Goombay Dance Band

Goombay Dance Band
OriginHamburg, Germany
GenresEuro disco, Europop Santiago pop
Years active1979–present
LabelsCBS
MembersOliver Bendt
Alicia Bendt
Dorothy Hellings
Wendy Doorsen
"Dizzy" Daniel Moorehead
Mario Slijngaard
Past membersBeverlee Wallace
Wendy Walker
Websitewww.goombay-dance-band.com

Goombay Dance Band is a German band created in 1979 by Oliver Bendt, named after a small bay on the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia. Their music has a distinctive sound (somewhat similar to Boney M.[1]), which is a mixture of soca, calypso and western pop. The group enjoyed their greatest commercial success at the beginning of the 1980s, spawning such number 1 hits as "Sun of Jamaica", "Seven Tears" and "Aloha-Oe, Until We Meet Again". Goombay Dance Band built up a fan base across Europe and proved very popular in South Africa too, where "Sun of Jamaica" and "Aloha-Oe" entered the charts.[2]

History

[edit]

The band released the song "Sun of Jamaica" at the end of 1979. It topped the German single charts for nine weeks in 1980. Their next single was "Aloha-Oe, Until We Meet Again", based on a Liliuokalani's composition "Aloha ʻOe". The song charted within the top 5 in European charts, including the number 1 spot in Austria. The group's debut album Zauber der Karibik, internationally known as Sun of Jamaica, was met with commercial success, reaching the top 5 in several countries. The second album, Land of Gold, performed much worse, only charting outside the German top 40, but spawned hits "Eldorado" and "Rain".

In 1981, the band released the album Holiday in Paradise, which featured the song "Seven Tears". When released in the UK next year, "Seven Tears" became the band's breakthrough hit on the British market, where it topped the singles chart for three weeks and was also a million-seller. This success was followed by the release of the compilation Seven Tears, which was well received in the UK, while in mainland Europe, the band released the retrospective Tropical Dreams to a modest success.

However, the group's subsequent releases did not draw as much attention. The next studio album, Born to Win, failed to chart and did not produce any impactful hits. In 1984 and 1985, Goombay Dance Band released several non-album singles, which were commercial failures. In the 1990s, the band released several albums, including the Christmas Album and the compilation Island of Dreams, which was met with moderate chart success and featured a new version of "Sun of Jamaica". The band celebrated their 30th anniversary with a collection of new songs and re-recorded hits in 2009. The following year, they recorded "Is This the Way to the World Cup" to celebrate the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[citation needed] Oliver Bendt toured with the Goombay Dance Band until the end of 2016, when he retired shortly after his 70th birthday.

Band members

[edit]
  • Oliver Bendt
  • Alicia Bendt
  • Dorothy Hellings
  • Wendy Doorsen
  • Dizzy Daniel Moorehead
  • Mario Slijngaard
  • Kátia Waléria Ferreira
  • Ernest Clinton
  • Diana Hoogdorp

Discography

[edit]

Studio albums

[edit]
Year Title Peak chart positions
GER
[3]
AUT
[4]
NLD
[5]
NOR
[6]
SWE
[7]
1980 Sun of Jamaica[A] 3 1 4 17 15
1980 Land of Gold 41
1981 Holiday in Paradise 17
1982 Born to Win
1990 Von Hawaii bis Tomé[B]
1994 Christmas Album[C]
1995 Caribbean Beach Party
  • A^ In German speaking countries, the album Sun of Jamaica was released as Zauber der Karibik, and in Spain, as Sol de Jamaica.
  • B^ Von Hawaii bis Tomé was re-released as Sommer, Sonne, Strand and Montego Bay in 1993.
  • C^ Christmas Album was re-released as Christmas by the Sea in 1997.

