has changed from 7th to 21st January 2011.

Tracking-List:

(Click on the cover to go to Itunes)

(Click on the cover to go to JPC)

According to JPC.de a new Boney M. CD will be released on 7th January 2011 called "Barbra Streisand - The Album". The price is EUR 7,99 and the label is FARIAN.

It’s with great pleasure that we are able to inform you that the one and only:

Marcia Barrett

will take part in the Fan Meeting on 26^th February 2011.

Yes it’s true! Marcia and her husband, Marcus, will stop by to say hello and talk to everyone taking part in the Fan Meeting. There will of course also be a possibility for taking a few photos during her visit as well as asking her questions. Marcia says that she is looking really forward to meet the fans of Boney M.

More news will follow as things develop.

More info at: info@boneym.es or info@musiclange.dk

"Feliz Navidad" will be released as a double CD on 12th November 2010.

The double CD will include:

Frank, you have been compiling the newly released 4 CD box-set “Hit Story” with Boney M. When did you first hear about the project and can you tell us a little about the idea behind the project?

It was in June this year, that Sony Music asked me, if I once again could compile a new CD-box with Boney M. This time it was to be a four CD-box, for TV commercials only. We all know these commercials which often are a little intrusive, where the viewer is told to "Call right away and you’ll get this unique box-set, which can’t be found in any shops. It costs “only” 50 EUR!  And if you call within the next ten minutes, then you’ll get something very exclusive as a bonus!" and so on. There are various programs on television and on radio, which are specialized in this sort of shopping. You aren’t forced to think positive of it, but it’s a part of today’s media world. When the advertising company asked Sony for such a box-set with Boney M, why should Sony say no to such a suggestion, when there are sold thousands of such items and Sony at the same time could make good money on it completely safe? I was of course excited and immediately said yes to the assignment; because I knew, that there still is Boney M. material in the archive, which still hasn’t been released on CD.

Did the original idea for the “Hit Story” project change during the working process?

Yes it did. Originally we had talked about many rarities and I had proposed to include a CD with all the early versions, although I knew from my previous work on the other Boney M. box-sets, it wouldn’t  be easy - or maybe even impossible - to find the master tapes of all these rarities. And during the first days we went on with this idea to include the early sought after versions. But then the idea was rejected again, because of two reasons: We couldn’t find a single master-tape, although we this time not only were searching for the original singles and LP-tapes, but also for alternative tapes of several LP samplers from the days when the songs were recently released. We have actually found several master tapes of various HANSA-LP samplers, where the timings on the tapes were matching the early versions - and I thought: Wow, here are finally some of the early versions! But when these tapes were played, it turned out to be normal well-known versions. It was pretty frustrating.  The second reason not to use the rarities on this release, was that we came to think about the target audience, who would buy this box-set. The target audience isn’t the real Boney M. fans, but normal people who never go to a record store, who never search the internet to buy anything there and who still haven’t anything with Boney M. on CD at home. With this box they’ll get a good look into the group's history and all the successes. These people do not appreciate to get the alternative versions. Therefore it would have been a pity, if you had offered all of these rarities on CD for the first time, exclusively for this target audience. So we decided to use the already known material for this release. Yet I managed to include a few alternative versions that were left unused from the last time we compiled Boney M. CD’s. If the early versions one day will show up, I’m sure that there will be compiled a new CD or a new box which is aimed for the shops.

Frank Farian can be seen in the TV-commercial for the box-set. Did he take part in the project himself?

Not too much. He wanted, of course, as always, to check and approve the tracking list. At first I had mixed the songs pretty crazy and colorful. It was also all right with him, but he felt that the songs didn’t always fit together in terms of the tempo. Therefore I had to rework it all once again. I however didn’t know the exact places he wasn’t satisfied with and if a new order of the songs would be approved. So I decided to change and rework it all, this time in chronological order. This way “Baby Do You Wanna Bump” would end up as the opener, not one of Boney M.’s biggest hits, but I really liked the idea of the chronological order much better and then it was approved. Otherwise, Frank gave an interview, which now can be seen in the commercial, but it was all from his side.

Can you tell us a little about why you have compiled the box-set the way it has been?

