"
Ma Baker" is a 1977 disco hit single by German disco band Boney M.. It was the first single off their second album
Love for SaleLove for Sale is the second album by Boney M.. The album includes the hits "Ma Baker" , "Belfast", "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" and "Still I'm Sad".-Track listing:Side A...
and their third consecutive chart-topper in Germany and their best yet placing in the UK, peaking at #2 (only surpassed by
Donna SummerDonna Summer is an American singer and songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of music, earning the title "The Queen of Disco"....
's "
I Feel Love"I Feel Love" is a song by Donna Summer, taken from her 1977 concept album I Remember Yesterday. The song, with an entirely electronic backing track, is considered a pioneer in electronic music....
") although only a minor single in the US (#96).
The song
Frank Farian's assistant Hans-Jörg Mayer (aka Reyam) had discovered a popular Tunisian folkloric song,
Sidi Mansur while on holiday and rewrote the song into a disco track. The lyrics by Fred Jay were inspired by the story of legendary 1930s outlaw
Ma BarkerKate "Ma" Barker was an American criminal from the "public enemy era", when the exploits of gangs of criminals in the Midwest gripped the American people and press...
although the name was changed into "Ma Baker" because "it sounded better". With a structure similar to Boney M.'s breakthrough single "Daddy Cool" with the same gimmick percussion, alternating answer-back vocals, a spoken mid-part, the song also opened with a snarling "Freeze, I'm Ma Baker, put your hands in the air! Gimme all your money". Although it has never been officially credited, the voice was done by Linda Blake, the wife of Frank Farian's American friend Bill Swisher who was a soldier in Germany at the time. Bill Swisher also did the spoken mid-part, announcing a bulletin from the FBI. He was also used on several later Boney M. recordings, including "
RasputinRasputin is the name of the first and only single off British singer Jack Lucien's debut album New 80s Musik. The single edit was released as a free download on June 2, 2008, although the song managed to enter the Spanish and British charts on the album's release on iTunes....
" and "
El Lute"El Lute" / "Gotta Go Home" is a double A-side single by German band Boney M. It was the lead single off their fourth album Oceans of Fantasy and was the group's eighth and final #1 single in the German charts. In the UK where "Gotta Go Home" was chosen as the main A-side, the single was their...
". Frank Farian re-recorded the song with
Milli VanilliMilli Vanilli was a pop/dance music project formed by Frank Farian in Germany in 1988, fronted by Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. The group's debut album achieved high sales internationally which earned them a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1990. The act became one of the most popular pop acts in...
in 1988. Boney M.'s version was remixed the same year, 1993 and again in 1998. The song has been covered a number of times by Banda R-15,
KnorkatorKnorkator was a German band from Berlin that combined heavy metal with comical elements. They proclaimed themselves to be "Germany's most band in the world" , as the title "The best band in the world" was already taken by Die Ärzte...
and others.
A sample of "Ma Baker", particularly the chorus, is prominent in the recent
RedOneRedOne is an award winning Moroccan-Swedish producer/songwriter.-Biography:RedOne began his career producing in the European pop music scene that became synonymous with the pop music of the 21st century...
-produced electropop international chart-topper "
Poker Face"Poker Face" is an electropop song by American pop singer-songwriter Lady Gaga from her debut album, The Fame. Produced by RedOne, it was released as the album's second single in late 2008 for some markets and in early 2009 for the rest of the world. The song is an uptempo dance song following the...
", by the American pop singer
Lady GagaStefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American recording artist. After being signed to and quickly dropped from Def Jam Records at age 19, she began performing in the rock music scene of New York City's Lower East Side...
.
The single
In Germany, Benelux, England and Yugoslavia, the single came out backed with a cover of
The YardbirdsThe Yardbirds are an English rock band, notable for starting the careers of three of rock's more famous guitarists: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, all of whom were in the top fifteen of Rolling Stones' 100 Top Guitarists list...
' "Still I'm Sad" which even charted on its own in Sweden (#17). In Germany, the first single pressing came out with a backcover with tour dates and a 4:47 version with a slightly different mix, leaving out the verse line "of one who left no friends", plus it features a longer instrumental outro which can be heard in the 1988 remix. "Still I'm Sad" also fades four seconds later than the album version. This pressing was also released in Yugoslavia. Although the LP cover would also list the timing 4:47 of "Ma Baker", it was the much more common second single mix 4:33 that was included in the album. Subsequent German single pressings featured a picture of Boney M. and their tour crew Black Beauty Circus on the backcover.
In Spain, Brazil, Mexico, France, Canada and the US, the single was backed by "A Woman Can Change a Man". In Japan, the initial pressings (October 1977) had "A Woman Can Change a Man" as the A-side and an alternate shot off the album's controversial chain photo sessions as the cover. It was soon repressed with "Ma Baker" as the correct A-side and the album front cover photo for the artwork.
In Hungary, "Ma Baker" was backed with the follow-up single "Belfast".
1993 Remix
Following the remix of "Brown Girl in the Ring", Farian remixed "Ma Baker" in the summer of 1993. While a modest club hit, it failed to enter the European charts. "Borsalino" and "The Most Wanted Woman" are two dub mixes of the track. The new remix was included in the compilation album
More Gold - 20 Super Hits Vol. IIMore 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...
in October 1993.
12"
- "Ma Baker (Remix '93)" (BMG
Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...
74321 15940 1, 1993)
Side A - Gangster
- "Ma Baker (Remix '93)" (Bonnie & Clyde mix) - 5:25
- "The Most Wanted Woman" - 3:30
Side B - Fashion
- "Borsalino (Trainee Mix)" - 4:55
- "Ma Baker (Remix '93)" (Radio Edit) - 3:58
CD
- "Ma Baker (Remix '93)" (BMG 74321 15940 2, 1993)
- "Ma Baker (Remix '93)" (Radio Edit) - 3:58
- "Ma Baker (Remix '93)" (Bonnie & Clyde mix) - 5:25
- "Borsalino (Trainee Mix)" - 4:55
- "The Most Wanted Woman" - 3:30
1998 Remix
Late 1998, a new remix of "Ma Baker" by
Sash!Sash! is a German DJ / producer team, fronted by Sascha Lappessen , who works in the recording studio with Ralf Kappmeier and Thomas "Alisson" Lüdke. They have sold over 17 million albums worldwide and earned more than 65 Gold and Platinum awards.-History:Sascha Lappessen, Thomas "Alisson" Lüdke,...
started to make noise on the club charts as a 12" single. Just as the CD-single was about to follow, it was withdrawn, and a new version appeared, re-titled "Somebody Scream! Ma Baker" featuring Horny United. The single was a Top 30 hit in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and even peaked at #6 (2 Weeks) in Finland and #10 in Sweden. When released in the UK in April, it peaked at #22. The accompanying video featured a young woman, kickboxing, training with a gun, the only relation to the original group being her watching the original 1977 video of "Ma Baker" on a TV set.
12"
- Boney M. / Horny United Feat. Boney M. - "Ma Baker" / "Somebody Scream - Ma Baker" (2 x 12", Logic Records/Lautstark/BMG
Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...
74321 64561 1, 1999)
Side A
- Boney M. "Ma Baker" (Extended Vocal Edit) - 5:26
Side B
- Boney M. "Ma Baker" (Disco Dub Edit) - 5:35
Side C
- Horny United "Somebody Scream - Ma Baker" (Massive Mix) - 7:30
- Horny United "Somebody Scream - Ma Baker" (Screamless Mix) - 6:16
Side D
- Horny United "Somebody Scream - Ma Baker" (Full Vocal Mix)
- Horny United "Somebody Scream - Ma Baker" (Ma Baker House Mix)
CD
- Boney M vs. Sash!: "Ma Baker" (BMG 74321 63942 2, 1998)
- "Ma Baker (Tokapi Radio Edit) - 3:24
- "Ma Baker" (Original Edit) - 3:35
- "Ma Baker" (Extended Vocal Edit) - 5:26
- "Ma Baker" (Disco Dub Edit) - 5:35
- Boney M. vs. Sash!/Horny United Featuring Boney M.: "Ma Baker"/"Somebody Scream" (BMG 74321 64561 2, 1999)
- Boney M. vs. Sash! "Ma Baker" (Extended Radio Edit) - 4:54
- Boney M. vs. Sash! "Ma Baker" (Disco Dub Edit) (5:32)
- Horny United Featuring Boney M. "Somebody Scream (Ma Baker)" (Radio Edit) (Oliver Wallner, Re-Run) - 4:17
- Horny United Featuring Boney M. "Somebody Scream (Ma Baker)" (Massive Mix) (Oliver Wallner, Re-Run) - 6:59
12"
- Boney M. vs. Horny United "Ma Baker/Somebody Scream" (Logic Records 74321 65387 1, 1999)
Side A
- "Ma Baker (Club Mix by Horny United)
Side B
- "Somebody Scream" (Beatroute Star Bar Mix by DJ Slammer & Mark Bambach)
- "Somebody Scream" (Cosmic People Mix)
CD
- Boney M. vs. Horny United "Ma Baker/Somebody Scream" (Logic Records 74321 65387 2, 1999)
- "Somebody Scream" (Radio Edit) - 3:06
- "Ma Baker" (Sash! Radio Edit) - 3:27
- "Somebody Scream" (Massive Club mix) - 7:31
- "Ma Baker" (Sash! 12" Mix) - 4:55
Charts (1977 Boney M. version)
| Chart |
Peak
Position |
| Eurochart Hot 100 |
1 |
| Norway Singles Chart VG-lista is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by...
|
1 |
| UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record industry. The full chart contains the top 200 singles based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 of this list...
|
2 |
External links