Compilations

[edit]
Year Title Peak chart positions
GER
[3]
NLD
[5]
UK
[8]
1982 Tropical Dreams 9 28
1982 Seven Tears 16
1983 The Best of Goombay Dance Band
1986 Karibische Träume
1988 Sun of Jamaica
1995 Island of Dreams 57
1995 Sun of Jamaica
2009 30th Anniversary Collection
2011 Golden Hits – Reloaded

Singles

[edit]
Year Title Peak chart positions Certifications Album
GER
[9]
AUT
[4]
BEL
[10]
FRA
[11]
IRE
[12]
NLD
[5]
NZL
[13]
SWE
[7]
SWI
[14]
UK
[8]
1979 "Ring Ting Ting"
"Sun of Jamaica" 1 1 1 38 14 1 19 5 3 50 Sun of Jamaica
1980 "Aloha-Oe, Until We Meet Again" 5 1 3 4
"Bang Bang Lulu"
"Eldorado" 4 14 Land of Gold
"Rain" 9
1981 "Seven Tears" 13 15 6 1 7 28 1 Holiday in Paradise
"Christmas at Sea" 22
1982 "My Bonnie" 50 Tropical Dreams
"Robinson Crusoe"
"Santorini Goodbye" Born to Win
"Born to Win"
1983 "If You Ever Fall in Love"
1984 "Don't You Cry, Caroline"
1985 "Marlena"
"A Typical Jamaican Mess"
1995 "I Love the Melody" Caribbean Beach Party
"Sun of Jamaica '95 Version"
(Goombay Dance Band & Cool Summer Cuts)
Island of Dreams
2005 "Sun of Jamaica"
(Antibazz & Sunstarz feat. Goombay Dance Band)
62
2009 "Over the Oceans" 30th Anniversary Collection
"In My Dreams"
2010 "Is This the Way to the World Cup" Golden Hits – Reloaded
2012 "Traum von Jamaica"
2013 "Come Back 2 Jamaica"
"Aloha-Oe (Bis wir uns wiedersehen)"
2014 "Life"

She's a Dynamite Single 2017 1 Song, 3 Min. 42 Sec. One Love 2020 1 Song, 2:55

See also

[edit]
  • Goombay – a form of Bahamian music and a drum used to create it

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Goombay Dance Band Biography". www.allmusic.com. Retrieved 2015-01-31.
  2. ^ "South African Rock Lists Website - SA Charts 1969 - 1989 Acts (G)". www.rock.co.za. Retrieved 2015-01-31.
  3. ^ a b "Suche nach "goombay dance band"". www.officialcharts.de (in German). Archived from the original on February 8, 2015. Retrieved 2015-01-31.
  4. ^ a b "Discographie Goombay Dance Band". www.austriancharts.at (in German). Retrieved 2015-01-31.
  5. ^ a b c "Discografie Goombay Dance Band". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2015-01-31.
  6. ^ "Discography Goombay Dance Band". norwegiancharts.com. Archived from the original on 2015-03-22. Retrieved 2015-02-01.
  7. ^ a b "Discography Goombay Dance Band". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2015-02-01.
  8. ^ a b "GOOMBAY DANCE BAND Artist Official Charts". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2015-01-31.
  9. ^ "Goombay Dance Band Single-Chartverfolgung". www.musicline.de (in German). Archived from the original on 2015-02-08. Retrieved 2015-02-01.
  10. ^ "Discografie Goombay Dance Band". www.ultratop.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 2015-02-01.
  11. ^ "InfoDisc : Tout les Titres par Artiste". www.infodisc.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 2013-07-03. Retrieved 2015-01-31.
  12. ^ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". www.irishcharts.ie. Archived from the original on 2010-01-05. Retrieved 2015-02-01.
  13. ^ "Discography Goombay Dance Band". charts.nz. Retrieved 2015-02-01.
  14. ^ "Goombay Dance Band". hitparade.ch (in German). Archived from the original on 2015-03-29. Retrieved 2015-02-01.
  15. ^ "Bundesverband Musikindustrie: Gold-/Platin-Datenbank". www.musikindustrie.de (in German). Retrieved 2015-02-05.
  16. ^ "Certified Awards". www.bpi.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2014-06-25. Retrieved 2015-02-05.
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