I had thought of several options. At first I thought of something like a “complete singles collection” with all the A and B-sides (AB-AB-AB etc.). That would be perfect for a three CD-set. Using that option we would however have to leave out some of the great album tracks, which simply are a must. We haven’t three but four CD’s, so what was going to be included on the fourth CD? Then I came back to my old idea with the 70’s and the 80’s, which I had previously used on “The Collection” and “The Party Album”. It would give each CD a headline, but I wouldn’t be force to use only single tracks, but also a couple of great album tracks. I also thought about which categories could be used for the third and fourth CD. It turned out to be ballads and maxi versions. Sony actually wanted a CD exclusively with Christmas songs, but I talked them out of it. I think it’s much better and much more interesting to do a CD with the ballads. Because there aren’t that many ballads, a few Christmas songs was used on the third CD. That way we also got around the problem with “Mary’s Boy Child”, as it wouldn’t have been that great among the non Christmas songs. On the other hand you couldn’t leave out such a mega hit on a box like this. Now we have a small section with half a dozen of Christmas songs and I hope people will like it that way. Originally the third CD was set to include “Never Change Lovers In The Middle Of The Night” instead of “Sad Movies”. But at last minute I had to change it, as the inclusion of “Never Change Lovers…” would give the CD a playing time over 80 minutes. And since “Never Change Lovers…” is rather long, but not as well known as “El Lute”, I decided with a bleeding heart to do it that way, even though it did hurt, since “Never Change Lovers…” is such a cool song and I would really have liked to see the inclusion of it on the ballads CD. 

You have once again had the chance to work with the archivists at the archive in Gütersloh. Is “Hit Story” including any versions that haven’t been available on CD before?

Yes, we have here on CD - for the first time as far as I know – single versions of "Baby Do You Wanna Bump," "Plantation Boy", "El Lute", "Gotta Go Home", "African Moon", "Sample City" and “Somewhere In The World”. And not to forget an alternative album version of "Jimmy" from 1981, which we have taken from an alternative "Boonoonoonoos" tape. This is the tape on which we also found the alternate version of "African Moon" for "The Party Album".

Did you get the chance to search through Frank Farian’s archive?

No, unfortunately not. But I haven't yet given up the hope that I will be allowed to do it one day in the future, when we work on a new CD-box. I’m very curious what he has hidden in his archives and pretty sure that I will find a couple of very interesting tapes, that Frank has forgotten all about. But the question is, whether we would be allowed to use these tapes. I’m a fan and collector myself and would really like to have all the early versions and completely previously unreleased material on CD. But I will also respect Frank's opinion, if he says: I will not release the material, that wasn’t good enough to be released back then. That’s the same case with Benny and Björn of ABBA.

 “Ribbons Of Blue” is included on the new box-set. On earlier CD compilations “Ribbons Of Blue” has been mastered from vinyl, was the original master tape found this time?

No, the original single tape HANSA 100.444 unfortunately remains lost. But when I worked with the box, I remembered that most of the Boney M. songs also appeared on LP Samplers from HANSA or ARIOLA – and all of these samplers exist in the archive on longplay-tapes, where all the songs are to be found one after another, separated by yellow tape. And these tapes were always direct copies of the original singles or LP master tapes. Of course, there was by copying a tiny loss of quality because it was the analog era. But the loss was more theoretical than practical, because we are talking about professional tape material with high speed and about copying that was made in the studio. This means, that a person can’t hear the difference between the original and a copy. That is not to be compared with cassette tapes, which we had at home. If you copied something from one cassette tape to another, the copy would have more noise than the original. But with a professional tape, it is quite different. And believe it or not, we found two sampler tapes from 1979, where “Ribbons Of Blue” was included in full version: 4:07 minutes! One belongs to the HANSA-LP "Super Disco Party Vol. 3" and the second to the ARIOLA LP "Der Neue Hitladen". We have actually digitized both tapes to be able to compare the quality - but it was exactly the same. So for the first time, we now have the original version of “Ribbons Of Blue” on CD mastered from a tape. As said, it’s from a tape copy, but it’s ten times better than the mastering from vinyl, right? I'm just a bit annoyed with myself, that I didn’t get the idea with sampler tapes earlier on, when we made "The Collection".

“We Kill The World” has been included as the LP-version. Is there any reason for not using the single-version, since the greatest part of the chart hits included on the first two CD’s, mainly are single-versions?

Naturally, I have in each case tried to use the single version. But it was unfortunately not possible with "We Kill The World". The archive was searched once again for the tape, as so often before, but it is no longer present. It seems simply to have disappeared, like "Ribbons Of Blue". And there is no LP sampler with the single version. Therefore we used the album version. But because it is longer than the single version, the playing time of the CD would have been too long, more than 80 minutes. So I decided to change the single versions of "Malaika" and "Bang Bang Lulu" with the shorter album versions. I imagined that it wouldn’t be too problematic; because the single versions are already included on other CD’s and on this box the maxi version of “Malaika” is included as well.

There are a lot of Boney M. fans out there who have many special wishes for new Boney M. releases because of all the various versions that often exist of each song. Many of these versions still haven’t been released on CD. Isn’t it a pressure to compile a new compilation, knowing that it simply would be impossible to satisfy everyone out there, waiting for all these early versions?

No, I do not feel under pressure, on the contrary - this work is an exciting pleasure. I have great respect for all fans and collectors and read regularly on several Boney M.-pages on the Internet. I’m as mentioned before, one of you. But if you work for record companies and make this kind of box-sets, you must learn not only to be thinking as a fan, but also professionally and economically. This means that you can’t realize everything at once as a fan would like it. A real fan like you, has for example hundreds of editions of all LPs, singles and CDs, and with each new CD expects special and rare things. But a record company like Sony has first and foremost to think about the mass market and has to offer the big hits over and over again for the normal buyers. I think the best way is always to try to aim at both groups of buyers, so both hits and rarities will be used. Of course one or the other fan will look at it critically. But I can assure you, that I will always give my best to try to make "my" products exciting in one or another way. And if I somehow should fail, no one is forced to buy that.

A new Boney M. compilation called "Hit Story" will be released on 3rd September.

The compilation can be bought through TV commercials and through musicbox.de/musicbox-tv.de where you'll get a free Boney M. CD when ordering.

(click on image and a new window will open):

The compilation has been compiled by Frank Eberlein and has the following tracking-list:

"The Magic Of Boney M." will be re-released on DVD on 3rd September 2010 with a new cover.

A new Christmas compilation called "Feliz Navidad" is set for release on 12th November 2010.

There hasn't been listed a tracking-list yet.

Digipack release 27th August 2010. Sony 88697765882.

According to JPC a reissue of the 2006 compilation "The Magic Of Boney M." will be released on August 27th called "This Is (The Magic Of Boney M.)". "No Women No Cry" is listed to be the album version.

The documentary produced by Nestfilm in Germany is according to their production team still in the works. At present moment they are in the postproduction and hope that the documentary will be finished in spring 2010. The company also made it clear that the documentary is more a fan project, than a commercial issue.

On Sonymusic.ch the release date for "Gold - Greatest Hits" is 9th October 2009, while the release in Poland is set to 28th September on several web-sites.

According to several polish sites the tracking-list for "Gold - Greatest Hits" will be as listed below. There's however not a final confirmation:

Disc 1:
01. Brown Girl In The Ring
02. Daddy Cool
03. Rasputin
04. Gotta Go Home
05. Oceans Of Fantasy
06. Breakaway
07. Bahama Mama
08. Nightflight To Venus
09. Young, Free And Single
10. We Kill The World (Don't Kill The World)
11. Felicidad (Margherita)
12. Boney M. Mega Mix

Disc 2:
01. Ma Baker
02. Painter Man
03. My Friend Jack
04. Children Of Paradise
05. I See A Boat On A River
06. I'm Born Again
07. Heart Of Gold
08. No Woman No Cry
09. Baby Do You Wanna Bump
10.  Got A Man On My Mind
11. Consuela Biaz
12. Never Change Lovers In The Middle Of The Night

Disc 3:
01. Belfast
02. El Lute
03. The Carnival Is Over (Goodbye True Lover)
04. When A Child is Born
05. Have You Ever Seen The Rain
06. Motherless Child
07. Bye Bye Bluebird
08. Ride To Agadir
09. Ribbons Of Blue
10. Happy Song
11. African Moon
12. Daddy Cool (Remix 2001)

Thanks to Andrzej Wojtowicz for the information

Is now available for pre-order in Germany (JPC), where it will be released on 6th November.

Below you will be able to see the cover layout for the forthcoming 3 CD set "Gold - Greatest Hits" released on 30th October 2009.

