How did you feel when Milli Vanilli were exposed?
Posted by Solid-Still-7590@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 1238 comments
It seemed like a lot of people were angry at the time. I just felt bad for them, they took all the heat while their producer came out unscathed.
No-Win-2741@reddit
In true Gen X fashion, my feelings and attitude were pretty much whatever. But now that I look at today's music, where everything is overproduced and digitized and there's no real talent, I think those guys were done dirty.
GenXyupornope@reddit
Yup
johnnloki@reddit
I think there's real artists who made the music and got zero credit. See also: Blues Traveler, a happier ending, if only for a couple months.
Video killed the radio star.
Dr Hook made some beautiful music, and they were some ugly dirty hippie bastards who wouldn't have gotten one play on 1980s radio.
DevilMan17dedZ@reddit
Dr. Hook has some amazing tunes. Thanks for binging that back into my music rotation.
johnnloki@reddit
johnnloki@reddit
DogsoverLava@reddit
The real artists? Dude - they were the creation of a Fat old German producer named Frank. He did the same thing with Boney M. And he got all the credit he wanted - he also got something more important: he got all the cash!!!!
johnnloki@reddit
https://999ktdy.com/here-are-the-faces-and-real-singers-of-milli-vanilli-photos/
DogsoverLava@reddit
Ya… but they were all hired by Frank. He was the producer…. These guys were just session players - they had little artistic input.
johnnloki@reddit
"They were just session players" = "They were the actual recording artists"
The highly produced pop dance "Gurll, I love you" music was still really the music that they were listening to, but the real artists were too ugly for 80s fame.
DogsoverLava@reddit
I guess my argument here is that the artistry was in the production.
revo2022@reddit
What was the story with Blues Traveler?
johnnloki@reddit
Record company recorded a music video with a photogenic band, despite BT being a fairly well known traveling touring alt blues folk band.
Fans called BS, people were fired, they made a video lampooning the whole situation for "runaround", their biggest hit.
Feel good story, the good guys won, but then BT quickly faded into obscurity, because the record company employee was ultimately right and pop audiences really don't want a band of fat ugly music nerds.
revo2022@reddit
Wow! Never heard that. I saw BT at the HORDE festival in ‘96 and was a big fan before that. Obviously Popper was a big fat guy so I get it, but that’s bizarre because he was still a known artist.
johnnloki@reddit
Yeah, they really underestimated the amount of exposure 325 shows a year, not to mention a season of palooza appearances gets you.... but they're now obscure enough that giphy has nothing of them, despite runaround being a top 50 greatest 90s song. Ah well.
NeoMaxiZoomDweebean@reddit
I worked their show the other night, they played with Kevin Bacon and did Footloose lol.
johnnloki@reddit
2 degrees of Kevin Bacon for the entire Lollapalooza 94 lineup.
SayYesToGuac@reddit
I agree they were done dirty, and it is a tragic story. What else is fascinating to me is the producer who instigated the scam — did the same exact thing in the 70s with a group called Boney M - there is a good podcast on MV that tells the whole backstory — I think from Wondery or one of those… I have a hard time believing that music industry execs did not know exactly what was going on from the very first note.
Soft_Awareness_5061@reddit
Even the way they eventually got "caught out": the recording kept repeating. In this day and age they would have put out a post on social media that for this event they used a recording because such and such was sick and there was a technical glitch. The comment would have got 1m likes and everyone would have moved on.
asj-777@reddit
Is that the Rasputin song?
Perfect_Ad9311@reddit
Yes
bloobityblu@reddit
I was shocked when I discovered Boney M, then realized it was the same damn producer and he did the same thing- I think the dude was an adult film actor before he started an acting career as a disco(?) singer? lol.
DrMindbendersMonocle@reddit
Nah, they were lip synching to somebody else singing. There are a lot of artist who lip synch, but its to tracks of them actually singing or even their voice auto tuned. Lip Synching to somebody else's voice is a bridge too far
Soft_Awareness_5061@reddit
I thought they deserved to be brought down but in our current times I don't think anyone would have bat an eye. "It was just a prank bro. - Oh yeah, ha ha. we get it."
Morastus@reddit
Wasn’t it something about the look and style of the real singers that could not pull the stage performance off. I haven’t seen the documentary but I did enjoy the music back then.
Nervous-Tailor3983@reddit
Thank you for this voice of reason.
mheyting@reddit
Definitely
Kalorama_Master@reddit
Exactly why I don’t care for Beyonce
yorrtogg@reddit
Sometimes, hearing some bad AUtoTuNe or over-digitized style is the only way to save my interest in song. Makes me feel like I did when I heard Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto for the first time. I can pretend it's evidence I'm maybe living in some sort of Gibsonian cyberpunk future. Still, I wish more singers could pull off the simple beauty of a Motown background vocalist. Nothing is as immediately expressive and potentially as beautiful as a skillfully singing human voice.
DarkRavenStrollingBy@reddit
Saw a post a while back of steve perry singing without the music track and his voice is utterly superb. Game me goosebumps. I just never noticed it when I was twelve.
Compare that kind of talent to auto tuned artists and I can’t help wonder how pure, blow-you-away talent took second.
Rikers-Mailbox@reddit
Yep. And back then, a lot of bands didn’t even use monitors on stage.
Check out Journey Live in Houston on YouTube. It was shot for MTV, they ROCKED IT. Their absolute peak.
And Def Leppard “in the round” hysteria tour. There were no monitors at either show.
Pat Benatar in the 80’s too
I think the Greatful Dead were the ones to pioneer the use of monitors to hear themselves
DarkRavenStrollingBy@reddit
I will check that out! And yeah pat benatar is badass 🤘
asj-777@reddit
Agreed on Steve Perry -- like I knew he was solid but I didn't realize just how solid.
You know who else? Paul Stanley. I listen to the '77 or '78 solo album, and the songs from his run in Phantom of the Opera, and I'm like, wow, I never really realized just how talented the guy was/is. It's almost like the whole schtick thing overshadowed/restrained his actual abilities.
Junesong_Provisions@reddit
Bro, Paul Stanley was an amazing vocalist. Up until around the early 2000s even. Some of his best stuff was in the 80s(vocal range wise)Heavens On Fire and I Still Love You(both live) I think are good examples. All while running around for 2hrs every night. Additionally, Music From The Elder, was a really different album for them and Paul did a lot of interesting things vocally and I always felt it foreshadowed his theater run.
He sucks now, but he was a monster back in the day. As a 30 y/o I feel like my generation will never give him his flowers. Tbf he is a dbag lol
I_Think_I_Cant@reddit
Took me way too many coffee-less seconds to realize you weren't talking about Phantom of the Park.
Difficult_Fold_8362@reddit
Two words: Brad Delp. If you've never heard Delp's isolated voice track, go find it.
Funkopedia@reddit
There's a Tiny Desk concert of T-Pain, who turns out to be a totally fantastic singer, he just happens to really really like robot voice.
ryamanalinda@reddit
The masked singer season one winner. Although as an older genxer, I was sad donny Osmond didn't win.
Johnny_Eskimo@reddit
I saw that too, and was really surprised. I had wrote him off, but he is an incredible singer.
PilgrimOz@reddit
Nope. We just couldn’t stem the flow. Once Stock, Aken and Waterman (I’ve only ever heard the names. Not gonna look the bastards up either) it was all over.
frednekk@reddit
I thought the same. Milli peaked too early.
ffmich01@reddit
Or too late, probably everything pop was lip synced in the 70s.
dfh-1@reddit
It wasn't that Milli Vanilli were lip syncing. It was that it wasn't even them on the album.
ffmich01@reddit
Remember Boney M? Same producer.
livahd@reddit
I know of him only because of Black Mirror.
Ra Ra Rasputin 🎶
dfh-1@reddit
I not only didn't remember him, I don't think I ever heard of him.
I remember an acquaintance from the local BBS scene who played in a band telling us that he'd heard rumors of what was going on with Vanilli and that he had no problem believing them based on what he knew of the producer.
ffmich01@reddit
Sorry me text was unclear Boney M was. HUGE disco era international band in the 7-s. The guy who went on stage as the male lead singer did not actually sing. They had the same producer as MV. I think the producer may have actually been the singer for BM but may have itmixed up and too lazy to look it up.
dfh-1@reddit
Maybe, but that wouldn't make it right. Certainly not for a Grammy-winning act.
ffmich01@reddit
The music was the music, no matter who sang it. They should give Grammys for the music, not the song.
cg12983@reddit
Bobby Farrell didn't sing on the records, but I think the women singers did.
jeroenemans@reddit
Frank Farian
gstechs@reddit
I only recently discovered Boney M. It’s hard to believe I completely missed them back in the day.
worsenperson@reddit
Frank Farian
AlpacaSwimTeam@reddit
Yeah but like... session musicians exist. They exist for lead vocals too lol. This wasn't even new news then. You gotta wonder what was driving their decline if this is all that the scandal was, ya know? Was this all the issue was?
StanleyQPrick@reddit
I didn’t/don’t see why it matters. It’s not like other pop stars are 100% authentic. Some of them are cartoons now. I see it as any other kind of show, just with more layers of removal between you and the artist. Speaking of artists, these guys could dance.
Marischka77@reddit
It was a pretty common thing back then, and by the mid '90s there were dance hits on the German charts where the voice was the same but the singing girls on the videos were different, LOL.
quickpear475@reddit
They were visionaries.
domesplitter39@reddit
Well said. I can relate to all that
Nynydancer@reddit
Same. I felt bad for them. I mean, they coulda continued and leaned into it. They were hella hot.
Acrobatic-Canary-571@reddit
Them and peewee
Frosty-Flower-3813@reddit
100%!!
Quietus76@reddit
My first thought was whatever. My 2nd was, "so are the actual singers gonna keep making music?"
GhostWriter888@reddit
That’s what I always said!! Someone actually sang these songs—where are they?
srtate71@reddit
I frequently jammed to this in my '90 Mazda B2200 with 2 JL 10's.
When I first heard about it, I was like "so... Everyone lip syncs songs nowadays."
It wasn't until years and years later that I read they actually never sang the songs. It was two completely other people that created and sang the songs.
Then I was like, "oh.. I get why it was a big deal, now."
orthopod@reddit
I just thought it was funny, and kinda happy that the people who liked it before were sad/angry/upset.
The music was just pop trash, and it didn't make sense to me why people would suddenly stop liking that song, because the dancers in the video weren't doing the song. Nothing about the song had changed.
Cart-Of-L-1642@reddit
It's a bad as most of today's pop music and also overproduced and synthetic. The guys went delusional and tried to put pressure on Frank Farian, the producer. So he fcked them up by revealing that they aren't actually singers. Sadly, one of the guys commited s*cide a few years later.
Busy_Jellyfish4034@reddit
Not sure being Gen X has much to do with it. It didn’t really matter so there was no reason to get so heated. What you had was simply the correct reaction
SouxsieBanshee@reddit
I was thinking the same thing. It’s no different than what most music artists are doing now
judgehood@reddit
Every pop act is Milli vanilli and it’s been going on forever. We all know it.
I choose to listen to Motley Crue wheeze and vomit on stage to protest this and I’m fine with it.
StraightBudget8799@reddit
I was glad; I was sick of all the fandom and the continual airplay on the radio. The documentary changed my mind about their situation.
mdream1@reddit
Same
Happy_Blackbird@reddit
This. 100%
Existing-Valuable396@reddit
Yeah. I do like that the music has been revitalized since the Menendez brothers show. It still holds up to today’s music, but I think music now is crap anyway.
