the way to no. 2 and become a hit in its own right. Early single pressings feature the full-length, 4:18 version, whose final chorus has a section that was later edited out. The single mix is also slightly different from the album version in that the latter features steel drums on the outro riff of the song, while the single mix doesn't. "Brown Girl in the Ring" was also issued separately in Canada as an A-side in the summer of 1979. It reached no. 8 on the Canadian AC chart in July 1979, becoming the third Boney M. song to reach the top 10 on that chart after "Rivers of Babylon" and "Rasputin". On RPMs Top 100 singles chart, the song stalled at no. 79. Liz Mitchell had previously recorded "Brown Girl in the Ring" in 1975 with the group Malcolm's Locks, which had her ex-boyfriend Malcolm Magaron as the lead singer. Arranger Peter Herbolzheimer accused Frank Farian of stealing his arrangement for the song. The court case ran for more than 20 years in Germany. Charts and certifications Weekly charts Year-end charts Sales and certifications 1988 Remix "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. Parody The song was parodied by The Barron Knights in their UK comedy hit "A Taste of Aggro" (1978), in which the lyrics are changed to "There's a dentist in Birmingham, he fixed my crown / And as I slept, he filled my mouth with iron." The song was their biggest hit, reaching no. 3 in the UK charts. The song was also parodied by an Australian Folk Musical Group Redgum, titled "Fabulon" in the album Caught in the Act. See also "Va, pensiero", story of Jewish exiles from Judea List of best-selling singles in Germany List of best-selling singles by year in the United Kingdom List of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 1978 List of European number-one hits of 1978 List of number-one hits of 1978 (Germany) List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1970s List of number-one singles of 1978 (France) List of number-one singles