Thanks to Frank Eberlein for providing the cover.

According to JPC a compilation called "Gold - Greatest Hits" will be released on 30th October 2009 in Germany.

By Amazon the release is listed as a 3CD set.

A new Boney M. compilation has hit the shops. It's called "America - The Party Album" (Sony Music 88697 54104 2).

The recent compilations we have had from Sony Music have shown a great interest in the releases. However "America - The Party Album" does not really show a sign of interest, which is easy to see from the songs/versions included. The most annoying thing is the inclusion of the two recordings from 1993 ("Lady Godiva" and "Da La De La") and the new "Felicidad America".

"America - The Party Album" contains the following:

01:  Kalimba De Luna   7:18
02:  Happy Song  3:59
03:  Hooray! Hooray! It's A Holi- Holiday  3:55
04:  Dreadlock Holiday   4:52
05:  Bel Ami  3:11
06:  Bahama Mama   3:16
07:  Lady Godiva  3:31
08:  Young, Free & Single  4:10
09:  Dancing In The Streets   3:58
10: Gloria, Can You Waddle  3:56
11:  Gotta Go Home   3:45
12:  Da La De La   4:01
13:  Painter Man  3:10
14:  Sunny   4:01
15:  Brown Girl In The Ring  4:01
16:  Felicidad America (Obama Obama)  4:03

According to JPC.de "Long Versions & Rarities Vol. 3" will be released on 28th August 2009.

Reader's Digest has re-released their 1997 3-CD box "Hooray! Hooray! It's Boney M." in a 2009 edition with a new cover and a new booklet as well.

Sony decided to design a new cover for the compilation "Let It All Be Music - The Party Album". You can see the new cover below.

Final Tracking-list for "Let It All Be Music - The Party Album"  (21th April 2009)

BONEY M.

We have now received the tracking-list for the forth coming double CD with Boney M. "Let It All Me Music - The Party Album".

The tracking-list has been provided by Frank Eberlein who at present moment is working hard together with the mastering studio, searching the master tapes for as many alternative versions as possible. Because of that fact it's still too early to state timings and versions of the songs included except for a few.

You'll be able to see the tracking-list below. The songs which have been stated with a certain version are definite.

CD 1: THE SEVENTIES
01. Let It All Be Music
02. Gotta Go Home
03. Hooray! Hooray! It’s A Holi-Holiday
04. Daddy Cool
05. Belfast
06. A Woman Can Change A Man
07. Rivers Of Babylon (7" Version)
08. Bahama Mama (Long Version)
09. Brown Girl In The Ring
10. Ma Baker
11. King Of The Road
12. Painter Man
13. Ribbons Of Blue (7" Version)
14. Sunny
15. Plantation Boy
16. Bye Bye Bluebird
17. Silent Lover
18. Rasputin (12" Version)

CD 2: THE EIGHTIES
01. Felicidad (Margherita)
02. Happy Song (7" Version)
03. Kalimba De Luna (7" Version)
04. Dreadlock Holiday
05. Going Back West
06. Malaika (7" Version)
07. I See A Boat On The River
08. Got Cha Loco
09. Barbarella Fortuneteller
10. Bang Bang Lulu (7" Version)
11. African Moon (Long Album Version)
12. Young, Free And Single (7" Version)
13. My Friend Jack
14. Sample City
15. The Alibama
16. Exodus (Noah’s Ark 2001) (7" Version)
Bonus Tracks
17. Kalimba De Luna (Instrumental)
18. Felicidad America (Obama – Obama) (Long English Version)

The release date of "Let It All Be Music - The Party Album" has been postponed to 8th May 2009.

Frank Eberlein who last year compiled the box-set "The Collection" and the CD "Rivers Of Babylon" is at present moment working on the forthcoming Boney M. release "Let It All Be Music - The Party Album" -  scheduled for release on 24th April 2009.

At the same time Sony is working hard on finding alternative versions of some of the songs planned to be included on the compilation, but it's still too early to say if they'll succeed.

Special thanks to Frank for providing the information and the cover-layout.

According to jpc.de a new Boney M. CD called "Let It All Be Music" will be released on 24th April 2009. The price has been set to EUR 8,99.

"Greatest Hits (Steel Box Collection)" is set for release on 13th March 2009 and can be pre-ordered at Amazon.de The price is EUR 6,99. The collection is a re-release of the 2008 CD "Rivers Of Babylon (A Best Of Collection)".

"Long Versions & Rarities Vol. 2: 1980 - 1983" is set for release on 27th Febuary 2009. The CD can be pre-ordered at jpc.de at the price of EUR 8,99.

Tracking-list:

1. "Felicidad" (12" Version 11:47)

2 "Malaika" (12" Version 5:39)

3. "Consuela Biaz" (Single version 5:19)

4. "Boonoonoonoos" (Long version 12:13)

5. "Homeland Africa (Ship Ahoi)" (Long version 5:06)

6. "6 Years Of Boney M. Hits" (12" Version 11:14)

7. "Going Back West" (12" Version 5:02)

8. "Silly Confusion" (12" Version 4:00)

9. "Jambo (12" Version 7:48)

10. "African Moon" (12" Version 6:42)

11. "(I Need A) Babysitter" (Original version 3:33)

Thanks to Casper Janssen for providing the art work.

In week no 1 it was down 3 places from 28 to 31 for "The Magic Of Boney M. - The Danish Collection". Week no. 2 saw a rise from no 31 to no 25.

According to Musikhuset in Esbjerg the complete "Daddy Cool" tour in Denmark has now been cancelled.

Two "Daddy Cool" shows have been cancelled in Denmark. The shows in Esbjerg (according to MHE's web-site) and Herning (according to billetnet.dk) have been cancelled until now. If more shows will be cancelled is not known at present time.

Another date has been added to the "Daddy Cool" tour in Denmark. On Thursday 5th February 2009 the show will play in Albertslund. Tickets for the show can be bought at www.billetnet.dk

There's now the following dates in 2009:

2nd February In Allborg at Aalborg Kongres & Kulturcenter, 3rd February in Aarhus at Musikhuset, 4th February in Esbjerg at Musikhuset, 5th Febuary in Albertslund at Musikteatret, 11th February in Copenhagen at Falconer Salen and 13th February in Herning at MCH Kongrescenter.

On the Danish Album Chart it's this week down 5 places from 23 to 28 for "The Magic Of Boney  M. - The Danish Collection".

You can now hear samples of the track on www.jpc.de

This week it's down 3 places from 20 to 23 for "The Magic Of Boney  M. - The Danish Collection" on the Danish Album Chart.

On 9th January 2009 there will be released a single-/maxi-CD with Boney M. feat. Sherita O. & Yulee B. called "Felicidad America (Obama-Obama)". The single can be pre-ordered at jpc.de and amazon.de.

This week it's up 6 places from 26 to 20 for "The Magic Of Boney  M. - The Danish Collection" on the Danish Album Chart.

"The Magic Of Boney  M. - The Danish Collection" is this week down ten places from no. 16 to no. 26.

"The Magic Of Boney  M. - The Danish Collection" has entered the Danish album chart at no. 16 this week. There's nine new entries on the Top40 this week and Boney M. is the third highest new entry.

Another date has been added to the "Daddy Cool" tour in Denmark. On Friday 13th February the show will play in Herning at MCH Kongrescenter. Tickets for the show can be bought at www.billetnet.dk

The layout for the release of "In The Mix" released on 7th November 2008 is now ready:

Layout for the release of "2 In 1". The set is including the CD's "Sunny" and "The Best 12" Versions".

SonyBMG Denmark will release a double CD called "The Magic Of Boney M. - The Danish Collection" (88697391012) on 17th November 2008. The compilation is including the CD's "The Magic Of Boney M." from 2006 and "Christmas With Boney M." from 2007. Not really a Danish Collection at all and just another easy cash-in release with no respect for the back catalogue of Boney M. at all.

The "Daddy Cool" musical will be on tour in Denmark in February 2009.  The musical will visit the following cities: Aalborg on 2nd February at Aalborg Kongres & Kulturcenter, Aarhus on 3rd February at Musikhuset, 4th February in Esbjerg at Musikhuset and Copenhagen on 11th February at Falconer Salen. Tickets can be bought at www.billetnet.dk

It has now been confirmed that the CD-release "In The Mix" is a re-release of "The Best Of 10 Years" from 1986. Release date: 7th November 2008.

The CD "The Best 12" Inch Versions" released on 7th November has been given the same cover as it has in the 3CD box-set "The Collection".

On November 7th there'll be released a CD called "The Best 12" Inch Versions". It contains the same tracks as CD no. 3 from the triple CD "The Collection" released earlier in 2008.  Another release is set for the same date. It's called "In The Mix" and released on the Ariola Express label. There's no tracking-list for this release yet, but it could be a re-release of "The Best Of 10 Years" when thinking of the title "In The Mix".

The box-set will be including the remastered editions of "Take The Heat Off Me", "Love For Sale", "Nightflight To Venus", "Oceans Of Fantasty", "Boonoonoonoos", "10.000 Lightyears", "Kalimba De Luna" and "Eye Dance" as well as a DVD with the "Fantastic Boney M." show aired on ZDF in 1979.

The DVD contains:

01 Boney M.: Let It All Be Music (Live Video) 03:31
02 Boney M.: Gotta Go Home (Live Video) 03:37
03 Boney M.: Two Of Us (Live Video) 02:33
04 Boney M.: Rivers Of Babylon (Live Video) 01:58
05 Boney M.: Brown Girl In The Ring (Live Video) 01:49
06 The Original Trinidad Show & S: Don't Le Me Be Misunderstood (Live Video) 02:18
07 The Original Trinidad Show & S: Ride Your Pony (Live Video) 02:49
08 Boney M.: El Lute (Live Video) 04:40
09 Boney M.: No More Chain Gang (Live Video) 03:09
10 Antonio Gusto: Percussion Solo (Live Video) 04:00
11 Boney M.: I'm Born Again (Live Video) 04:20
12 Boney M.: Oceans Of Fantasy (Live Video) 02:50
13 Boney M.: Calendar Song (January, Februa (Live Video) 02:44
14 Boney M.: Let It All Be Music (Live Video) 03:09

"The Complete Boney M." is a new CD set for release in Germany on 24th October 2008.  The price is EUR 36.99. There's at present moment no information stating if it's a box-set. However the price could indicate that.

The CD can be pre-ordered at jpc.de.

It now seems as if the version of "Zion's Daughter" included on the "Christmas Time" CD will be the original version from 1981, instead of the 1986 version. This can of course only be seen as a positive change. It hasn't been confirmed, but when listening to samples of the included tracks on Sony BMG's web-site and on various on-line music stores, you'll hear the original version from 1981.

Cover lay-out for the "Christmas Time" CD.

According to Sony BMG "Jingle Bells" and "Feliz Navidad" are the original 1981 versions, while "Zion's Daughter" unfortunately is the 1986 version and "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" is the far too much edited version from the "Gold" album. Hard to understand why they went  for the edited "Gold" version now where "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" finally is available on CD's in both original single-version (Nightflight To Venus - Remaster) as well as original maxi-version (Long Versions & Rarities).

The tacking-list for "Christmas Time" has been announced as the following:

If the timings are correct, one can only wonder why they haven't used the original single version of "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" instead of the 4:01 version. However "Feliz Navidad", "Jingle Bells" and "White Christmas" seem as if they could be taken from the original "Christmas Album" from 1981. Hopefully it will be the same case with "Zion's Daughter".

According to jpc.de there'll be released a new Boney M. CD/compilation on 26th September 2008 called "Christmas Time". There's no tracking list available at present moment or no information stating if it's a re-release of one of the previous Christmas CD releases with Boney M. The price is EUR 7.99.

The CD "Long Versions & Rarities Vol. 1 - 1976 -1980" can now be pre-ordered at jpc.de Price is set to EUR 8.99. You can also listen to samples of the included tracks.

The art work for the new Boney M. compilation "Long Versions & Rarites Vol. 1 - 1976 -1980" has been released by Sony/BMG.

We would like to thank the Liz Mitchell fanclub for providing the art work.

According to Sony-BMG/MCI there will be a new Boney M. release on 29th August 2008 in Germany called "Long Versions And Rarities Vol. 1 - 1976 - 1980". The CD is set to include:

1. Help Help (long album version 6:05) *
2. Rivers Of Babylon (US 12" promo long version 7:30) *
3. Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord (long version 6:20) *
4. Dancing In The Streets (long version 6:23) *
5. Ribbons Of Blue (original 1979 full version 4:06) *
6. Gotta Go Home (long version 5:06)
7. Bahama Mama (long version 5:11) *
8. No More Chain Gang (long version 5:43) *
9. I See A Boat On The River (long version 6:06)
10. My Friend Jack (long version 8:26)
11. Children Of Paradise (long version 5:16)
12. Gadda Da Vida (long version 8:56)

* = previously unreleased on CD

We would like to thank the Liz Mitchell fanclub for the information.