Select-Poem425@reddit
It is a shame for them. It may have been pretty obvious, and the fact is they were more entertainment than musicians. I think the context just got turned against them. I was in college and it was just pop music on mtv, teen girls liked it.
LaLaLaLinda@reddit
This is perfectly said!
Law_of_Attraction_75@reddit
Yes!!
Timely-Commercial461@reddit
Word. And was any real harm done? No. Did we already suspect this was the case? Yes. I didn’t get it then, don’t get it now.
flonkhonkers@reddit
After E-Type nobody cared.
Maleficent_Insect71@reddit
I blamed it on the rain.
Visible-Guess9006@reddit
But didn’t you bless the rains down in Africa?
Consistent_Sale_7541@reddit
Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus.
qbl500@reddit
Me too!
This-Above-All@reddit
yeah... yeah...
stizz14@reddit
The only answer
FergalCadogan@reddit
I blamed it on the stars that shine in the night.
Thesluttysissyashley@reddit
Girl you know it’s true
Kristina2pointoh@reddit
Yes you know it’s true..
Techdude_Advanced@reddit
Don't forget my number.
MindAccomplished3879@reddit
Ba-ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba-ba-baby
Rydog_78@reddit
Pure lyrical poetry
cugamer@reddit
Girl you know it's
Girl you know it's
Girl you know it's
Girl you know it's
Girl you know it's
Girl you know it's
Girl you know it's
Rivetingly@reddit
G,G,G,G,G,Girl
LateNightTestPattern@reddit
NO! No REmix!! 😂🤣😂🤣
Low-Grocery5556@reddit
It is four G's not five, I think you have a stutter.
pin00ch@reddit
Hahahah
OrangeOne2019@reddit
🤣
Fast-Bumblebee-9140@reddit
This made me see that video in head!
let-it-rain-sunshine@reddit
I got their number
friedguy@reddit
Well this brings up fun memories.
My buddy and I got in trouble at work for doing the running chest bump out in the open.
We worked at a city library and were sorting their donations when we found the CD 😆
HandBananan@reddit
Mike D, is in love with you.
ready4health@reddit
Girl, I’m gonna miss you
Main-Video-8545@reddit
There it is.
The_Dude_2U@reddit
Ya. Ya.
Current_Poster@reddit
But if you blame it on the rain, then, what could be gained?
mammakatt13@reddit
Jeebus crust I am a 55 yo granny and this is the first time I realized “Lipps, Inc” sounds like lip sync…. I feel dumb, lol.
joviebird1@reddit
Same here at 60.
lazygerm@reddit
I'm 57 and just TIL!
Salmon_Of_Iniquity@reddit
Right?? Same!! I’m 56 and JUST now realized the same thing. I am not dumb but I enjoy lead paint chips.
BarrenField0Fux@reddit
If all else fails you can blame it on me
Hour_Insurance_7795@reddit
If you look closely, he’s not the one who actually typed out that post.
NoMoreNoise305@reddit
Only someone over 40 would get that joke 🤣
Babyella123@reddit
Yous a nut
Johnny_pickle@reddit
Hey! Stop lip syncing me!
JagerAkita@reddit
Hey! Stop lip syncing me!
Fectiver_Undercroft@reddit
I upvoted you both for writing “sync” instead of “synch” or “sing.”
Would have also given credit for “Lipps, Inc.” despite the irrelevance.
davebizarre420@reddit
Won't you take me to funkytown?
SirStocksAlott@reddit
Not during surge pricing.
Appropriate_Mine@reddit
No.
duh_nom_yar@reddit
BE33_Jim@reddit
Milli Vanilli told you to blame it on the rain But if you blame it on the rain, tell me what can be gained so If all else fails, you can blame it on me.
Barenaked Ladies, Blame it on Me.
pjmidd@reddit
BNL
Several-Assistant-51@reddit
We got their number tho
1wrx2subarus@reddit
Next this I asked…
how do you develop polaroids in the rain? ☔️
Ya gotta, shake shake shake it!! 📸
7dSd7@reddit
I blamed it on the stars that shine at night.
OCblondie714@reddit
Whatever you do, don't put the blame on you.
foolsrushin420@reddit
You can blame it on The rain, cuz the rain don't mind, and the rain don't care...
Thin-Significance838@reddit
You’ve got to blame it on something!
Consistent_Sale_7541@reddit
You’ve got to blame it on something
Blame it on the rain
JustABizzle@reddit
Howard Jones says no one ever is to blame.
GenRN817@reddit
I’m seeing HoJo and ABC tomorrow night.
JustABizzle@reddit
Yaaaas!!!!
Halya77@reddit
Omfg this one got me! 😆
rwphx2016@reddit
HoJo is one of my favorites of all time!
LackSomber@reddit
🤣
Cjkgh@reddit
Blame it on the rain yeah yeahhhh . Gonna blame it on the raiiiin…
Glad-News7211@reddit
This is gold, Jerry‼️GOLD ‼️
duh_nom_yar@reddit
Blame it on Jermaine....
IIICaseIII@reddit
Damn. Somehow your predictive post, still tickled my gut. Please accept this upvote in return!
sarahpphire@reddit
Gotta blame it on something.
wubrotherno1@reddit
Gotta blame it on something
KatieROTS@reddit
I’m glad to see this at the top of the comments. You guys rock.
Beneficial-Front6305@reddit
Gotta blame it on somethin’
morthanafeeling@reddit
Don't Touch This.
Cutthechitchata-hole@reddit
Cuz the rain don't mind
BeneficialPipe1229@reddit
I wanted to come up with a thoughtful and witty response. but you ruined that with your perfect answer asshole!
Crazy_Circuit_201@reddit
Definitely - wind direction
koolaidismything@reddit
Fawlin (fawlin) 🎶
moccasins_hockey_fan@reddit
Lol, best answer....
Existing-Valuable396@reddit
Yeah yeah
foolsrushin420@reddit
Was it falling, falling?
OnlyChud@reddit
OmarsBulge@reddit
Sad and same.
JenninMiami@reddit
This is the only acceptable answer.
Ravenloff@reddit
...dammit
DeadParallox@reddit
It was finally falling!
lonerstoners@reddit
My first thought here too
black65Cutlass@reddit
didn't really care, I had never listened to them ever.
Key_Ring6211@reddit
Didn’t care, they were cute, leave them alone.
Remarkable_Fig1838@reddit
honestly knowing that all the other hip hop pop and modern musicians at the time were also lip syncing don't really care
ron_pro@reddit
I never cared one way or another. I don't see why people felt it was a big deal.
Error418ZA@reddit
The same as when Boney M was exposed, livid.
NYCphilliesBlunt@reddit
I felt bad for them
Historical_Coast9074@reddit
About the same when liberace came out.
Certain-Impress-2216@reddit
It’s not their fault just blame it on the rain
ToughMost6122@reddit
It’s All Or Nothing with me!
I chose nothing!! ☹️😝
OrdinaryWheel5177@reddit
Probably like the democrat party is about now.
Initial-Quiet-4446@reddit
Even back then, with all the auto-tune starting and live miming and such, I think my first reaction was being a little upset that I would not hear any more Milli Vanilli tunes. Even if they were just the faces of the act, not the real singers. I wasn’t offended in anyway.
kingscrown20@reddit
I immediately thought: “Why didn’t they use better music then?”. I mean, they had total freedom to crush it, and the producers chose that nonsense?
NoDiscounts4u@reddit
Well what else have we been lied to about
deconus@reddit
I was shocked as I had no idea who Milli Vanilli was.
home_si55y@reddit
I didn't stop me from buying their albums. I havent listen to a record in a long time
Due_Permit8314@reddit
They are no worse then Beyonce in my opinion.. Made famous by PR.
kindanorespect@reddit
I Didn't really care.
Brandanp@reddit
I was a sad middle school Milli Vanilli fan
VegetablePerformer22@reddit
If you were in the musical purist like I was, you felt vindicated. Like “I was right all along. Pop music is trash. Too many drum machines and synthesizers. People need to have talent and play their own instruments.”
Yawn.
I was a pretentious douche with an inferiority complex and needed to prove that I was better than everyone else because I liked “real” music.
I thankfully lost this attitude in college.
Fan_of_Clio@reddit
They scammed people. So no I had sympathy for them. Did they confess before winning awards and selling millions of records making themselves a lot of money? Nope. They INTENDED to scam the public. Don't i think they were made scapegoats and more pain should have rippled upwards? Absolutely
wookiegtb@reddit
I would suggest watching the documentary from a few years ago. It's a lot more nuanced and the two guys are just as much victims. They had a bum deal and didn't have much choice.
Fan_of_Clio@reddit
There is no on green earth you are going to be able to convince me that "oh nooooo all this money, fame, awards.... I'm such a victim". Please 🙄
They had countless times to walk away and chose not to. That makes them complicit
wookiegtb@reddit
Don't disagree. I'm definitely no fan but it's what makes the documentary so fascinating. Life isn't really that binary.
They actually did try to walk away and pushed back against it. But they basically had signed their life's away in a preditory contract. They weren't the sharpest tools in the shed.
Frank Farian - the brains behind the whole thing - is who you should hold the most scorn for.
Fan_of_Clio@reddit
From i saw, they defended their work and even pronounced themselves bigger than Elvis. Sure there are little hiccups along the way but the bottom line is still same: they agreed to it, milked it, got busted.
Was there a gun to their heads? A bodyguard with a bomb strapped to his chest over all those years? Were they hostages in a life and death situation? No they weren't. They were complicit.
I don't extend sympathy to scam artists. And no amount of friendly press should dupe people. And yes it is that simple. They had countless numbers of times to say something. How many times did they do interviews, a microphone in front of their face. They never outed themselves. Someone else did. They are criminals. Period
Old_Artist3624@reddit
Still nursing those wounds
qbl500@reddit
I listen a documentary/interview on radio with them about how all this happened! Very interesting!
StatisticianTop4829@reddit
Laughed cause my friends just went to see them in concert
WolverineScared2504@reddit
I don't want to say they were victims, but they were used, and as posted, seems like 98% of the blame landed on them. I know one of them ended up killing themselves, not sure how much the "scandal" had to do with it, but it wasn't really that big of deal. Music back then moved fast; if you weren't making new music every year and a half max, you got left behind (Bell Biv DeVoe). Point being, I feel like the music world had already moved on, and it didn't seem that scandalous honestly.
Munchkin_Media@reddit
I laughed. We hated them so it was hilarious to me and my friends.
Gamestonkape@reddit
It’s like finding out the Easter Bunny wasn’t real… if you didn’t care about the Easter Bunny at all.
Next-Airline9196@reddit
I once made it a point about 10 years ago to reference them at least once a day at work for over a month just for the sake of being random and not one person called me out on it. Do you know how hard it is to come up with 30+ milli vanilli references? And nothing…….
Phantomswan@reddit
I had been hearing that they lip synced for months before it was all out in the open. In Living Color even had a sketch about it. When they were exposed, I didn’t have anything left to feel at that point. I definitely wasn’t angry. Kind of shady, but the songs were the same songs, they just were sung by someone else.
Desperate_Ambrose@reddit
Who?
tatom4@reddit
I felt sorry for them. They were used then hung out to dry. Fast forward now lip syncing is done with no shame.
