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"Mary's Boy Child / Oh My Lord" [nb 1] is a 1978 Christmas single by Boney M., a cover of Harry Belafonte's 1956 hit "Mary's Boy Child", put in medley with the new song "Oh My Lord". The single had its premiere on 2 November 1978 on the German TV-show "Starparade" (Episode 44) which aired on ZDF.
One of the best-known cover versions of the song is from the German-based disco-group Boney M. from 1978, "Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord." [13] This version returned the song to the top of the UK chart. [6] It is one of the best-selling singles of all time in the UK, and has sold 1.87 million copies as of November 2015. [11]
Boney M. is the only artist to appear twice in the top 12 best selling singles of all time in the UK, with "Rivers of Babylon" in seventh place and "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" at number 11. [36] They are also one of six artists to sell a million copies with two singles in the same year.
"Rivers of Babylon"/"Mary's Boy Child / Oh My Lord" is a 1988 remix single that was issued to launch the group's reunion. (Boney M. had split up in 1986, their 10th anniversary.) The double A-side single contained new mixes of both songs. Although the remix album from which both sides of the single were taken sold well, the single failed to chart.
Although it became the first Creation song to enter the top-ten in any form, it was not successful by Boney M.'s standards, as both "Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord", which had been released before, and "Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday", both had reached the top-three of the chart (number one and three respectively). [40]
Under the name Boney M., he achieved his biggest success in Europe as well as world-wide with songs including "Daddy Cool", "Rivers of Babylon", "Rasputin" and a remake of "Mary's Boy Child". [2] As later with Milli Vanilli, Farrell did not actually sing; in performances, he lip-synced to Farian's own vocals. [2] [7]
In certain territories the album was given the alternate title Christmas with Boney M. The album includes the million-selling 1978 Christmas number one "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" and it yielded two further single releases, "Little Drummer Boy" in 1981, which became a Top 20 hit in Germany.
The B-side of the German single, a remix of the group's 1978 hit "Rasputin", was issued as an A-side in the UK where the Megamix was backed with a remix of their 1978 chart-topper "Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord".