The Rivers of Babylon

The iconic disco group Boney M from the 1970s left an indelible mark on the music world with their infectious beats and unforgettable melodies. Formed in West Germany, the group's vibrant sound, blending Caribbean rhythms with European pop sensibilities, quickly catapulted them to international stardom.

“Bahama Mama"/"I'm Born Again” is a double A-side single from the band’s album Oceans of Fantasy. “Bahama Mama” is a disco track.

“Belfast” is the second single released from the 1977 album Love for Sale. The song was written in 1971 by Drafi Deutscher and Jimmy Bilsbury. It was the band’s first single to feature lead vocals by Marcia Barrett and became their 4th consecutive German chart topper. The song also charted on the UK Singles chart and was a popular track in their live shows and also re-recorded by Marcia Barrett as a solo track on her 2005 album Come Into My Life.

“Daddy Cool” is a song that was produced and co-written by Frank Farian the founder of Boney M. He provided the male voice parts on the record. The song was featured on the band’s debut album, Take the Heat Off Me. It was a hit in 1976 and a staple of disco music and became their first hit in the UK. The song also charted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

“Gotta Go Home” is a 1979 double A-side single by Boney M and the lead single from their album Oceans of Fantasy. This was their eighth and final number-one single in Germany. "El Lute" tells the true story of Spanish outlaw Eleuterio Sánchez, who was still in prison at the time the song was released, though he was shortly to be released following a pardon.  During a promotional visit in Spain, Boney M. met Sánchez and gave him a golden record for the sales of the single.

“Kalimba de Luna” is a 1982 single by the Italian musician and drummer Tony Esposito. It was written by him and Remo Licastro, pianist Giuseppe “Joe” Amoruso, keyboardist Mauro Malavasi, and vocalist Gianluigi Di Franco. The song was covered by Boney M and included on their album Ten Thousand Light Years. Lead vocals were by new member Reggie Tsiboe.

“Ma Baker” came out as a single in 1977 and was the first single from their album Lover for Sale. It was the band’s third consecutive chart topper in West Germany. It also charted in the US and the UK. The song tells the story of the US outlaw Ma Barker, but the name was changed because it sounded better. The real Ma Barker was the matriarch of an outlaw gang of brothers and allies that engaged in kidnapping and in payroll, post office, and bank robberies in the 1920s and '30s.

“Rasputin” is a song that was recorded by the German pop and Eurodisco band Boney M and came out as a single in 1978. The song is featured on their album Nightflight to Venus. It was written by the creator of the band Fran Fanan, along with George Reyam and Fred Jay. The song is about Grigori Rasputin, a friend and advisor of Tsar Nicholas II and his family during the early 20th century. It became the band’s signature song.

“Rivers of Babylon” is a Rastafarian song that was written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of the Jamaican reggae group the Melodians in 1970. The lyrics were adapted from the Hebrew Bible texts Psalms 19 and 137. The song was popularized in Europe by Boney M, and their version was awarded a platinum disc and became one of the top ten all-time best-selling singles in the UK.