Boney M., of course, had one of the biggest Christmas tunes of all times when they released Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord in 1978 at the height of their career. Accompanied by a video filmed on Moscow's Red Square during the group's visit to the former U.S.S.R. where they performed 10 shows in 8 days, it hit #1 in Germany and the UK at the time. In the UK, it was one on the top 10 of the best-selling singles ever for many years (it is currently ranked the 12th best-selling single with Rivers Of Babylon at no. 7). Boney M.'s popularity started to wane by 1980 as recordings for their ambitious Boonoonoonoos album began. By the time it was finally released November '81, the relationship between Bobby Farrell and producer Frank Farian had become very tense, and Bobby was ultimately fired from the group, leaving them unable to properly promote the new album. In the summer of 1981 Liz Mitchell had been recording a Christmas album as a solo project but Farian decided to ultimately turn it into a Boney M. album. Little Drummer Boy was chosen as the lead single, and the group shot a video for it, but with Bobby's exit the video was left unreleased for nearly 40 years, and Farian had to quickly re-record the second verse (which was supposed to have been for Bobby) with a choral session singer, and Liz, Marcia and Maizie would appear in a German TV show performing the song with a young boy playing the drum. The single hit #20 in Germany but did not chart elsewhere. The album was released just four weeks after Boonoonoonoos, peaking at #14 in Germany, and becoming a much loved seasonal album over the years to come, with its mixture of joyous, reggae-fied Christmas songs and more solemn hymns, sung in English, German, Spanish and French. The following year, Zion's Daughter was released as the second single in Germany (Reggie Tsiboe had now replaced Bobby Farrell) whilst Scandinavia opted for Feliz Navidad and Spain chose Jingle Bells. In 1983 another single, White Christmas, was released in Spain to coincide with Boney M.'s promotional visit where they promoted their current single Jambo. In the summer of 1984, Farian commenced a second Christmas album for Boney M. which was left unfinished when the group scored a comeback hit with Kalimba De Luna after nearly three hit-less years. The six new songs were mixed up with remixed versions of the 1981 tracks for a new compilation The 20 Greatest Christmas Songs, released in November '86. This version has been reissued several times since, but here is the original 1981 album in all its glory plus a few alternate versions:
Jingle Bells was originally 3:28 but edited to 2:51 for the LP. The full version was overdubbed for a 1986 released, I have attempted to recreate the unreleased full 1981 mix.
Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord - I have included the full, unedited 6:20 version (the 7" was 5:43, the LP version 5:14).
White Christmas - one mix was released where the line 'sleighbells in the snow' in the intro was accidentally muted.
Silent Night, Holy Night - the scarce UK version of the album (released as Mary's Boy Child) included an all-English version of this album whereas the German version had the second verse in German.
00:00 Little Drummer Boy
04:21 White Christmas
08:42 Feliz Navidad
11:50 Jingle Bells
15:17 Winter Fairytale
18:15 Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord (Full Version)
24:35 Christmas Medley: Silent Night, Holy Night / Snow Falls Over The Ground / Hear Ye The Message
30:59 Petit Papa Noël
32:40 Zion's Daughter
36:32 When A Child Is Born
39:52 Darkness Is Falling
42:51 I'll Be Home For Christmas
Bonus Tracks:
46:35 Little Drummer Boy
50:54 White Christmas (Single Edit With Faulty Mix)
54:18 Silent Night, Holy Night (UK Mix)
