Nightflight to Venus


Nightflight to Venus is the third studio album by Euro-Caribbean group Boney M., and was released in July 1978.
The album became a major success in continental Europe, Scandinavia, and Canada, topping most of the album charts during the second half of 1978 and also became their first UK number one album.
In Canada, it received a nomination for a 1980 Juno Award in a category 'International Album of the Year'.
Nightflight to Venus includes their worldwide hits "Rivers of Babylon" and "Brown Girl in the Ring", a double A-sided single that topped the UK singles chart and has sold over 2 million copies there. The follow-up was another Boney M. classic, "Rasputin", in most countries also a double A-side coupled with "Painter Man", a cover of a 1966 hit by the band The Creation. In the UK, "Rasputin" and "Painter Man" were released separately as A-sides by Atlantic Records, both reaching the Top 10. "Rivers of Babylon", which peaked at No. 30 on The Billboard Hot 100, became their biggest US hit. It had also sold over 2 million copies in the UK as of July 2018, at which time it was the seventh best selling single in history in the UK.

Album information

In Europe and most other parts of the world the album was followed in November 1978 by the Christmas single, "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" backed with "Dancing in the Streets", another chart topper – selling over 1.86 million copies in the UK alone. Upon its original 1978 release, these two tracks did not appear on Nightflight to Venus, but they were included on later CD releases of the album.
There were four different pressings of the original Hansa Records vinyl LP, all with slightly different versions of some tracks. The most significant difference was the length of the title track, "Nightflight to Venus". On the very first German pressing it was 7:09 minutes, making the segued medley with the also extended "Rasputin" 13:48 in total, the second pressing 5:55, the third 4:58 and the final 4:46 – this version being the one appearing on the UK and US editions. The timings given here are those of the 1994 and 2007 CD re-issues.

Track listing

Side A

  1. "Nightflight to Venus" – 4:46
  2. "Rasputin" – 5:57
  3. "Painter Man" – 3:10
  4. "He Was a Steppenwolf" – 6:51
  5. "King of the Road" – 2:35

    Side B

  6. "Rivers of Babylon" – 4:18
  7. "Voodoonight" – 3:31
  8. "Brown Girl in the Ring" – 4:02
  9. "Never Change Lovers in the Middle of the Night" – 5:32
  10. "Heart of Gold" – 4:00

    Personnel



UK

7"
12"


US

7"
12"


Germany

7"
12"

Album

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

;Singles
YearSingleChartPositionWks on chart
1978"Rivers of Babylon/Brown Girl in the Ring"UK single chart140
1978"Rivers of Babylon"US Billboard Pop chart3017
1978"Rivers of Babylon"Norway's single chart127
1978"Rasputin"UK single chart210
1978"Rasputin"Norway's single chart103
1979"Painter Man"UK single chart106

Certifications and sales