No-Guard-7003@reddit
I remember reading that Ashlee Simpson caught flak for lip syncing her own song on SNL in 2007.
_playing_the_game_@reddit
I was a rap/rock/metal kid.
Before they were exposed I thought they were trash.
Now many years later if I hear one of their hits, i bob my head lol.
Go figure.
chilicheeseclog@reddit
In the 80s, my mom used to love the oldies station on in the car. Something would come on that she hadn't heard in 20 years, and she scream, "Oh my god, turn it up, I hated this so much!" and start singing along to it like it was her wedding song.
Now in the car, I sometimes listen to the Light station--a bizarre throwback that plays exactly the same songs the Light stations in the 80s played, all Air Supply and James Ingram. And it's an actual station, not satellite. I get all excited when I hear "Nobody" by Sylvia, or "Sometimes When We Touch" by Dan Hill. I effing hated those songs!
Now I understand.
mickerz80@reddit
“Your nobody called today, she hung up when I asked her name.” Loved that song!
No-Guard-7003@reddit
One Regis College junior in 1992 sang this song at a karaoke night on campus and she nailed it. I thought it was the funniest song ever. XD
suzeeq88@reddit
Well I wonder, does she think she’s being clever??
chilicheeseclog@reddit
"I can love you like Nobody can--even better." That's some Elvis Costello-level wordplay.
Jazzlike-Budget-2221@reddit
Love this so much and do absolutely the same thing!
hvacmac7@reddit
You have to try this thing they are calling yacht rock… it’s good shit
Thisdarlingdeer@reddit
Dad yacht rock.
chilicheeseclog@reddit
Shine sweet freedom.
hvacmac7@reddit
Shine the light on me.. just watched running scared recently….
ThePicassoGiraffe@reddit
Saiiiiiiiiling….
hvacmac7@reddit
Christopher Cross is a GOAT of yacht rock, love “ never be the same “”Arthur’s theme”….
racht70@reddit
Yup …’Alexa play yacht rock’ all day long
hvacmac7@reddit
I’m 47 was working at 77 year old mother in laws, she wanted me to show her what I was listening to, she loved it, I think it means I’m old now, oh well
asj-777@reddit
Haha, same here. I sometimes will catch an Air Supply song someplace now and I find myself thinking, that's actually not too shabby.
NiceGuy60660@reddit
ANSUNTINESSWHEN WE TUSHH!!
HE ANNASTEES TEW MUSSH!!
ANAHAFFA CLOSSE MAI-AIZZ AAEEANNAHHCRAIH!
Happy_Blackbird@reddit
Hahaha. OMG, you just made me laugh so hard, I choked on my tea.
STFUisright@reddit
I LITERALLY just spit out some tea on the fourth read when I finally got it omg
chilicheeseclog@reddit
Exactly.
uncivil_society@reddit
I get that. At the time I was totally into punk and metal so when they got the cover blown off I was filled with glee and watched their fans turn into sobbing messes. I hung discarded, shattered MV CDs in my high school wherever I could get away with it.
Nowadays I feel sad for them because of how they got straight up used and get that nostalgic twinge when I hear one of their songs.
Ok-Discussion3866@reddit
Yep....haha
Dalivus@reddit
Vindicated
BigTime76@reddit
I was kinda fed up with the songs playing every couple hours on the local radio station, by that point
Responsible_Basil_89@reddit
Many of us thought “duh”. It was obvious.
BigDogIsland@reddit
I was out of shits to give at the time
almostsweet@reddit
I was disappointed. But, I still loved the songs.
MorpheusZzzz@reddit
I felt bad for the person(s) who didn't receive the awards they had won. I also couldn't figure out why they hadn't just added a third guy to the group who would have been known as the lead vocalist and we could still just watch them dance around. 😁
hobieboy@reddit
Could give a shit
lloyd____@reddit
My moms neighbor played either lead or base guitar for these guys
SnooDoughnuts6242@reddit
Cuz the rain don't mind, and the rain don't care.
Myrmidon84@reddit
Saw in concert 2nd row only band that didn't look like they were lip syncing. Go figure
CitizenJonesy@reddit
I said, " Good. They sucked anyway!"
abelenkpe@reddit
Meh
BlaizedPotato@reddit
Exposed gor what?
Bright_Reserve_2671@reddit
Is this a real question? Who cares?
No_Cat1534@reddit
nothing most Rock fans knew they were a joke from the beginning
-Radioman-@reddit
The producer was a world class jerk. Ok, they didn't sing, but they're dance moves were entertaining. No one had to know.
RumRunnerXxX@reddit
I wanted it to be wrong! I believed that they were lip-syncing because they danced a lot and it would be difficult to dance that hard while singing, UNTIL… they actually interviewed the people that really sang the songs and it turns out they were too ugly to be on stage 😭
RattledMind@reddit
gasp They were Smelly Cat! /Phoebe
mheyting@reddit
FaultInternational91@reddit
Exactly what I thought haha
Drapidrode@reddit
you know that isn't the first time the industry tried to pull that off.
one of the reasons that music in the radio/LP Album era was great; that most performances were audio only.
Happy_Blackbird@reddit
C&C Music Factory.
MyyWifeRocks@reddit
EVERYBODY DANCE^NOW
Happy_Blackbird@reddit
Hahahhahaha.
CookinCheap@reddit
Right, Boney M. comes to mind
BottleTemple@reddit
It's not even the first time their producer did it. He did the same thing with Boney M. a few years earlier.
Mediocre-Proposal686@reddit
The man, the myth, the legend 🥰
uncleawesome@reddit
And immediately after
egordoniv@reddit
Bitch, you gotta face for radio!
The_Mother_@reddit
So, it turns out it isn't as hard as you would think to sing and dance hard at the same time. If you train singers while they are jogging on a treadmill, they can learn to control their voices and their breathing while doing cardio. This translates to being able to sing while dancing. At the same time, the choreo needs to have some moments of rest built in. If you can have more than one longer sharing the vocal load, it reduces the strain.
Peanuts4Peanut@reddit
Pink does the same, upside down.
Rikers-Mailbox@reddit
That’s what Taylor does. She’d sing the whole set on a treadmill every day for 3 hours.
The woman works hard, can’t deny it
HuckleberryNo5604@reddit
Same thing happened to cc music factory, the small girl wasn't the singer it was a fat lady.
voucher420@reddit
Video killed the radio star.
rory_breakers_ganja@reddit
We can't rewind, we've gone too far.
IfICouldStay@reddit
That’s what I thought at the time. Why would anyone be shocked that these guys, who are doing complex dance routines, aren’t singing live at the same time?
youareallsilly@reddit
That wasn’t the controversial part though. Lip synching has been common for a long time, especially in pop acts with lots of dancing.
What made this stand out was 1) how it happened (the track was skipping and vox were repeating, making it super obvious and weird, similar to Ashley Simpson’s SNL debacle), and 2) it came out that they weren’t even the vocals in the tracks.
Erthgoddss@reddit
Lip synching has been around for many years. Have you ever watched the musical West Side Story? That wasn’t Natalie Wood singing as Maria. That was Marni Nixon (who also sang for Marilyn Monroe, Hepburn and many others.
youareallsilly@reddit
Yes of course and it’s completely different when an actor is lip synching to a real singer’s voice in a movie. They’re literally acting so audiences already know it may not be their real voice. And the actors aren’t trying to lie about it to audiences.
throughmygoodeye@reddit
Sellin' a lot of records
But he'd sell a lot more, man
If he'd take his picture off the cover
SlikRik66@reddit
I felt duped, ooh ooh ohh I felt duped!
mjohn208@reddit
I liked them and I didn't give a fuck
Lucee_fir@reddit
Me too. I liked the songs even if those weren't the faces singing them so I didn't really care, Other than I felt badly for how the guys were being ripped apart.
RetroBerner@reddit
I was a kid so I thought that they were liars, but in retrospect they were almost kids themselves. They were probably pressured into doing it. Record labels can be ruthless, and a lot of them don't really care about the artists.
Astrofan76@reddit
I was sad 😞 then amused then ashamed
Sir_Boobsalot@reddit
Pissed off, disgusted, and betrayed. never forgave any of them, including their producer
metsjets86@reddit
The craziest thing about the whole saga was the real singers never really got any exposure. I watch everything and i have never seen anything.
It basically proved the Milli Vanilli producers right. You ugly? You invisible.
Brilliant_Rule9551@reddit
Personally I got rid of by biker jacket and skin tight biker shorts and no more braids and berets. Moved onto my vanilla ice stage
Management-Efficient@reddit
It's been a while, but it was just disappointment mostly.
Sierrayose@reddit
Vindicated
EnvironmentalChard31@reddit
They were entertainers and they entertained, I can see giving the awards to whoever recorded the songs and move on, a high percent of artist lip'sync while on stage!
Another_Russian_Spy@reddit
Didn't care.
OkPollution2975@reddit
I love the optimism that GenX people who were teens 35 years ago and mv fans are on Reddit cruising for likes
tigerlily4501@reddit
I didn't really care about it at all at the time because Milli Vanilli was a pop one-hit wonder. I don't think I was their fan base. There was so much good music coming out all the time. Though I did catch a documentary about their story last year and when you hear the whole story you do kind of feel for them.
Cautious_Counter_399@reddit
It was funny
Studdabaker@reddit
I didn’t like their music until they got exposed. Getting away with it for so long I was impressed as hell. They were true artists in the smoke and mirrors genre! Fucking badass.
Intheswing@reddit
Entertainment- it’s better when there is real performance- but they were popular until they got caught lip synching. It’s a blip on the pop music radar at best
marshdd@reddit
No concern
Grizz-1970@reddit
Still wondering why the real singers didn’t come out with a banger album
lord-polonius@reddit
Vindicated
DuneChild@reddit
I felt bad for them because I knew they were not in charge. Then I felt worse for them when they released their own album that was way better, yet still flopped.
No_Profit_415@reddit
I pretended to be outraged
Electrical-Bid-9577@reddit
Didn’t care.
Rigby-Eleanor@reddit
I watched the documentary that came out recently. They were screwed over. I feel bad.
brickbaterang@reddit
Did not care, i was a metalhead
ZZoMBiEXIII@reddit
Like a lot of folks, I made jokes. But honestly, didn't really care much. I was the school metal-head, so it's not like I was listening to them anyway.
Now if OzzY had been lip syncing, then I'd have had a personal crisis. But, you know, he was too busy biting the heads off bats or whatever. 😂😂😂
MrRoastedbeef@reddit
Felt ok about it.
scope_creep@reddit
Wow! So…. anyway.
Lame-username62@reddit
I thought it was hilarious then felt kind of bad when the one guy ultimately did away with himself.
bored_toronto@reddit
Speechless.
Eastern-Camera-1829@reddit
ZFG
catvaq02@reddit
Sad. It's was so embarrassing for them They were used by the record label. Really sad story.
BeebsMuhQueen@reddit
It was a tragedy for me to see the dream was over…. 😏
WESLEY1877@reddit
I didn't think it was a big deal at all.
Not then, not now.
Stars were packaged in the 80s, and we knew it.
I just liked their music. They never professed to be artistes. Their songs were catchy, and they danced well.
Very likeable!
I feel very bad for them.
LuckyAd2714@reddit
Sad for them cuz I know other people did lip synching too
COVID19Blues@reddit
I didn’t care. I was part of the local death metal scene by then so sugary pop music wasn’t on my radar.
Except for Prince. Love me some Prince.
Diasies_inMyHair@reddit
I laughed. It was pretty much common knowledge that bubble-gum pop singers lip synched at least parts of their concerts (there's no way Debbie Gibsion could do jumping jacks across the stage and it not reflect in her vocals. No shock when word of the track hiccuping came out). It was a little sad that the vocals weren't even their own though.
BotchedStunner@reddit
Back then I was like who cares today who cares but i got my money back so there is that.
voteblue18@reddit
Ambivalent. This music was never my thing, even for pop music. They were just goofy.
ez151@reddit
Feel? Or how much did I not care?
TreyRyan3@reddit
If I remember correctly my immediate thought was “Proof that people hear with their eyes”
skywatcher75@reddit
Like this 🤯🤯 literally.
MothyBelmont@reddit
It was mostly joke fodder for me and my friends, we weren’t into pop music.
pspin69@reddit
Laughed my ass off!
TwoAlert3448@reddit
I’m going to have to google this, aren’t I? 🤦
bobj33@reddit
I mainly just laughed. I had a few friends that were huge fans and they felt betrayed.
People mentioned Boney M in the thread.
I'm a bigger fan of Philomena Cunk bring up unrelated Belgium techno anthem Pump Up the Jam 37 times
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Su287HvJRQ
FYI she was lip syncing too.
No-East-956@reddit
I was shocked and betrayed. I have never fully recovered and because of this my life has been in shambles.
RobsHereAgain@reddit
Ehh these guys along with Poison and if I remember correctly Paula Abdul all used tracks for vocals. Joe it’s all normalized. Today it’s more about the experience than the performance
CharacterInternal7@reddit
Didn’t care.
Jasperblu@reddit
Unsurprised.
glorious_cheese@reddit
I expected that shit from Milli but I was devastated that Vanilli went along with it.
Here_4_the_INFO@reddit
I spent the 1st 8 or 9 years of my life thinking Santa was real. By the time this hit, I was already questioning everything.
cozy_pantz@reddit
I was very sad for everyone involved, including us the fans because we all know someone was making bank off this whole situation and it wasn’t them.
StG4Ever@reddit
Frank Farian, their producer had already pulled the same trick with Boney M. so we just laughed about it.
AppointmentWeird6797@reddit
Oh no i was devastated…everything i held true and dear…i started questioning.
king_of_poptart@reddit
I didn't care.
Shaking-a-tlfthr@reddit
Duped.
BlueKoi_69@reddit
The same as I did 5 min before that.
Slobberdawg49211@reddit
I could swear when that story “broke” that it already had. I was zero surprised by it, because I thought everyone already knew. It was so weird.
Snoo74962@reddit
I didn't care. Who cared?
Own-Song-8093@reddit
I thought they should have toured as a background dancers to the real singers.
Dependent-Cow428@reddit
Unaffected
schmoopypooh@reddit
Textbook stages of grief for me
Jaderholt439@reddit
I was maybe 7 or 8,9. I had a Donatello staff made with electrical tape n a wooden mop handle. My older sister broke it, so I took one half of it and smashed her Milli Vanilli tape. She screamed at me, and I yelled, “I heard them talk on (whatever awards show), that can’t even be the same people!”
Couple months later, we found out that it wasn’t.
randomwellwisher@reddit
I love this story. Donatello would be proud.
Pure-Pangolin-151@reddit
I encourage folks to check out the documentary on Paramount+. It really helped me see how bad they were treated and how terrible Frank Farian was (as well as how much he took advantage of Black artists and appropriated Black culture)
randomwellwisher@reddit
Also the podcast “Blame It On The Rain!”
WhiskerWarrior2435@reddit
Fab Morvan is so entertaining to watch. It's too bad they ruined his chances to have a career in entertainment. Seems like he's made a good life for himself after all.
Tuscan5@reddit
It was a really good documentary. One of the best I’ve seen.
CharmingDagger@reddit
I think he's also the guy behind Boney M, the Rasputin song band.
Pure-Pangolin-151@reddit
Yup, they talk about Boney M in the doc too
BottleTemple@reddit
I watched that a little while ago. It was very eye-opening.
jt2ou@reddit
This! I was ambivalent when it happened back then. Now I saw the doc and Frank is a completely greedy asshole who’d step on anyone for a buck.
layzieyezislayzieyez@reddit
Seconded. It’s a great roller coaster ride of a musical documentary.
Catzpyjamz@reddit
Thanks for the recommendation! I have Paramount+ but rarely use it, so this is great.
Mode09@reddit
Initially thought it was kind of funny but I also assumed a lot of performers were doing the same. Now I feel bad for them.
PanthorCasserole@reddit
Everyone was mad because they were so easily fooled.
AdorableGeologist566@reddit
Laughed
No_Arugula_6548@reddit
I was sad. I liked them
A1wetdog@reddit
Nothing..I felt Nothing, but I think they would fit in beautifully now with all the phony bs going on these days
roadrunner00@reddit
I never knew the which was which and if they didn't have dreads would have trouble identifying them. Remember there was no Internet. You only saw them when they came on TV and we never had magazines other than an occasional Jet and/or Ebony.
AwwYeahVTECKickedIn@reddit
I was a kid so I didn't really care. When I understood how they impacted others, I cared.
Smart_Description541@reddit
And still loved the music
UpbeatAd2250@reddit
I watched a really good doc on Paramount + (may have been Prime.) It was good. Kinda made you feel bad for them if you liked their music
SnuggleMoose44@reddit
Surprised, but I still liked the music. They were railroaded.
EmphasisFew@reddit
Designer-Mirror-7995@reddit
Highly disappointed. I loved the one song, and thought back then they were cute and energetic.
HamHusky06@reddit
I just was amazed they were allowed to have their sitcom: sister to sister.
chiclets5@reddit
Too old to give a shit
BigMoFuggah@reddit
🥱
LateNightTestPattern@reddit
I laughed.
PLS-Surveyor-US@reddit
I went back to watching wrestling with the comfort that the WWF will keep things real.
tropestoinfinity@reddit
I was 16, didn’t think critically and felt like MTV told me to feel because I didn’t have a strong opinion. Meaning I thought they weren’t “real” and therefore trash.
Looking back, fuck that sentiment and the people involved. Those dudes were used and thrown away. They WERE MV, and the guys that wrote and sang? F em. Rob n Fab were awesome.
poolpog@reddit
At the time I didn't even know who they were, had never heard their songs, and didn't pay attention to the story at all.
Tbh I still don't think I have listened to any of the songs.
I felt entirely neutral about it.
Mr-Gumby42@reddit
Unsurprised.
Acceptable-Minute108@reddit
Who cared? They were entertaining…. kind of.
snailwedgie@reddit
Gay aaaand stupid
Equal-Negotiation651@reddit
Didn’t care. Music is entertainment. Sucks for them how it affected their personal lives. I think most people would have done the same thing with the promise of money.
CarrieCaretaker@reddit
I already had suspicions actually. I always heard at least one female backup singer and never saw one. I didn't assume anything I just found that odd.
duanelvp@reddit
A) Was not surprised. 2) Couldn't have cared any less.
Narrow-Inflation9527@reddit
Sad. They were great performers. If you consider how many acts just lip sink anyway, they didn’t do much different.
paradiselakes@reddit
Not surprised
ThePowerOfShadows@reddit
I didn’t give a shit.
MrBuns666@reddit
I thought it was funny that this goofy pop act was exposed.
Looking back, they were shamefully lambasted, and their career ruined.
And everyone was doing it. And now it’s more common than not to lipsync at live performances.
MonkFun455@reddit
It was awesome their tapes went on sale for pennies.
77tassells@reddit
Not as bad as I do today
Mistyam@reddit
Did not care at all. The entertainment industry is about entertainment, not about honesty. Wasn't really into Milli Vanilli anyway.
Nikkorkat@reddit
Same.
ChodaRagu@reddit
Same. No big deal.
Umpaqua88@reddit
Can anyone name the real artists behind their music?
Discovering-Truth@reddit
Milli Vanilli was supposed to be my first concert. I was so excited when I got their concert tickets for my 10th birthday. They postponed the concert because one of them "had laryngitis." They were exposed right after. I was devastated. I still jam out to Girl You Know It's True.
Legitimate_Bike_4557@reddit
Like they had it coming
Sukk4Bukk@reddit
I honestly thought thank god we don't have to look at these asshats anymore.
UtahUtopia@reddit
I wondered why the people who really sang it weren’t the ones that were famous. Then I realized… yeah, people are shallow.
1000milestair@reddit
I felt terrible for them.
Bempet583@reddit
I laughed
Pine190@reddit
I felt let down by Lisa Bonet. Crosby kids know better
Cute-Hovercraft5058@reddit
No issue.
hemmingnorthcutt@reddit
Straight up DEVASTATED
rbsnderwal@reddit
Betrayed
ironkodiak@reddit
I specifically remember a few months later thinking about how that guy killed his golden goose.
lidlekitty_tweezler@reddit
I was devastated. Still kept my poster of them up for awhile though. Totally changed my crush on them.
MaxwellEdison74@reddit
I was not surprised. Also, being an apathetic Gen Xer, I didn't really care.
jaybotch29@reddit
They were cannon fodder for execs trying to cash in. And it worked. A lot of people made a lot of money off these two, but history will always remember Milli Valnilli as the frauds, not the people who were orchestrated that whole fiasco.
I feel sorry for them. Just another "consumable" to be chewed up, spat out and forgotten when the next trend comes along to be milked for chash.
ErrorZealousideal532@reddit
I didn't care. I didn't listen to their music.
XROOR@reddit
Saw a story that at their height they were spending $50k/week on personal items and going out. Their producer was writing checks that large
lokilady1@reddit
Sad
MayorOfStrangiato@reddit
Vindicated
wophi@reddit
It is not unusual for session musicians to fill in on a lot of albums. It has always been a thing.
The shame truly is, why did the session singers not become famous?
Fun_Ad9510@reddit
I actually felt sad and a bit betrayed when they got exposed. I like their music, even though it wasn't their music right. The comments are hilarious!🤣
birger67@reddit
first was a true genx reaction, oh meh
then i was pissed of at Frank Farian because it was his concept and he wouldnt want them to sing
only lip sync and dance
and yet they got all the flak
Rob Pilatus ended up dying from an overdose most likely because of all that shit
the day frank farian died i send a good fat hawk tuah in his way
AlpacaSwimTeam@reddit
To be honest I expected it from Milli, but I was aghast to find out Vanilli has been swindled into the scandal! My stars! Such atrocious behavior!
shastadakota@reddit
I felt nothing.
Designer-Effort-1426@reddit
I knew it from the start, they would break my heart…
Majestic_Course6822@reddit
Vindicated. They made me think of puppets in their videos. Something didn't sync for me.
Imnotthatduder@reddit
I thought all the comedy that was aimed towards them afterwards was hilarious.
Ima-Bott@reddit
Big yawn. It’s a shame what happened after. They’d be on tour right now had that not happened.
JtheCook1980@reddit
I thought it was a joke until the guys apologized. The worst part is they could actually sing. The record company executives put them up to it. Rob was so depressed over the embarrassment that he ended up killing himself.
splorp_evilbastard@reddit
Didn't care then, don't care now.
Tobin678@reddit
I’ve never stopped liking them,, but I suppose I was a little disappointed it wasn’t their voices because I thought they deserved success with how hard they worked.
Reneeisme@reddit
I didn’t care? Decades of awareness of the nuance of exploiting artists whose works are unrecognized makes me think differently now, but at the time it was just the punchline to a joke.
Southern-Evidence-23@reddit
They really kicked open the door for everything to be fake, digital, lip synced and auto tuned now
GoldBeef69@reddit
Didn’t care
I liked the song
-Hot-Toddy-@reddit
I never watched the Grammy's again.
Salt_E_Dawg@reddit
They weren't exposed. They were thrown under the bus.
harlequinn823@reddit
Exactly. There would have been no major scandal if Rob and Fab had continued to play along and do what they were told. The story that got lost in a cloud of media outrage was that Rob and Fab themselves ended the lie. Once they had the money and confidence to hire a lawyer, they did, and they blocked the release of the second album, refusing to continue unless it was rerecorded with their vocals on it. That's why Farian went public.
The whole story was told firsthand by Rob Pilatus at the 1990 press conference. The exploitation, the abuse, the threats from Clive Davis.The media at the time was more interested in humiliating him.
They were taken down by their own ultimatum. They didn't understand how little power they had, even with the fame. Farian had no problem telling the word they didn't sing once they stepped out of line, knowing they would be seen as the frauds, not him.
Salt_E_Dawg@reddit
It's true. They were determined to be legitimate, record their own vocals, do live shows, and take the consequences that came with legitimacy. In the end, it killed Rob, and Fab lives more or less in exile. The message was clear. Tow the line or be destroyed.
harlequinn823@reddit
Fab is doing pretty well now. He recently launched a high fashion line called "Rob & Fab Forever" with Lenifro. It's kind of perfect because whatever anyone says about Rob and Fab being "fake," their iconic style was cultivated by them, not manufactured by the record industry.
Salt_E_Dawg@reddit
I didn't know that, but I absolutely approve. His style was always incredible. He deserves some success, and adding Rob to the line is classy.
twoquarters@reddit
How did people not connect the dots between Boney M and this? It was the same scam.
7thWardMadeMe@reddit
I did not care cause they could sing. Plus it wasn’t the first time or last time it happened… 🤷🏽♂️
Melindas37@reddit
It's sad actually...
hettuklaeddi@reddit
they were ahead of their time. these guys got cancelled for what is almost standard practice these days.
Caninus-Collars@reddit
Hahahahahahahahabababahababa hahahahahahhh hahahahhaha hahahaha. Ahahahahahha hahahahahaha hahah hahahaha I can’t breathe, they did what ? Ahahahahahaha hahahaha hahahaha ahahahahahah hahahahah hahahaha
JaimePfe17@reddit
Too young to really understand what it meant at the time, but today I am pretty surprised they got away with it for so long. I'm also curious if anyone else was in on it with them.
Is there a documentary?
DogsoverLava@reddit
As long as Boney M were protected, somebody had to die for the team.
Little understood - both Boney M and Milli Vanilli were created (and sung) by an old white German guy named Frank. Rasputin & Girk You Know It’s True…. Same balding, overweight white German guy with sausage fingers.
ocTGon@reddit
I was more shocked that people thought they were actually talented...
TizzyLizzy65@reddit
I was disappointed because I actually liked them.
Redkneck35@reddit
Didn't give a shit, I listen to studio music. I don't go to concerts. I can't stand not being able to hear the music because of the people.
tay2267@reddit
Better than all the music today. They just got caught
GoodFnHam@reddit
Vindicated
bungle094@reddit
Laughed because I was a Metallica/Anthrax metal kid in high school.
I_Think_I_Cant@reddit
Fab Morvan actually singing "Blame It On the Rain" live.
SlidingOtter@reddit
I felt nothing. I only heard about them after they were exposed.
lemko1968@reddit
I remember a TV commercial showing two guys that were meant to represent Milli Vanilli singing opera then the record starting skipping.
Right_Reindeer_6103@reddit
This is probably off topic, but do they have genders?
196119611961@reddit
I didn’t care I didn’t like him anyways
Lanky-Owl6622@reddit
I am unable to trust ANYONE to this day
SnowblindAlbino@reddit
I had never heard of them, so was basically "So what, another fake MTV group got caught out." Now, decades later, their name is synonymous with fake music and I still could not name one of the songs they pretended to sing, name either of them (there are two, right?), nor ID them from a photo unless someone labeled it.
I did not care then, did not care for the past 30+ years, and do not care now.
AutomaticMonk@reddit
It wasn't exactly a shock. The news made it bigger than it really was.
Smoopiebear@reddit
That’s nice. Shrug.
HavBoWilTrvl@reddit
Not surprised in the least. Also confused because their manager did the same thing with Boney M. It certainly wasn't the first time it was done and it wasn't the last. It was just the most obvious. 🤣
librarypunk1974@reddit
Absolutely nothing lol
Thisdarlingdeer@reddit
I remember my parents throwing out the tapes, and all the stuff about it on the news. Girl you know it’s true…. bops head
frednekk@reddit
I knew it from the start, that you’d break my heart…
So I kept jamming.
StrawberryCake88@reddit
Did you blame it on the rain?
frednekk@reddit
Girl, you know it’s true.
CaptainJeff@reddit
I certainly did not put the blame on you.
Legitimate-End-1346@reddit
I was sad for the actual singers. I don’t know why they didn’t continue as the Real MilliVanilli
DocCanoro@reddit
Didn't care, the music was catchy.
smoked_retarded@reddit
Confirmed what everyone was saying about top ten radio play.
atxluchalibre@reddit
It became a late night tv joke and ruined their lives. Now, everyone does it, including releasing AI tracks.
Frosty-Disaster-7821@reddit
I was 10. It ruined my whole day.
Altruistic_Echidna86@reddit
I was sad but not surprised. Then I spent 25 years working in the music industry and realized it’s common place.
BusterBus75@reddit
I actually never dug Milli vanilli. I thought that they were pretty... Lame. When the truth came out I felt bad for everybody involved. It was clear that they were puppets and it is a crying shame that the actual vocalist never got their due.
Clean-Mention-4254@reddit
I felt the same way I did before they were exposed.
tbodillia@reddit
I wondered, and still wonder, why didn't it happen to all the lip syncers. OK, it wasn't even their voice on the albums, but so many acts do nothing but lip sync.
No_Cow_4544@reddit
I was completely blindsided and in disbelief. For the next weeks and months to follow I had trouble trusting anything and anyone . To be completely honest this has really changed my life and how I view things and doubt almost everything . It’s not a healthy way to live and I blame Milli Vanilli and the team around them for all of it .
lmacmil2@reddit
It had zero effect on my life.
gadget850@reddit
I was wondering who Milli Vanilli was.
citizenh1962@reddit
I felt bad for them. I had interviewed them pre-scandal, and they were perfectly nice guys, just sort of pretty and dumb. Frank Farian was the villain of the story.
Dare2BeU420@reddit
Indifferent. So many performers are guilty of this, they just got caught.
JayeNBTF@reddit
BitCurious8598@reddit
I was in the 8th grade when this happened. I was shocked that it went as long as it did.
5amDan05@reddit
If you didn’t know after you heard them talk, then you weren’t paying attention.
earthforce_1@reddit
I didn't care. The music is what mattered anyway, if it was really reptilian aliens producing it, so what?
DLMoore9843@reddit
Unsurprised
frauleinsteve@reddit
As Albert Goldman (played by Nathan Lane) said so eloquently in "The Birdcage"....."how do you think I felt? betrayed.....bewildered...."
MissingWhiskey@reddit
This is the first thing I thought of
And earlier today I was thinking about Agador Spartacus' Guatemalaness
katspresso@reddit
I’ve found my people
CHILLAS317@reddit
"Wrong answer?"
PersistentGoldfish@reddit
I don’t know
saturdayprojects@reddit
Didn’t care, still don’t.
argherna@reddit
Schadenfreude. I felt schadenfreude. Because I was right.
Traditional_Ant_2662@reddit
I didn't care. Not one iota.
Infinite-Pepper9120@reddit
They are owed an apology. Auto tune, production tricks, layering tracks, it’s all the same shit they do now in the studio. They still have studio plants in the industry too. The producers should have gone down, not these two guys. They were victims of an industry.
Judo-_-Flip@reddit
So they're German I believe and before they came to America they're "thing" was known. Only when they came here it was assumed they were actually singing.
Fastslow4321@reddit
I was a huge fan at the time and didn’t care. Was still listening to their CD long after the scandal officially broke. Of course, there had been rumors for quite some time leading up to this. It’s music I enjoyed either way, who cares who does the singing?
shit_ass_mcfucknuts@reddit
I didn't particularly care too much. When I found out the whole story I felt bad for the guys who really sang the songs tho. The whole thing was unnecessary.
tribucks@reddit
Vindicated
texasrigger@reddit
Indifferent. It was a surprise but I was never a fan so I didn't really have a horse in the race.
Traditional_Ad_5859@reddit
Didn't care. Didn't listen to them. Was annoyed by the people who asked for a refund. Didn't understand how they went from liking the music to hating it bc the two dudes on the cd were just dancers and models. Thought the backlash was over the top and hysterical.
DesignerBag96@reddit
I mean entertainment is entertainment. It was always a non-issue for me. I think a lot of entertainers at the time were lip syncing their own music anyway. This just sensationalized it to a point where the media was like “can you believe it? How dare they lip sync…someone else?”.
GoldenGMiller@reddit
Couldn't have cared less
Mysterious-Judge-894@reddit
Not a care in the world
Mister-Owen@reddit
FlingbatMagoo@reddit
I hated their music so I was happy I wouldn’t be hearing it on the radio anymore.
Gman777@reddit
Highly amused. 😂
Babbleplay-@reddit
Didn’t care too much. The only time I had ever seen them was on the episode of super Mario Brothers cartoon they guess start on. I wasn’t into much music yet at that age.
dendawg@reddit
I wasn’t surprised in the least. My sister and I made lip syncing jokes about them all the time when Arsenio Hall was making his jokes about them.
HistorianJRM85@reddit
i was 11 years old, and it was pretty shocking when the news came out. it was shown everywhere, and we all talked about it at school. they were a good group, so it was disappointing that they got into trouble and that they were not going to perform or release any more music. At the same time, the jokes that comedians made at their expense i didn't really mind.
In hindsight, my kid mind didn't really put together how they had incredibly thick german accents when they talked, but silky soulful fluency when they sang. Once they were outed, it made sense, but not during their popularity year of 1989.
tequilasundae@reddit
i used to have a roommate that blasted them everywhere, and I would razz them about how shitty they were, and that they didn't have any songwriting credits on the album. When they got exposed, I always wondered what he thought, but had long parted ways with him.
Stump303@reddit
Dammit you guys. This is a serious question. I blame it on my mom. She didn’t hug me enough
Putrid-Catch-3755@reddit
I was maybe 10. I had no idea who they were.
Scubatrucker@reddit
I was 14 then and went on about my life. It didn’t affect me in any way.
GelatinousGoober@reddit
Didn’t phase me but I remember going to the trash can and seeing my sisters CD in it
Biauralbeats@reddit
Still were entertaining and eye candy galore.
Extension-Camera3668@reddit
I blamed it on the rain
thewaytowholeness@reddit
As a youngn it was definitely a bummer.
