So the rumours that Farian really used session singers are not true?
In Boney M.’s classic period 1976-79, all vocals were done by Liz, Marcia & Farian. The ‘special bulletin’ voice on Ma Baker, robot voice on Nightflight To Venus, and the narrator of Rasputin, El Lute, and Wild Planet were all done by a friend of Farian, a former US soldier called Bill Swisher whose then wife Linda Blake did the snarling voice of Ma Baker and Bahama Mama. In Boney M.’s later period, 1980-85, vocal group La Mama did backing vocals on several tracks. The line-up consisted of Cathy Bartney, Patricia Shockley, and Madeleine Davis (who took Liz Mitchell’s place in Boney M. 1989) – these girls sang on Gadda Da Vida, Felicidad, Silly Confusion, Don’t Kill The World, Malaika, and Going Back West. When Cathy Bartney left in 1983, she was replaced by Judy Cheeks 1983-84, and this line-up did backing vocals on Mother & Child Reunion, Jambo, I Feel Good, Barbarella Fortuneteller, Happy Song, and Bobby’s I See You. By 1985, Rhonda Heath (formerly of Silver Convention) took Judy’s p