A Japanese release of "The Collection" (3CD-set) which was compiled by Frank Eberlein is set to be released on 23rd July 2008. According to some online stores it will have the same title as the German release while other stores state the title as "The Best Collection".

In the U.K. the CD "Rivers Of Babylon" will be released on 2nd June 2008. The cover of the U.K. edition has a different layout compared to the German release.

On www.JPC.de the release-date of "Rivers Of Babylon" has now been changed to 2nd May 2008. The price has changed as well. New price is EUR 8.99.

The CD "Rivers Of Babylon" can now be pre-ordered at www.JPC.de The price is EUR 7.99.

Release date: 9th May 2008.

We have succeeded in getting an interview with Frank Eberlein, the compiler of the two new Boney M. compilations "The Collection" and "Rivers Of Babylon". We hope that you'll enjoy the interview.

Frank, can you tell us how you got involved in the work with the two new Boney M. releases?

In December 2007 I was asked by SONY/BMG if I could arrange tracking lists for two new Boney M. releases. I was then given a couple of ground rules to follow and started at once to work on the lists. A few days later I got the chance to rework the lists once again, because we were given the approval of including more top hits than originally confirmed.

The new tracking lists were sent to Frank Farian for approval and we were excited to see if all tracks would be approved – especially the long versions. Frank Farian approved both lists.

What kind of work followed after the appoval?

When we received the approval, the person from the archive could start searching for the tapes. It was a phase with a lot of e-mails going forth and back, because it wasn’t always possible to find the tapes during the first search. Then we found the original HANSA catalogue numbers, which made the searching much easier. And finally in January 2008 the mastering studio started to digitalize the tapes.

Then a lot of e-mails and calls went forth and back again regarding which version from the various tapes, that should be used. It’s very exciting and you find a pleasure in it when thinking of that many fans have been waiting for these versions for years and will be happy for the result of this work.

When working on the compiling of “The Collection” and “Rivers Of Babylon” are you then in the archive at SONY/BMG or at Farian’s archive?

First of all I have to say that it’s almost impossible to figure out all those thousands of master-tapes in the archives. A part of them is to be found in Frank Farian’s archive, but the greatest part of the tapes is however to be found in the huge BMG archive in Gütersloh.

How was it, searching for a certain song/version in the archives?

When looking for a certain song, it happens that you find two or three different tapes with the song. Each tape then includes three or four different versions of the song. After all these years, no one knows (and no one has a chance to) how to tell one version from another.

That was actually the case with “Rasputin”. One day the mastering studio called me and said, that there were at least six “Rasputin” versions: 3:30, 3:50, 4:05, 4:20, 4:40 etc. I knew, that the 4:40 version was the original single version and was therefore able to help. Otherwise they might had used a different version.

On the other hand there are also songs or versions which we haven’t been able to find on the master-tapes. And that means that we have to deal with some compromises, as you can imagine. It wasn’t easy at all to compile these tracking lists. As you often can read on the internet, then many fans often believe it’s easy when you are well informed about everything and then you just pick this and this song, and of course always the six or seven minutes versions of the old promo records from U.S.A. and then you have a box-set.

Were there any issues you had to deal with, when compiling the compilations?

There are some issues, that I had to deal with. There are the contracts between the firm and Frank Farian as well as marketing aspects. It means that you for a price about 10 EUR just can’t get a full package of CD’s with all the big hits and previously unreleased material. Here I had to use some of the normal album versions, which already can be found on the new CD-remasters. Furthermore it has to be said that the included versions on the new CD’s were the longest versions that we could find in the archives. Most of the long versions, which often were found on the first editions of LP-releases are unfortunately not on tape anymore. Then there are the versions that Frank Farian will not release. And what can you do then?

Can you tell us if the included versions of “We Kill The World” and “Boonoonoonoos” are the original single versions?

”We Kill The World” is not the original single version. It was of course the plan to include it, but the archive couldn’t find the tape including the original version. We just couldn’t find another song instead (as I recommended at once), because the contract already was finished. Therefore we had to use the album version.