These two were untouchable heros for a few months.
To see they couldn‘t sing in key without the props and lip syncing was a clue to the smoke and mirrors fakery of some world stage people who get propped up for reasons other than talent.
JBay24@reddit
Sad 😔
Shawnaldo7575@reddit
Back then, I thought it was funny.
Now, I see them as trailblazers. Lip-syncing before it was common practice. They should be hailed as pioneers of modern mainstream pop music.
Foe_sheezy@reddit
Milli and vanilli weren't popular because they were good singers, they were popular because girls thought they were pretty.
Murky_Plant5410@reddit
Didn’t care actually. Lip syncing still goes on like most of JLo’s songs are not her singing because she is NOT a singer and has a terrible voice and no one’s cares about that either. It’s all entertainment.
Siesta13@reddit
Felt bad for the real singers. Felt bad for those 2 guys. Just a shitty thing to do all the way around.
icatchfrogs@reddit
At our college, we started a “give back the Grammy” movement but it never took off
Mudcreek47@reddit
I remember thinking with my tween logic "somebody sang those songs, so whoever it was should get the credit and keep singing".
No_Pilot5753@reddit
Didn’t care.
Scormey@reddit
Being a metalhead, I laughed my ass off when they were exposed. I did feel bad when one of them took their own life, but just because I wish they had gotten the mental health support they needed.
Spiritual-Cow4200@reddit
I blamed it on the rain.
tvguard@reddit
Crushed . I just couldn’t believe it.
obikenobi77@reddit
At the time frauds now years later sad for them if they only had auto tune then also sad for the guys that were actually singing how they felt good enough to sing but no one wants to see them
Jayprater@reddit
I worked in radio at the time and had heard about the lip syncing from a record rep. I really didn't think it was a big deal because artists were using backing tracks at the time so they could dance and not sound winded when they sang.
Cher used auto tune in 98 or whenever Believe came out. I don't think these guys deserved to be crucified.
Jeffb957@reddit
I thought it was funny, but otherwise unremarkable. The music was good, and it was just a show. There's tons of fakery in every sort of entertainment. I'd be totally fine with just enjoying the show.
Royal-Illustrator-59@reddit
Who?
Frosty-Flower-3813@reddit
eh, who cares, this was a great album! Swift got nothing on these two in the day. Girl you know it's true.
dmendro@reddit
Thought it was wild, didn’t care.
efildaD@reddit
I couldn’t believe that everyone didn’t already know.
Separate_Today_8781@reddit
Vindicated, I thought they sucked 😏
GiantMags@reddit
I always knew they were white
JollyGiant573@reddit
Same as USAID mad, like someone cheated.
tindalos@reddit
I felt bad for the guys that actually recorded the songs. It was more of a surprise then that a lot of pop was theatrical and lip sync’d, but good music is good music and there was a reason they became popular. Ironically now it seems quaint.
Bulky-Collection3726@reddit
Plot twist it really was them singing!! 😂
mrdan1969@reddit
A sense of vindication because I found their music so incredibly annoying. But I'm sorry for what happened to them I know one of them committed suicide, forgot which one.
Beast_Bear0@reddit
Sad. Deeply sad for them. They were beautiful. Great Dancers. They had skills other than singing.
And sad because that Rain song was great. Pop, fun, memorable.
Just sad.
CourtesyFlush667@reddit
I just blamed it on the rain, yeeeeeea yeeeeeea
Stock2fast@reddit
I'm not surprised . Image has been more important than talent for a long time now in popular music. Billy Holiday , Louis Armstrong , Ella Fitzgerald , Oscar Peterson, all pure talent, but they might not make it today .
AdScary1757@reddit
It's funny because their producer was and had been accused of the very same thing with several of his bands in the past. So it wasn't really a scandal, just some weird control freak producer who did this to all his bands. It doesn't mean they weren't talented or that they even wanted to do it they had an iron clad contract.
Boney M is a good example of one of his earlier scandals.
https://youtu.be/FYGTT7YhywA?si=6HU27wRuuKvWQwL3
Jaimestrange@reddit
I remember even as a kid being like "Fine, just let whoever actually sang keep singing instead, I love their music."
International-Gift47@reddit
I thought it was funny I mean I really like their music I thought it was really good, but it's just destroyed them
JenX74@reddit
Idgaf
bird9066@reddit
I didn't care. I was more angry that black box used a model instead of the amazing but heavy actual singer in their video
-jayroc-@reddit
Lake Compounce! If you know, you know.
whydoibelieveyou@reddit
I honestly felt a little zing of satisfaction because it exposed a fraud. It showed that older and highly talented musicians (who truly did all their songs) are unfairly sidelined. And pompous music critics that used words like “genius” to describe these two young performers suddenly fell silent.
f_ckchop@reddit
So happy! Couldn't stand that shit. The songs were pure crap and I couldn't understand how people liked it.
2K_Crypto@reddit
I was 2 yes old. I would say so distraught, only Apple Juice and some candy could console me.
BogusIsMyName@reddit
I didnt care. I liked the music. Never understood the hate.
OkAd6047@reddit
I felt sorry for them later, but at the time (being kids), I admit I made fun of it... once I heard the whole story, I definitely changed my mind.
scots@reddit
Didn't care about them at all, but found it interesting when Congress was holding hearings threatening to pass legislation that ALL music acts performing in the US would have to print on their tickets and advertising if they were using loops, samples, recorded backing, main vocals or instruments and it was terrifying the shit out of the entire music industry, which has been doing exactly that for decades.
Jackpot777@reddit
I was heavily into house music, proper underground club stuff, so this didn’t affect my musical listening at all.
Bones-1989@reddit
What?
RobertRoberttt@reddit
Kind of a shame.. obvious lip syncing is totally accepted these days. These guys were just a product of a time where we held musicians to a higher standard.
Mediocre-Leather-769@reddit
Damn you Frank Farian!
Appropriate_Mine@reddit
Indifferent
Mysterious-Leave3756@reddit
Felt nothing but embarrassed for them and the Grammys
UncleJer78@reddit
Didn’t move the needle .
buttfirstcoffee@reddit
Lied to
Ramoncin@reddit
I didn't get the backlash. I'm rety sure many pop acts at the time were nothing but frauds. reading about their case, it seems that they were getting too arrogant and the especialised press decided to teach them a lesson.
AverellCZ@reddit
Not surprised since Frank Farian had been doing the same thing before with Boney M. Where the male voice is his own while the black guy was just dancing around and pretending to sing.
I_am_Russ_Troll@reddit
Didn’t surprise me in the least.
dingdongdoodah@reddit
Didn't give two doodoo's
Rhearoze2k@reddit
i felt nothing. they made 1 song.
Reese9951@reddit
They were just ahead of their time and I will die on this hill
Outrageous-Pen-9737@reddit
Didn't care one way or the other
MusingFoolishly@reddit
I felt like I forgot her number
amscraylane@reddit
To find out later they could sing and were manipulated to lip sync is tragic.
No one talks about C&C Music Factory using a skinny woman when the really pipes belonged to another woman who was not skinny.
nashwaak@reddit
There was so much lip syncing in videos and there were so many canned acts, it hardly seemed worthy of being a scandal. At the time I expected a lot more acts to be exposed.
0_IceQueen_0@reddit
Indifferent but disappointed when I saw the real ones. Hey don't jump on be. Just being honest.
Disastrous_Friend_85@reddit
It was hilarious. And in retrospect, obvious. It was strange that the media made such a big deal of it, but that was a time in which the music media really came down hard on “sell outs.” And this just exposed the inherent BS of the whole enterprise. So naturally, these two amiable buffoons got the lifetime ban.
detunedradiohead@reddit
I already didn't like them. I was a metalhead.
General_Citron_121@reddit
We thought it was funny
Nairbfs79@reddit
It was the producer's fault. I thought they were used and abused. They were dollar signs.
giraflor@reddit
Vindicated after all of the times that people got mad that I said didn’t like Milli Vanilli.
jellitate@reddit
I didn’t care
workinglate2024@reddit
I didn’t care and was mad that they stopped playing their songs on the radio and basically erased them. I thought they should have simply switched to the real dudes or started giving them credit but continued with the music, I loved every song.
kuzism@reddit
I felt stupid for buying their C.D.
Meet Milli Vanilli’s real singers John Davis & Brad Howell who sang hits Blame It On The Rain & Girl You Know It’s True
SnatchAddict@reddit
I didn't care at all. So many acts were already lip syncing live.
FoogYllis@reddit
Besides real artists made that album and they produced it well.
Strangewhine88@reddit
Couldn’t bother with even a shocked Pikachu face for the large segment of snake oil buyers in our demographic. Pay back was hell and in the end tragic.
katchoo1@reddit
Pissed that they won best New Artist over the Indigo Girls that year.
Cultural_Pattern_456@reddit
I didn’t listen to that shit lol
Original-Move8786@reddit
Yeah I felt sad for them. Didn’t one of them commit suicide?
GETTERBLAKK@reddit
I didn't care, the music and the videos were good, if you actually saw the people who really sang the songs they never would've appealed to the target audience. They were entertaining and it was good while it lasted.
Old_surviving_moron@reddit
I didn't get the furor. It was a common practice at the time.
The industry fucked up and threw a grammy at them.
PerformanceSmooth392@reddit
I could never figure out which one was Rob and which one was Fab?
No_Bake_3627@reddit
I didn't really care. Didn't like them to begin with.
Redjeepkev@reddit
Who fun ING carded about them anyway
OnionTamer@reddit
I didn't really care. They were a one hit wonder and I didn't like the song.
AntiSnoringDevice@reddit
It was absolutely hilarious and gave my dad the opportunity to lecture us on the "mass media illusion" and the "think before you believe". I'd say it was a constructive moment...
Livid-Technology-396@reddit
Indifferent. I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, but never subscribed to any popular culture music of ideals.
Fuzzy_Attempt6989@reddit
It was hilarious
Deedeelite@reddit
Eh, didn't affect me either way.
Unfair_Bluejay_9687@reddit
Sad. So so sad. Because all the acts on the ed Sullivan show were all lip synced. When the mamas and Papas were singing California dreaming, Michelle Phillips was eating a banana to show that they weren’t singing and nothing was said or done about them. Appears there are two standards when it comes to being caught lip syncing.
Secret_Asparagus_783@reddit
That must have come late in Sullivan's career. He was known for refusing to allow lip-synching during the shows run in the 50s and 60s. Singers has to sing "lice" either with their own backup band or with the show 's Orchestra led by Ray Bloch (Ed's son in law).
asj-777@reddit
I still remember being so disheartened as a kid when I waited around to see Kiss on ... I think it was Solid Gold? They were playing my favorite song off The Elder, and I knew this song backward and forward, and even as a kid I realized that it was the song off the album and they weren't actually performing live and I was lilke, WTF?
Unfair_Bluejay_9687@reddit
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/mamas-and-papas-ed-sullivan/
uwu_mewtwo@reddit
This isn't a case of being held to a different standard. Michelle Phillips was lip syncing to a track sung by Michelle Phillips, Milli Vanilli were lip synching to somebody else's singing. That's the difference. It's accepted as a fact of showbiz, or anyway it used to be, that acts sometimes lip sync to a studio track so they can dance or the broadcast audio quality can be good, or whatever. Unless it's a drag show they'd better be lip syncing to their own music, however.
youareallsilly@reddit
Cooy paste from my other reply:
That wasn’t the controversial part though. Lip synching had been common for a long time, especially in pop acts with lots of dancing.
