Milli Vanilli ... were they treated fairly?

[fly girl]

I agree was several years ago and don't recall all of the details. But seems they were merely lip syncing to music recorded by others. While others were clearly part of the fraud, they were the performers and couldn't just pretend they didn't realize what they were doing was wrong. No one forced them to agree to that type of contract.

Fab has said they tried to get out of the initial contract when they found out they weren't going to be singing, and they could, but they had to repay all the money Frank Farian had given them. Apparently he gave them money at contract signing and living expenses for months. This is contested by Frank Farian's assistant who said if they really wanted to get out they didn't have to pay Frank. Who knows the truth.

But yes, they did know what they were doing was wrong.

 

[NYCgrrl]

In today’s day and age? I don’t really think so. lol.
But just listening to him now, he sounds okay to me. Not too bad.
And he’s got stage presence.

Going to agree to disagree,

 

[NYCgrrl]

Fab has said they tried to get out of the initial contract when they found out they weren't going to be singing, and they could, but they had to repay all the money Frank Farian had given them. Apparently he gave them money at contract signing and living expenses for months. This is contested by Frank Farian's assistant who said if they really wanted to get out they didn't have to pay Frank. Who knows the truth.

But yes, they did know what they were doing was wrong.

Of course they had to pay the fronted money back. A norm of the record industry, who were not a charity by anyone’s stretch of the imagination.

No idea what point the asst was trying to make but then I didn’t watch the film or any docs about MV.

I will say that lots of similar aged people sign contracts w/o a true idea of what’s expected. All those people concerned about college loan repayment come to mind.

 

[fly girl]

Of course they had to pay the fronted money back. A norm of the record industry, who were not a charity by anyone’s stretch of the imagination.

No idea what point the asst was trying to make but then I didn’t watch the film or any docs about MV.

Yes, I agree on paying back. I couldn't imagine it wouldn't have been that.

However, @_19disnA said they weren't forced into the contract. Which they weren't, but when they tried to get out it wasn't attainable for them to truly back out. IMO, the assistant denies the allegation because it makes her and Frank look better. That Milli Vanilli knew what they were getting into. Full disclosure, the assistant handled all of the financials so she wasn't a wall flower.

 

[Babs Johnson]

Yeah, I’m ashamed that at the time I ridiculed Milli Vanilli unmercifully, but never stopped to realize that it was really someone else who was pulling their strings.

 

[disneychrista]

I think they were used and taken advantage of by the producers.

I still like & listen to Milli Vanilli. Funny enough, Blame It On the Rain is currently playing on my iPod

 

[fly girl]

Yeah, I’m ashamed that at the time I ridiculed Milli Vanilli unmercifully, but never stopped to realize that it was really someone else who was pulling their strings.

I think most of us did.

Honestly, they didn't help themselves with grandiose claims that they were more talented than Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger. Fame clearly went to their heads, which now we can see would be so easy for young men that have absolutely no support system. The executives catered to their every whim without any parent/mentor/authority figure to keep them grounded. Looking back you can see who the true masterminds were, and it wasn't Milli Vanilli.

 

[bcla]

I do feel bad for the actual singers that they never got the credit they deserved. Hollywood has been pulling the no-credit singing dubs for decades and I don’t think that was fair either. It’s a fairly recent thing to have the singing voice listed in film credits if it is someone other than the actor on screen, and it still doesn’t always happen. There were plenty of singers (in my opinion) who were not conventionally good looking at the time. Surely as popular as the music was they could have found a visual style that worked and allowed the real singers to have that opportunity.

That was a plot device from Singing in the Rain. At least until an actress was asked to sing live and a plot was hatched to embarrass the actress.

 

[Lumpy1106]

My opinion;
Milli Vanilli got what they deserved, we just don't treat today's artists as harshly and they deserve the same treatment.

This kindof says it all;

And autotune was used then, just not as prevalently as today.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I always thought it was a ridiculous scandal and felt so bad for them. I mean, if this was fraud then any woman who covers their face in makeup paste to look glam when they look nothing like it without makeup or who uses Spanx is a fraud and every man who gets hair plugs or whatnot is a fraud. For the record, none of these are actually a fraud IMO I'm just of the opinion of so what. I always thought they got put on blast for being pretty, that was the real offense, back then the vitrol for pretty men was awful although pretty women were treated very bad too, often very dehumanizing. I will watch the show though because I am curious - thanks for sharing it exists.

 

[NYCgrrl]

That was a plot device from Singing in the Rain. At least until an actress was asked to sing live and a plot was hatched to embarrass the actress.

Thanks for reminding us that this is nothing new.

 

[fla4fun]

That was a plot device from Singing in the Rain. At least until an actress was asked to sing live and a plot was hatched to embarrass the actress.

