Liz Mitchell
Encyclopedia
Liz Mitchell is a singer, best known as the former lead singer of the 1970s disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

/pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...

, Boney M.

Early life

At the age of eleven, Mitchell and her family emigrated to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, in 1963. By the end of the decade, she auditioned for Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...

and eventually moved to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 to join the German cast where she replaced Donna Summer
Donna Summer
LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...

. After Hair, Mitchell joined the Les Humphries Singers
Les Humphries Singers
The Les Humphries Singers was a 1970s musical group formed in Hamburg, Germany in 1969 by the English born Les Humphries , who had been inspired to do his own version of the Edwin Hawkins Singers.The Les Humphries Singers dissolved at the end of the...

 for a few years where she had a relationship with Malcolm Magaron. The two left the group to form Malcolm Locks who released the album Caribbean Rocks in 1974 to minimal success. Mitchell, finding her career coming to a standstill, returned to her parents in England.

Boney M.

A phone call from fellow Jamaican Marcia Barrett
Marcia Barrett
Marcia Barrett , is one of the original singers with the vocal group, Boney M.-The early years:...

 in 1975 persuaded Mitchell to return to Germany to join a new group being assembled by record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 Frank Farian
Frank Farian
Frank Farian , is a German record producer and songwriter. He started out as a trained cook before moving into the music industry...

 which would become known as Boney M. Though the group's initial purpose was to simply lip-synch
Lip-synching in music
Lip-synching in music is "moving the lips in synchronization with [pre-]recorded speech or song" to give the appearance of a 'live' performance. It is generally considered dishonest, though some producers argue that it needs to be done in some performance contexts...

 for TV and discothèque performances of Farian's song "Baby Do You Wanna Bump", Boney M. soon became a legitimate recording group with Mitchell, Barrett, and producer Farian as the vocal core. Mitchell became widely regarded as Boney M.'s lead vocalist. Farian later stated that "All members (of Boney M.) could be replaced, except Liz". The departure of Bobby Farrell
Bobby Farrell
Roberto "Bobby" Alfonso Farrell was an Aruban dancer and performer, best known as the male member of the successful 1970s pop and disco group Boney M.-Early years:...

 in late 1981 proved this was not entirely true.

Although Boney M was largely a Farian vehicle for his own songwriting
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

, Mitchell is credited as co-composer of the Boney M song, "African Moon", which appeared on their album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

, Boonoonoonoos
Boonoonoonoos
Boonoonoonoos is the fifth studio album by Boney M. It was released on November 1, 1981.Despite producer Frank Farian having announced that Boney M...

(1981). Though she did not contribute significantly as a songwriter, Mitchell's vocals are widely regarded as the most distinctive part of the Boney M. sound.

Boney M. would disband in 1986, as Farian lost interest in the project.

After Boney M.

After the group split up shortly after their 10th anniversary in 1986, Farrell convinced Mitchell, Maizie Williams
Maizie Williams
Maizie Ursula Williams is one of the original members of successful 70s disco music group, Boney M.-Early years:...

 and a replacement for Marcia Barrett to re-group for a tour in 1987. A recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...

 for the group was also arranged. When Farrell and the replacement singer failed to show up for the rehearsals, Mitchell and Williams recruited singer Celena Duncan and dancer Curt Dee Daran for the tour. As Williams had never sung on Boney M.'s recordings, Mitchell ended up recording the scheduled album on her own.

However, it proved difficult for Mitchell to find a record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

 to release the album, entitled No One Will Force You. It was released in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 in the fall of 1988, supported by the singles "Mandela" (a re-work of Boney M.'s 1979 hit "El Lute") and "Niños De La Playa" (Children of the Beach). The latter was also released on Mega Records
Mega Records
Mega Records was a Nashville, Tennessee-based music label that released albums by bands such as Apollo 100 and country and western singer Sammi Smith, as early as the early 1970s...

 in Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...

 where the group did a tour in October. By this point, Williams had been replaced by Carol Grey.

At the same time, Simon Napier-Bell
Simon Napier-Bell
Simon Napier-Bell has undertaken many jobs in the music industry, including bandboy, manager, producer, songwriter, journalist and author and gourmet...

 had produced a remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....

 album of Boney M.'s greatest hits and wanted the original line-up to promote it. Mitchell reluctantly accepted the offer and Boney M. appeared together again on German TV, even though Mitchell's new line-up still had gigs to play.

The success of the remix album led Mitchell to sign her album for a French and Dutch release in 1989, and due to personal differences within the group, she eventually decided to focus on her solo career. Even though Madeleine Davis took her place in the group, Farian eventually called Mitchell back for a second remix album by the end of 1989 and also had her front a new Boney M. line-up for the single, "Stories", as an answer-back to an unofficial Boney M. single, "Everybody Wants to Dance Like Josephine Baker", recorded by the other three with Madeleine Davis, without Farian's approval.

In 1990, Mitchell re-formed her 1988 line-up with Patricia Foster replacing Celena Duncan and kept touring the cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...

  circuit. In April 1991, she released the single "Mocking Bird", produced by long time Boney M. collaborator, Helmut Rulofs to minimal attention. After three dire years, the success of Boney M. Gold - 20 Super Hits
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 -...

boosted the career of her line-up, entitled 'Boney M. feat. Liz Mitchell', and they were officially approved by Farian to promote the album and the accompanying singles. For the follow-up More Gold - 20 Super Hits Vol. II
More Gold - 20 Super Hits Vol. II
More Gold – 20 Super Hits Vol. II is a 1993 greatest hits album by Boney M.. As PolyGram released More ABBA Gold in 1993 to follow up the highly successful Gold: Greatest Hits, BMG and producer Frank Farian issued More Gold - 20 Super Hits Vol...

, Mitchell recorded four new songs. No One Will Force You with two previously unreleased tracks from 1984 was also re-released in Denmark, five years after it was recorded.

In 1996, Mitchell and her husband Thomas Pemberton built the Dove House Studios and formed Dove House Records. With a newly founded fan club, Mitchell recorded an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 with four Christmas songs as a special Christmas gift for her fans.

In November 1999, Mitchell finally released her album Share the World, which had taken three years to complete. In November 2000, she released the seasonal album Christmas Rose which consisted of partly new material, including the title track, "Lord's Prayer" and "I Want to Go to Heaven" co-written by herself, part re-recordings of Boney M.'s Christmas Album.

Mitchell, now a born-again Christian, continued the inspirational path on Let It Be, her fourth solo album, released in November 2004. Just a few months later, the album Liz Mitchell Sings the Hits of Boney M., recorded in Prague, backed by a Czech symphony orchestra, was released. A song recorded
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...

 in 2006, called "A Moment Of Love", can be found on the compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

, The Magic of Boney M.
The Magic of Boney M.
The Magic of Boney M. is a greatest hits album of recordings by Boney M. released by Sony BMG in October 2006.The compilation which is an updated version of 1993's Gold - 20 Super Hits and 2001's The Greatest Hits includes eighteen of Boney M's best known hits from the 70s and 80s, a new remix of...

.

She is still touring, billed as Boney M. featuring Liz Mitchell. Her most recent concerts have been in:
  • Zagreb
    Zagreb
    Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...

     in Croatia
    Croatia
    Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

     on 5 January 2009
  • Kherson
    Kherson
    Kherson is a city in southern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Kherson Oblast , and is designated as its own separate raion within the oblast. Kherson is an important port on the Black Sea and Dnieper River, and the home of a major ship-building industry...

     in Ukraine
    Ukraine
    Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

     on 27 May 2009
  • Kieler Woche in Germany
    Germany
    Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

     on 19 June 2009
  • Qaqortoq
    Qaqortoq
    Qaqortoq is a town in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. With a population of 3,230 as of 2011, it is the most populous town in southern Greenland, and the fourth-largest town in the country. The name is western Greenlandic and means "[the] white [one]".- History :The area around...

     in Greenland
    Greenland
    Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

     on 30 October 2009

Discography

Albums
  • No One Will Force You (1988, re-released 1989 and 1993)
  • Share the World (1999)
  • Christmas Rose (2000)
  • Let It Be (2004)
  • Liz Mitchell Sings the Hits of Boney M. (2005)



7" Singles
  • "Got a Man on My Mind" / "Perfect" (Hansa 11 327 AT, Germany 1977)

"Got a Man on My Mind" was taken from Boney M.'s 1976 album Take the Heat Off Me
Take the Heat Off Me
Take The Heat Off Me is the debut album by Boney M.. The album became a major seller outside of the United States, where the album just missed making the chart. Includes the hits "Daddy Cool" , "Sunny" and "Baby Do You Wanna Bump"...

. "Perfect" was a 1974 demo with Malcolm Magaron (despite the label crediting Farian as the producer).
  • "Mandela" / "Reggae People" (Horus 50.067, Spain 1988)
  • "Niños de la Playa" / "Time Is a River" (Horus 50.080, Spain 1988 / Mega Records MRCS 2354, Scandinavia 1988)
  • "Mandela" / "Reggae People" (Dureco 11 008 77, Holland 1989)
  • "Marinero" / "Love Is Bleeding" (Dureco 11 912 07, Holland 1989 / Tréma 410 478 PM 102, France 1989)
  • "Mocking Bird" / "Tropical Fever" (Hansa 114 123-100, Germany 1991)



CD Singles
  • "Mocking Bird" (Radio Version) 3:45 / "Tropical Fever" 3:55 / "Mocking Bird" (Club Mix) 5:25 (Hansa 664 123-211, Germany 1991)
  • "Reggae People" 3:09 / "Mandela" 4:42 (CMC 4938-SCD, Denmark 1993)
  • "Sunshine" (Radio Mix) (4:36) / (Club Mix) (5:50) / (Extended Radio Mix) (5:14)/ (Extended Club Mix) (5:19) (Dove House DHR 0003 CD, 1999)
  • "Christmas Rose" (3:53) / 2. "Lord's Prayer" (3:53) (Dove House DHR 0004 CD, 1999)
  • "Let It Be" (4:08) / "You're Excellent" (3:50) (Dove House DHR 0009 CD, 2004)
  • "My Life Is In Your Hands" (5:04) / "I Want To Go To Heaven" (4:08) / "Share The World" (Remix) (4:26) / "When A Child Is Born" (3:40) / "Grandmother's Song" (4:27) (Dove House DHR 0012 CD, 2006)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK