The Magic of Boney M. – 20 Golden Hits

For 2006 Sony BMG release see The Magic of Boney M..

Untitled

The Magic of Boney M. - 20 Golden Hits is a greatest hits album by Boney M. issued in May 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.

Track listing

Side A:

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

Side B:

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

Alternate editions

File:Boney M. - Greatest Hits (1980).jpg

German Club Edition

'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

Year	Chart	Position
1980	UK albums chart	1
	Norway's album chart	2

Single

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1980	"My Friend Jack"	UK single chart	57
		Norway's single chart	6

Sources and external links

• Rate Your Music, detailed discography
• Discogs.com, detailed discography
• Allmusic, biography, discography etc.