It was a special case with ”Boonoonoonoos”. Here it was also planned to use the original single version, but that was not to be found in the archive as well. Instead the person in the archive found a 6:26 version. On the box with the tape it said: ”fading possible after 4:20”. Maybe they made the single version that way? I don’t know. I told them to use this tape, but of course without fading it. Who knows, we might have an exclusive version here? The fans would know it much better than I, when they listen to it. The included version of “Boonoonoonoos” consists of 2 minutes of “Boonoonoonoos”, then followed by “That’s Boonoonoonoos/Train To Skaville/I Shall Sing”.

Can you tell us about the inclusion of the long versions and some of the other tracks on the box-set?

I have actually tried to include as many long versions as possible on the box-set. On the third CD I was only allowed to use eight tracks. That means that eight of the ”real” 12 inch versions with exciting instrumental parts and typical maxi-effects are to be found. CD two includes ”long versions” of ”Children Of Paradise”, ”Going Back West”, ”Consuela Biaz”, ”Bang Bang Lulu”, ”Somewhere In The World” and ”The Carnival Is Over”, which basically aren’t maxi-versions, because you can create them yourself on basic of the short versions. It would have been a pity to include then on the third CD as ”The Best 12” versions.

It was however funny, that the real 12” version of ”Consuela Biaz”, which has a running time of 4:57 and the one I had on the list, not was on the tape with ”Consuela Biaz”. Instead we discovered this 5:19 version. Well, I think that’s better than 4:57, right?

”Living Like A Moviestar” will for the first time be included on CD with the complete intro. On earlier CD releases a fraction of a second has been missing from the intro compared to the vinyl release and because of that reason, I have included the track on the box. Some may not even have noticed the error, but it shows how insignificant it actually was. The track has therefore been mastered from a different tape.

I Feel Good" has been included on the box, because it for me as an East German, was a secret wish. The song was composed by the East German composer Franz Bartzsch, who I appreciate very much, because he has written so many extremely beautiful hits for several famous DDR-singers. He also played in several bands. He escaped to West Germany in the beginning of the eighties and has since worked with many famous artists like Bolland & Bolland, Roland Kaiser and not to forget Boney M. The inclusion of "I Feel Good", even though it’s not the most popular Boney M. song, is my little homage to Franz.

"Brown Girl In The Ring" is my little homage to Michael Cretu, whom I am one of the biggest fans of. A couple of years ago I made an interview with Michael, where I asked him about his time in the studio with Boney M. He told me many exciting incidents from the co-operation with Frank Farian, Stefan Klinkhammer and all the other colleagues. One of the things he told me, was a story from the time when they produced "Rivers Of Babylon" and its B-side. Stefan Klinkhammer was at that time ill for a couple of days and then Frank Farian said to Michael, that he should arrange "Brown Girl In The Ring", which he did. When the song was finished Frank Farian said, that it was even better than if Stefan Klinkhammer had arranged it.

Originally I had planned to include ”Help Help” on CD no. 1 and Frank Farian had approved this. But it wasn’t to be found on tape in the archive any more. That’s the reason why we picked ”New York City” as an alternative.

As you can see, then I have tried to make space for some rarities for fans like you, even though I had to make sure that the record company’s ground rules were followed. There will always be some sorts of compromises to deal with. And if the CD sells well for the company, then I’m sure that they will make further releases in the future.

Is there anything you would like to explain to the fans about “The Collection” and “Rivers Of Babylon”?

I would like to explain shortly, why a couple of tracks/versions are included on both CD’s (“The Collection” and “Rivers Of Babylon”), which has been criticised in some forums on the internet.

You’ll have to know that these CD’s aren’t belonging together (as one could think, now that they are released so closely), but they are released on totally different markets and therefore aimed at various groups of customers.

As said, then there will be a kind of compromise all the time, and you are trying to satisfy both groups of consumers. To make all satisfied it simply impossible, as always in life. But I have to say myself, that there is actually a very good relation between price and product if half the box is previously unreleased material.

Every fan will naturally find something on the tracking lists, which he could have made better. It’s the old story: Let 10 fans compile a tracking list and you will end up with 10 different lists. I can only say that I have tried to do my best and hope that many fans will appreciate to hold these CD’s in their hands.
 

Special thanks to Frank Eberlein for taking the time to do this interview