Boonoonoonoos is the fifth studio album by Boney M. It was released in September 1981.
Despite producer Frank Farian having announced by the end of 1979 that Boney M. were to take a break, recording sessions for a new album began in the spring of 1980, and the title "Boonoonoonoos" (a Caribbean word for "Happiness") already appeared as one of the first completed tracks, a cover of Larry Dillon's ska-title "Train to Skaville" which was intertwined with new rap parts "That's Boonoonoonoos". Two of the new recordings, "I See A Boat On The River" and "My Friend Jack" were issued to promote The Magic of Boney M. - 20 Golden Hits in May 1980.
Farian invited the singers Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett and his crew of musicians to Nice in the summer of 1980 where several new songs were recorded. A new double A-side single "Children Of Paradise"/"Gadda-Da-Vida" was released in September, announcing the as yet untitled new album to be released in November '80. The single reached number 11 in Germany, but in the UK their popularity was now quickly slipping. When released in February 1981, the single peaked at a disappointing #66. In the meantime, Farian had decided to revise the whole album.
While new pressings of "Children Of Paradise" now promoted "The Magic Of Boney M." on the back cover, the band instead issued another single in December, a cover version of "Felicidad (Margherita)" backed with "Strange". "Felicidad", originally recorded by Italian band Massara as "Margherita (Love In The Sun)" in 1979, managed to get Boney M. into the German Top 10 again (#6, 27 weeks) and it became a sizeable hit in most of Europe as well. The single, however, wasn't released by Atlantic Records UK, nor was it released in Spain or Portugal where Massara's original version had been a huge hit two years earlier. In the Netherlands, the single was released with "Strange" as the A-side.
At the same time, singer Marcia Barrett issued the solo single "You"/"I'm Lonely", produced by John Edmed, and written by Kelvin James. Released in Germany in December 1980, and in the UK two months later, the single failed to chart in either of the countries. Another song from the same sessions, "Breakaway", ended up on Boonoonoonoos as a Boney M. track with Frank Farian doing the lead vocal.
New recording sessions took place in the spring of 1981. The band flew to Jamaica in May 1981 to record a TV special, perform live in concert with Rita Marley, shoot photos for the album cover, and one of the final songs "Silly Confusion" was recorded in Bob Marley's Tuff Gong studios in Kingston.
Boonoonoonoos – originally intended to be released as a double-album – was subsequently trimmed to a one disc, thirteen track release. A limited edition double album was however issued in Germany, France and the UK, containing slightly longer versions of certain songs, but with the same number of tracks.
Tracklisting[]
- Boonoonoonoos
- That's Boonoonoonoos/Train to Skaville/I Shall Sing
- Silly Confusion
- Ride to Agadir
- Jimmy
- African Moon
- We Kill the World (Don't Kill the World)
- Homeland Africa (Ship Ahoy)
- Malaika
- Consuela Biaz
- Breakaway
- Sad Movies
- Goodbye My Friend