That is one of my favorite films of all time!

 

[RedAngie]

For decades in films, anonymous singers have been dubbing for lip syncing movie stars without receiving any credit. The producers of West Side Story, The Sound of Music, The King and I plus many others didn’t want audiences to know that some stars couldn’t sing well.

 

[_19disnA]

To me dubbing of music/singing for a movie is different from a supposedly live musical group performing 'their' songs and/or selling records/albums to the public giving the impression they were the ones actually singing. I think most people realize that creating a movie involves a LOT of post production work, things are recorded in multiple 'takes', a live orchestra isn't on the set while the film is being made, etc.

Many times, well known recording artists will pre-record the singing of the National Anthem before a sporting event since getting the balance right on the acoustics and all of the various other technical things that can go wrong are minimized by having their voice recorded. No one is attempting to deceive anyone, it is still their voice, but the quality of the result is more predictable.

 

[Lumpy1106]

To me dubbing of music/singing for a movie is different from a supposedly live musical group performing 'their' songs and/or selling records/albums to the public giving the impression they were the ones actually singing. I think most people realize that creating a movie involves a LOT of post production work, things are recorded in multiple 'takes', a live orchestra isn't on the set while the film is being made, etc.

Many times, well known recording artists will pre-record the singing of the National Anthem before a sporting event since getting the balance right on the acoustics and all of the various other technical things that can go wrong are minimized by having their voice recorded. No one is attempting to deceive anyone, it is still their voice, but the quality of the result is more predictable.

This is good - but I would take it another step. Milli Vanilli was ALL fake. They didn't sing while they were on stage, but they also didn't sing when they "recorded" their albums. This is different than when, say the Red Hot Chili Peppers performed at the Superbowl halftime. Everyone called out Flea because it was so obvious his bass was not plugged in. OK< but that's a special circumstance. Int he studio and in any other RHCP concert it's all him. That's a world different from Milli Vanilli - all they did was dance, they never once sang or played any instrument.

 

[DisneYE]

Yes, I am taking you back to the early 90's. If you were alive and a Gen X'er you know Milli Vanilli. Dh and I just watched the new biopic, "Girl You Know It's True" about their meteoric rise and fall.

Now I am not condoning everything they did, knowing they were lip syncing yet claiming they were the new Elvis or better than Paul McCartney. come on now ...

However, I do have an ounce of empathy for them. In their young 20's, broke, and allured into the world of fame and fortune and not truly understanding the contract they signed. I can't blame them, at least not entirely. Yes, it was a total bait and switch charade. But Rob and Fab took all the wrath, not the producer Frank Farian who was known for doing this. That is the part I feel they really were shafted on. Frank Farian was the true mastermind and took zero heat, and actually repeated it again! He left these two young men for the wolves.

They tried a comeback, but nobody cared. The public already shunned them (including myself.) No question, Rob couldn't sing .. and Fab was just ok. But maybe Rob could've rapped? And autotune was used then, just not as prevalently as today.

I do wonder, if this happened in today's world, would it have been such a scandal? I'm not so sure when you have artist that you know use autotune exclusively.

I think I am more irritated after watching the movie that they were played by Frank Farian, and he suffered nothing. It wasn't fair, imho.

Hopefully another Gen X'er or a late 80's- early 90's music fan can chime in with their thoughts.

I have way more than an ounce of empathy for them.
I'm a huge Milli Vanilli fan. In fact, "girl you know it's true' is my favorite song of all time, across all genres (except classical, obviously)
It's an instant mood booster for me (for those who don't believe it and don't know the song, watch the video on YT and report back on your mood)...that song did wonders for me back in the day when I was going thru many things. I owe a lot to it. yes, a song.
I'm known to have sung that song at karaoke at some point in time when I was younger, dance moves from the video and all.
I really don't care they were lip syncing, I thought they were really talented regardless and when Rob passed away I was incredibly sad for a long time (I also looked up to Rob as far as physique goes, I wanted to be jacked like him lol)
Would their lip syncing have been such a big deal today? I don't think so, and in fact I think they'd have been more successful than they were back in the 80s/90s. I just loved them for who they were and how they made me feel with their songs. It's what I remember about them the most. And, to this day if a feel a bit depressed, "girl you know it's true" would always come to rescue me from the depths of whatever I have going on.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Milli Vanilli wasn't the only group to do it.

Black Box's lead singers were actually Martha Wash and Loleata Holloway. But they weren't the ones dancing.
Wash also sang on C and C Music Factory's big hit Gonna make you sweat. To be quite frank, to deprive these two wonderful singers with all that talent of their due and relegate them to ghost singers because they're fat is not only sexist, it's downright despicable. And they aren't the only ones it was done to. The list is quite long.