Gold – 20 Super Hits

Gold – 20 Super Hits is a 1992 greatest hits album by group Boney M. Shortly after record label PolyGram had acquired the rights to the ABBA back catalogue and had issued the multimillion-selling hits package Gold: Greatest Hits, BMG and producer Frank Farian followed suit with Boney M.'s Gold – 20 Super Hits which resulted in their best chart entry in the UK (#14 – see The Greatest Hits) and most other European countries since 1980's The Magic of Boney M. – 20 Golden Hits.

Gold – 20 Super Hits
Cover art to most international versions and German re-release
Greatest hits album by
ReleasedNovember 1992
Recorded1975-84
GenreEuro disco, reggae, R&B
Length75:31
LabelMCI/BMG (EU)
ProducerFrank Farian
Boney M. chronology
Daddy Cool – Star Collection
(1991)
Gold – 20 Super Hits
(1992)
The Most Beautiful Christmas Songs of the World
(1992)
Alternative cover
Canadian Edition.
Alternative cover
Original German release, prior to replacement of "Brown Girl in The Ring"
Singles from Gold – 20 Super Hits
  1. "Mega Mix"
    Released: November 1992
  2. "Mary's Boy Child - Oh My Lord (Christmas Mega Mix)"
    Released: December 1992
  3. "Brown Girl in the Ring (Remix)"
    Released: 1 April 1993
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]

Producer Farian controversially edited most of the tracks and also overdubbed them with synthesized 1990s percussion such as disco hi-hats, sampled tambourines and handclaps specifically for this release. These mixes have since appeared on various Boney M. hit collections issued in the 1990s and 2000s, most notably 2006's The Magic of Boney M., which featured nearly all of the tracks that appeared on this release in this form.

Gold – 20 Super Hits/The Greatest Hits included a new "Boney M. Megamix", also issued as a single, which reached #7 in the UK in December 1992 and gave the group their tenth UK Top 10 entry.

Track listing edit

  1. "Rivers of Babylon" (Dowe, McNaughton) – 4:15
    • 1992 overdub version of single version. Replaced by a pitched-up version of the same mix on later German issues.
  2. "Daddy Cool" (Farian, Reyam) – 3:26
    • 1992 overdub version.
  3. "Sunny" (Hebb) – 3:56
    • 1992 overdub version.
  4. "Brown Girl in the Ring" (Farian) – 4:00
    • 1992 overdub version. Replaced by the Remix '93 Radio Edit on later German issues.
  5. "Rasputin" (Farian, Jay, Reyam) – 4:24
  6. "Ma Baker" (Farian, Jay, Reyam) – 4:05
  7. "Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday" (Farian) – 3:55
    • 1992 overdub version.
  8. "Painter Man" (Phillips, Pickette) – 3:16
    • 1992 overdub version.
  9. "Belfast" (Billybury, Deutscher, Menke) – 3:25
    • 1992 overdub version.
  10. "No Woman No Cry" (Bob Marley) – 4:20
  11. "Mary's Boy Child / Oh My Lord" (Jester Hairston, Farian, Jay, Lorin) – 4:01
    • 1992 overdub edit of Christmas Album version. Full-length version available on The Most Beautiful Christmas Songs of the World.
  12. "Gotta Go Home" (Farian, Huth, Jay) – 2:30
  13. "Still I'm Sad" (April, McCarty, Samwell-Smith) – 4:24
  14. "Nightflight To Venus" (Farian, Jay, Kawohl) – 3:49
    • 1992 edited version.
  15. "Felicidad (Margherita)" (Conz, Massara) – 2:50
  16. "El Lute" (Blum, Farian, Jay) – 3:58
  17. "Baby Do You Wanna Bump" (Zambi) – 2:25
    • 1992 overdub edit.
  18. "Kalimba De Luna" (Amoruso, Esposito, Licastro, Malavasi) – 4:11
    • 1992 overdub edit.
  19. "Happy Song" (Abacab, Bacciocci, Spagna) – 3:56
    • Edited 7" version. (released as Boney M. with Bobby Farrell and The School Rebels)
  20. "Boney M. Megamix" (Farian, Reyam, Hebb, Jay) – 3:51

Personnel edit

Production edit

Release history edit

  • 1993 EU: MCI / BMG 74321 12577 1 (LP)
  • 1993 EU: MCI / BMG 74321 12577 2 (CD)
  • 1993 EU: BMG Ariola 74321 126052 7 (CD)

Single releases edit

EU

7"

  • "Megamix" (Radio Edit) – 3:51 / "Bang Bang Lulu" – 3:01 (MCI/BMG 74321 12606-7, 1992)


12"

  • "Megamix" (MCI/BMG 74321 12606-1, 1992)

Side A

  1. "Megamix (Long Version) – 6:12
  2. "Babysitter" (1983 recording – 1992 remix) – 3:48

Side B

  1. "Megamix" (Radio edit) – 3:51
  2. "Bang Bang Lulu" – 3:01
  • "Brown Girl In The Ring (Remix '93)" (MCI/BMG 74321 13705 1, 1993)

Side A

  1. "Brown Girl in the Ring" (Funny Girl Club Mix) – 5:35
  2. "The Calendar Song (January, February, March...)" (Remix '93) – 3:14

Side B

  1. "Brown Girl in the Ring" (Club Mix – Rap Version) – 5:35
  2. "Brown Girl in the Ring" (Radio Version) – 3:58


CD

  • "Megamix" (MCI/BMG 74321 12606-2, 1992)
    1. "Mega Mix" (Radio Edit) – 3:51
    2. "Megamix" (Long version) – 6:12
    3. "Bang Bang Lulu" – 3:01
    4. "Babysitter" – 3:48
  • "Brown Girl In The Ring (Remix '93)" (MCI/BMG 74321 13705 2, 1993)
    1. "Brown Girl in the Ring" (Radio Version) – 3:58
    2. "Brown Girl in the Ring" (Funny Girl Club Mix) – 5:35
    3. "Brown Girl in the Ring" (Club Mix – Rap Version) – 5:35
    4. "The Calendar Song (January, February, March...)" (Remix '93) – 3:14

Charts edit

Certifications and sales edit

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[17] Gold 35,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[18] Platinum 50,000*
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[19] Gold 46,029[19]
France (SNEP)[20] Gold 100,000*
Germany (BVMI)[21] Gold 250,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[22] Gold 50,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[23] Platinum 15,000^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[24] Platinum 50,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[25] Platinum 50,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

The Greatest Hits (1993 UK Release) edit

The Greatest Hits is a greatest hits album by Boney M., released in 1993. It is the UK version of BMG's Gold – 20 Super Hits, with alternate album art and a slightly different track listing.

Besides Boney M.'s best known hits like "Daddy Cool", "Ma Baker" and "Rivers of Babylon", this fourteen track compilation also includes the 1993 remix of "Brown Girl in the Ring" (UK #38)[26] that was issued in both the UK and the rest of Europe as the follow-up single to the 1992 "Megamix" (UK #7).[26] While still in overdubbed form, three tracks on this compilation, "Rasputin", "Ma Baker" and "No Woman, No Cry" are also featured in their full length, as opposed to the versions on the German BMG predecessor Gold – 20 Super Hits. The Greatest Hits omits songs like "Felicidad (Margherita)", "Kalimba de Luna" and "Happy Song", which were not hits in the UK (It should also be worth noting "Felicidad" wasn't released as a single in the UK).

The Greatest Hits was released by the now defunct Telstar Records, while the singles "Megamix" and "Brown Girl in the Ring (Remix '93)" were issued by Arista Records, which at the time was operating as a sublabel to BMG.

The Greatest Hits reached number 14 on the UK Albums Chart in early 1993,[26] which made it Boney M.'s highest charting album since 1980's The Magic of Boney M. – 20 Golden Hits.[26]

References edit

  1. ^ Gold – 20 Super Hits at AllMusic
  2. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Boney M. – Gold - 20 Super Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Boney M. – Gold - 20 Super Hits" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  4. ^ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  5. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Boney M. – Gold - 20 Super Hits" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  6. ^ "Lescharts.com – Boney M. – Gold - 20 Super Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Boney M. – Gold - 20 Super Hits" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  8. ^ "Charts.nz – Boney M. – Gold - 20 Super Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Boney M. – Gold - 20 Super Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Boney M. – Gold - 20 Super Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  11. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Boney M. – Gold - 20 Super Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  12. ^ "Jahreshitparade Alben 1993". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  13. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1993". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  14. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  15. ^ "Top Selling Albums of 1993 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  16. ^ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1993". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  17. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1995 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  18. ^ "Austrian album certifications – Boney M – Gold" (in German). IFPI Austria.
  19. ^ a b "Boney M" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  20. ^ "French album certifications – Boney M – Gold" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  21. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Boney M; 'Gold')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  22. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Boney M – Gold" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 24 November 2018. Enter Gold in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 1993 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
  23. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Boney M – Platinum". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  24. ^ "IFPI Norsk platebransje Trofeer 1993–2011" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway.
  25. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Gold')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  26. ^ a b c d "BONEY M - full Official Chart History - Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 20 March 2018.

Sources and external links edit