What made this stand out was 1) how it happened (the track was skipping and vox were repeating, making it super obvious and weird, similar to Ashley Simpson’s SNL debacle), and 2) it came out that they weren’t even the vocals in the tracks.
CharmingDagger@reddit
That's hilarious.
MidnightNo1766@reddit
I just felt bad for them. It's like people forgot about things like the Partridge Family or the Archies.
Poor guy ended up killing himself over it.
asj-777@reddit
The Partridge Family was awesome! Can't forget the Bradys' musical performances, too.
cupid_stunt_4000@reddit
I blame it on Lorraine
Electronic_Echo_1121@reddit
Never liked them, so i didn't care.
gustingman@reddit
Justified in my hatred of them.
a_passionate_man@reddit
Not my music and I really didn’t give a F…
asj-777@reddit
I thought the music sucked anyway so I didn't really give a rat's ass.
DifferentWindow1436@reddit
Oh geez, at the time I was in H.S. in New Jersey, so my reaction was, "haha..I knew you f*$% sucked". And then got back to listening to Iron Maiden, or Zakk, or Pink Floyd. But now that I'm older, I can see what probably happened and feel bit sorry for them.
wetwater@reddit
I wasn't a fan of theirs to begin with and when it came out I found it so very ludicrous.
thecasualnuisance@reddit
Exposed for the lip syncer I was as a teen and still am sometimes, still now
fishbone_buba@reddit
I was surprised people were surprised. It was obvious in interviews these were not the dudes who sang. And the overreaction was ridiculous.
-DethLok-@reddit
I was amused.
And I was also annoyed, people voted for the music, didn't they? Who cares who actually sang it!? The music is either great and worthy of a grammy or it... wouldn't sell a million plus albums.
I still own the CD and I think I may have actually bought it AFTER they were 'exposed', as the price dropped dramatically. The checkout person ringing it up asked me if I'd heard that it was 'fake', I said yes, but the music is still great, it's not like I care who the real singers are - it's great music!
It's full of bangers, too, that still stand up today!
In fact I'll just queue some up in Winamp right now...
Done! :)
"All for nothing..."
Skitzafranik@reddit
I pulled a Florida Evans 4real!!!
blametheboogie@reddit
I saw them on a talk show, Arsenio or Letterman most likely, their English was so bad that I was suspicious that it wasn't them on the record.
When the scandal hit I wasn't the least bit surprised.
I still liked the album and still listen to it every now and then. It reminds me of that time in my life.
Far_Particular_430@reddit
Sad, I liked their videos
MienaLovesCats@reddit
Shocked! I was a young teen. I enjoyed some of their music. Don't worry be 😃
_Maid3n_3ngland_@reddit
Milli who??...
Sour_Gummybear@reddit
I don't know why anyone was surprised they were lip syncing.. The producer behind them was famous for his other product Boney M.
Cart-Of-L-1642@reddit
I was happy because it meant that they would disappear soon. Their music was absolute crap and rhe dancing ridiculous.
MaiBoo18@reddit
I didn’t really care, I still listen to them.
PussyFoot2000@reddit
I might have shrugged my shoulders. I don't remember, we were too busy listening to slayer.
Melodic-Picture48@reddit
Still cool. You got to blame it on something 🎶🎶
ElMonko2@reddit
I didn't feel anything. Many bands have done this. I was however sad when I watched the documentary and found out that Fabrice actually can sing.
Mumchkin@reddit
I was very disappointed and felt bad for the actual singers.
OAKRAIDER64@reddit
Wait! What? I only heard that PeeWee Herman exposed himself at the porno store.
DamnGoodCupOfCoffee2@reddit
This is the family story now! I was in high school and sitting in the waiting room of the hospital while my sister was giving birth to her first kid. So yes I was shocked but also that news has forever been connected to that happy moment
Naive_Arm_3111@reddit
I laughed. I'd already had my fill of Stock Aitken & Waterman shit filling up the UK charts for 'seemingly' years while the good stuff got ignored. FFS - we had Pixies, Jesus And Mary Chain, Depeche Mode (Violator), Stone Roses, Happy Mondays plus the arrival of grunge. All considered classic now. And the UK chose Rick Astley, Kylie, Bryan Adams and these tit's!!!
True-Ad-8466@reddit
That it was a them problem not a me problem.
SaltInner1722@reddit
Didn’t care
bryans_alright@reddit
Who?
i_t_s_c_e_e_j_a_y_y_@reddit
I blamed it on the rain
Select-Record4581@reddit
I just learned they were German a month ago. I remember them on MTV and pretty quickly at school they just became a running joke. I don't think anyone was surprised.
Designer-Course-8414@reddit
I don’t know. I was paying someone else to do my feelings for me at the time!
HuckleberryNo5604@reddit
I didn't care, so many people were lip syncing at that time.
Piscivore_67@reddit
Ambivilent.
Tuscan5@reddit
I bought my wife their album for Christmas after we watched the documentary. She was over the moon. The music is great and they were fooled into doing it.
ComprehensiveAd8815@reddit
It was spectacularly nasty at the time, the tabloids were especially vile. Those lads totally vilified… like it was all their doing. I’d like to see a tv drama made on this and try to give the story and the lads a bit of understanding away from the tabloid muck.
general_madness@reddit
Unsurprised.
NowoTone@reddit
Since I knew they were from the same stable as Boney M, I wasn’t surprised. Also, I had heard them talk German and English before the news broke, so again few surprises.
For them it turned out to be a nightmare instead of the dream they chased and I feel sorry for them. I also think the media and record industry persecution was ridiculous, specifically as again both knew where they came from. Especially in terms of the industry I feel they wanted to draw attention away from their own machinations. Because they have always cheated and lied to the public, substituted musicians, mix backing vocals high in live concerts to make the main singer’s lack of chops less obvious, use tapes so they can have better dance routines.
There are several videos out there comparing an artist’s live vocals from different shows, proving them to be identical which is only possible if they’re pre-recorded.
So all in all, it’s a show, and the industry gets furious if their tricks are revealed.
gringo-go-loco@reddit
I didn’t care. They annoyed the shit out of me.
Conscious-Memory-949@reddit
Not as pissed off as they are now watching people lip sync on tiktok
HoseNeighbor@reddit
It was kind of surreal and funny, but those were some pretty good songs.
darbbeard@reddit
Disappointed, as it was great music for its time!
HK-Admirer2001@reddit
Never liked them to begin with, so I was happy they turned out to be frauds. Like an "I told you so" type of deal.
guy_fleegman83@reddit
The whole story is crazy. I have “Blame it on
RemoteViewer777@reddit
No one ended Madonna’s career or scores of other fakers. These blokes got a raw deal.
ATOLandmark@reddit
Vindicated
zutros@reddit
I felt like I was 7 so I guess my answer was probably dinosaurs and light up shoes.
Mysterious_Fig3051@reddit
😔
Much-Injury1499@reddit
Crestfallen.
Petal170816@reddit
Me too. They were giving refunds on their albums and I kept my cassette b/c I loved it so much!
CMsentinel@reddit
I loved it. ..just another nail in the music industrys coffin......
I always knew it was about looks...more than talent....
When I said it I got nasty comments but, everything I said has come home to roost...
Picking better musicians
The lack of training on how to handle fame ...
the pedophiles....
the stealing of of peoples interracial properties and masters...
I said it all.....now lookie lookie chocolate chip cookie...
I told you so...(sips tea)
bhuffmansr@reddit
Unsurprised.
Aggressive-Barber443@reddit
Yesteryears motley crue
Padwanna68@reddit
I worried more about finding some clean socks on my bedroom floor.
Carnivorous_Mower@reddit
Vindicated. I always thought they were a bit shit.
45thgeneration_roman@reddit
A few years later, with autotune they'd have been fine
RegretAccumulator72@reddit
My friend stole a Milli Vanilli cassette from Wal-Mart and spent 2 weekends in jail. Now he's world famous in certain circles.
Grizzle_prizzle37@reddit
Initially, I really didn’t care. They released a couple of good songs, in American Bandstand parlance, they had a good beat and they were easy to dance to. It wasn’t as though anyone was trying to make them into the next Beatles, Mozart, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis or whoever, they put out some catchy, enjoyable pop songs. But the way they were vilified, you’d think they’d tried to set themselves up as the future of American music.
Genshed@reddit
I still wanted to hump them both.
Befuddled_GenXer@reddit
I've always despised bubblegum pop. So at the time I cheered they're downfall.
Now in hindsight I realize how they were used by the entertainment industry to make a quick buck then scapegoated and discarded.
To add insult to injury they were paid virtually nothing and blacklisted from the industry.
While they were complicate in going along with the charade, ultimately they got all the blame and were the only ones held accountable.
NoCold597@reddit
Sitcom_kid@reddit
The whole thing turned me off and put me on composers instead of performers, without whom there would be no songs. And I will say for sure that there is no way on this earth or in this universe that Diane Warren had any idea that they were doing this. She would never have approved of it! Just never ever.
Dik-Pharts@reddit
Like a kid who was confused by my older siblings disbelief.
stromm@reddit
Didn’t care. Didn’t like the music anyways.
MrXero@reddit
Did not give a single shit. Fun music was still fun. Of course I was in the 7th grade, soooooo…
AmorFatiBarbie@reddit
My sister was their biggest fan I'm sure. We have a heap of brothers who mocked her constantly for it.
When the scandal dropped my ma was like 'YOU BETTER LEAVE HER ALONE' and eventually they were allowed to mention it.
They still bring it up.
picks43@reddit
I remember being so shocked that they would lip synced instead of actually singing at their shows….i just thought “what a bunch of talentless hacks”. …then come find out they didn’t write their music…. I was like “wow shocking…of course they didn’t”.
Now in 2025, no one cares about either and it’s the norm in pop 🤷🤷🤷
ipenlyDefective@reddit
Maybe I'm just old, I bought albums I still don't know what anyone in the band looked like. Boston? No clue. April Wine? No idea.
So when people were demanding refunds for a record they bought because the singers didn't look how they thought, I was like, really? You bought the album because of how they looked? And you're admitting that?
cl0ckw0rkman@reddit
My older sister refused to care. She loved "their" songs and singing.
Think she still listens to them
Real_valley_girl2000@reddit
I don’t think anyone really cared.
JenniferJuniper6@reddit
Indifferent. I was maybe a little old for them.
Obvious-Confusion14@reddit
Glad it was over bc I could not stand their "songs". Probably bc of the local rock station played the top ten songs of week. During the week of "Blame it on the Rain" release they thought why not make it the whole top ten. After that I was done with it. Same station did an Eagles tribute and played "Hotel California" on loop for a week during Christmas break. I just could not handle it.
VeeVeeDiaboli@reddit
LP14255@reddit
Congratulations corporate America.
ShaperLord777@reddit
They had just guest starred on an episode of the Super Mario Brothers cartoon, so I was pretty devastated. Just sayin.
New-Chemistry7352@reddit
Educational-Gift-132@reddit
Since they had like 2 good songs. I was not crying in my soup.
mslass@reddit
Zero fucks given.
manhattanabe@reddit
I didn’t care. I still like the music.
Separate-Sky-1451@reddit
I mean, everyone does it now! They were trend setters!
Low_Presentation8149@reddit
Devastated ( not really)
scottimandias@reddit
I wasn't a fan & didn't overly care but saw it as a sign of the overall decline of quality in popular music.
Battgyrl@reddit
I loved Milli Vanilli so I was really disappointed…I didn’t care they were “fake” but I knew we wouldn’t get anymore music.
bscottlove@reddit
Didn't give a shit before or after.
Boson_Higgs_Boson@reddit
Didn’t give a single shit.
mikeonmaui@reddit
My left foot itched for three days.
heyheypaula1963@reddit
A little surprised but didn’t really care, for the most part.
atsparagon@reddit
I felt completely unsurprised.
DisorientedViking@reddit
I felt like no one was listening to my pain
sirensavior@reddit
ReverendKilljoy68@reddit
It crushed my Milli Vanilli cover band: Vanilli Extract.
wiggityjualt99909@reddit
Solid.
Rocking_Ronnie@reddit
Cheated, the award should have gone to Skid Row for best new artist.
ActionMan48@reddit
😂😂😂😂
ikokiwi@reddit
Malicious schadenfreude - these guys represented a high-water mark of everything I hated about the 80s, and I really fucking hated the 80s.
This instantly turned to massive and permanent sadness when I found out he'd died. Nothing was worth that. Poor guy. I wish I could have done something.
Recarica@reddit
I felt bad for them, to be honest. I think I was, 12 and even then I had the critical thinking skills to know there was no way their label didn’t know and approve.
Inside-Cow3488@reddit
I laughed for 4 days straight! In fact now that I’m thinking about it again bahahahaha!!
AntheaBrainhooke@reddit
Deeply meh. I'd already been through it all with Boney M.
i-touched-morrissey@reddit
It was hilarious. I wasn’t a fan anyway.
Rough_Condition75@reddit
I was confused why the folks who did sing would even agree to that and why weren’t they treated like any other musician? And where are they now?
heatherbabydoll@reddit
I didn’t care in the least and kept listening to my milli vanilli tape
S99B88@reddit
Whatever. It’s a song, somebody sang it. You can’t hear what they look like on the radio or anything. If you like it and bought the tape or whatever, why ruin it because the person who sang it didn’t look the way you thought they did?
I thought the whole thing was stupid. But I kind of listened to different music anyway.
Relevant-Resource-93@reddit
I was devastated. My teenage brain was so sad. Ha
PublicCraft3114@reddit
I felt vindicated for knowing all along that "their music" was the worst kind of shitty mass market pop.
f4tony@reddit
I pooped in a toilet, like God intended.
Strong-Bridge-6498@reddit
Deana quit putting this album in when we'd make out. Life went on.
SpaceMonkey3301967@reddit
I rather laughed because their music sucked, but when I knew their full story, I felt sad.
WokkitUp@reddit
I felt... talented.
Top_Investment_4599@reddit
Sad. Their team and the industry betrayed them.
muffledvoice@reddit
It confirmed what I already suspected. I’m a studio producer and musician, and it never quite added up how their speaking voices in interviews didn’t match the vocal tone of their alleged singing voices, particularly the absence of any European accents in their singing voices.
It was also obvious that they were lip synching their stage performances, which isn’t altogether unusual since a lot of pop artists lip synched TV performances back then. But Milli Vanilli ALWAYS lip synched their live performances, even on tour.
Their whole charade was always one skipping CD away from being exposed, and then it happened.
captainmidday@reddit
It was not nearly as embarassing as Ashlee Simpson
Illustrious-Card-985@reddit
https://youtu.be/SiZVrTaC9Pg?si=BYEaFarimu2pZiyc
jjmenace@reddit
I had a friend that saw them in concert and loved the show
AntonChekov1@reddit
I remember this very well. I had their cassette. I remember throwing it away when they lost their Grammy. I was 14
susannahstar2000@reddit
I didn't care at all. I liked the song and didn't care who sang it.
captainmidday@reddit
I think of Johnny Carson making jokes about Mili Vanilli, possibly as Dana Carvey
captainmidday@reddit
I do believe we're naked
Potomacker@reddit
an early experiment with DEI policies
entechad@reddit
I still like the song.
Hotsaucejimmy@reddit
Dude could barely speak English and we believed he sang like that!
Rewatched videos recently and it’s so obvious. Dude’s mouth cannot even form the words properly.
We were very stupid back then.
Sweaty-Possibility13@reddit
Unsurprised
MrPete_Channel_Utoob@reddit
I mean nobody could tell? The real MV singers were 4 guys & 2 gals. Talk about tone death listeners.
whiteandnerdly@reddit
Still don’t give a fuck.
Michbullin@reddit
Damn.
bluesfan1801@reddit
First I was shocked, then suicidal, then horny? maybe? I gotta tell you those feelings have never really gone away and I'm still seeing therapist about it to this day. 🤪
morthanafeeling@reddit
Im working through the grief and the addiction to food.
HappyIdeot@reddit
I remember Rudy Rollar laughing at me for being unaware they weren’t hip anymore, but I haven’t thought about that since hearing he died of AIDS
And I’m not intentionally being rude; I hated that for him, but it was my first thought upon hearing the news
ubiquity75@reddit
Like I’d called it. There was no way those dudes with their heavy accents were signing in English like that. I knew it.
Budgiejen@reddit
https://youtu.be/6s4KXiXVFAI?si=gZcV5yov2tzDAPdE
fatburger321@reddit
I laughed and clowned them when I watched the In Living Color sketch. but that was about it. Wasn't life changing or anything. not really very "watching the challenger explode in the classroom" lmao. Didnt just stop listening to their songs unless they stopped on the radio. Still catchy today. Meh.
at that time i was most definitely more into playing Secret of Monkey Island and making sure I took care of my Dial-A-Pirate wheel to make sure I could always access my game.
Eastern_Ladder_6118@reddit
I was at the concert at Lake Compounce CT in 1989 when it happened. We had no idea what was going on. The music started skipping and they stormed off stage with all the lights going. The crowd all thought it was a call for an encore so we were cheering. They game back out and did another song. Didn’t know until a day or two after what had actually happened. News took a little longer back then.
skitty166@reddit
I blamed it on Lorraine
morthanafeeling@reddit
Quiche Lorraine
justkell44@reddit
They were so ahead of their time.
daveydavidsonnc@reddit
WE ARE SINGERS WE ARE VERY GOOD SINGERS
morthanafeeling@reddit
We Are The World.
Budgiejen@reddit
Disappointed, but barely.
otidaiz@reddit
Not too surprised. Stuff like that was playing in Europe. In the us there was madonna, britney, and a host of other men and woman entertainers.
dangelo7654398@reddit
Shattered. Why do you ask?
morthanafeeling@reddit
Im forming a new support group.
Spirited-Exit6331@reddit
This was nowhere near the type of music I listened to, so I was pretty indifferent and somewhat amused.
bobthedruid@reddit
It wasn't real until Kurt Loder dropped the news.
TakeMeToThePielot@reddit
I’d expect that from Milli, he was always trouble but Vanilli? THAT was truly upsetting!
morthanafeeling@reddit
I'm still dealing with the emotional repercussions.
strange_reveries@reddit
Lol this sounds like it could be a Norm joke
KingMichaelsConsort@reddit
i was sad.
they got a bum deal and even as a kid i felt like they could have had their own careers on their own merits but for someone else who signed the checks.
it’s like C&C music factory. that lady in the video didn’t ask to do that but she definitely was vilified for it.
Familiar-Year-3454@reddit
Crushed. I thought they were so good looking
Katmaehof@reddit
I didnt really care. I liked their music.
SuspiciousGrade6312@reddit
I was too busy making up dramatic scenarios for my Barbies.
KaDey5960@reddit
50% of me felt like the were brilliant😅
SkarTisu@reddit
To be honest, I felt nothing. I was never into them in the first place
Outrageous_Shoe_1450@reddit
Didn't care
silliestboots@reddit
I honestly just did not care.
No-Staff8345@reddit
Meh.
Embarrassed_Rule_341@reddit
Well I mostly liked them for the way they looked so i didn't really care. I was like 13
bavindicator@reddit
Didn't care
notyourshoesize2024@reddit
I was upset at the way the media exposed them. It was sad. Made me so sad.
Trix_Are_4_90Kids@reddit
ngl my flabber was gasted.
revo2022@reddit
This album was HUGE my junior year in college. Still listenable today. Obviously pre-social media, the rumors were building slowly. And then it happened, that skipped record. There was no denying it. It was HUGE news when they finally caved and admitted it.
WagonHitchiker@reddit
I thought most pop of the time was boring and derivitive, so faking hit songs.
Angry? I don't think so. I wanted Milli Vanilli to go the hell away because I liked the hair bands and other actual bands over the pop acts that were just singing and dancing groups.
I was a little annoyed they gave an award for crap 💩 to Milli Vanilli because there were many good albums out that year getting on MTV. Then after they had the Grammy, we found out it was just a fake
SoFloFella50@reddit
I didn’t give a fuck. The songs were good.
Fluffy-Structure-368@reddit
I remember it, but i don't remember caring.
Now, everyone is lip syncing and no one cares.
What does that tell you?
Dachongies@reddit
Still crank them songs to this day, just don’t watch the videos.
BootsyTheWallaby@reddit
100% ZFG
ITgirlrocks@reddit
Was flummoxed for a bit, but then listened to the music again. Still awesome!
Lou_Hodo@reddit
I laughed. I didnt feel bad for them till many many years later when it came out that several groups were doing this.
C&C Music Factory being another.
sortajamie@reddit
I didn’t know who they were.
OGBeege@reddit
Thought they were as untalented as boy bands get. Wasn’t surprised they lipsynced some, the band was pretty boys not sure of how to hold guitars. Gotta say lip syncing everything took some kinda balls to pull off and sandbag the Grammys. Maybe 25 minutes of fame for 25 years of, “Oh, yea. I remember those guys. I think?
Minnow125@reddit
So many pop performances now are done with backing tracks of vocals. And nobody cares.
klb1204@reddit
I really didn't care. They were great performers and was hoping whoever the ghost singers were getting paid handsomely.
Bear_Salary6976@reddit
Never cared for them so I wasn't too upset. Even today, I think that their music is average at best.
But In Living Color had a great parody of them.
RoyalClient6610@reddit
I didn't know one of them unalived themself over the whole thing.
videoman7189@reddit
I just laughed.
bishopredline@reddit
I knew it from the first time i saw them perform. But the album is very good and still enjoy the songs.. like a honey bee you took the best of mee, now I can't erase the memory... Lennon and McCartney hold my beer!
gloomflume@reddit
hardly the first to do it, just the first to get caught. Their schtick is basically SOP for way too many “live” acts these days
Thunderloaf@reddit
I moved on with my life.
ClimtEastwood@reddit
That’s when I found out who they were!
Iflydryandsly@reddit
Realised they were only pretending to be shit.
avburns@reddit
I saw them in concert, where they interacted with the audience and put on a pretty decent show. Finding out they were “frauds”, I thought at least they were skilled fraudsters. My chronology is probably off but after finding out about them, it seemed like the floodgate were opened with many of their peers: Black Box, C&C Music Factory and Seduction being revealed to using Martha Walsh’s (from the Weather Girls) vocals in a similar manner.
bizoticallyyours83@reddit
I'd forgotten about that
ch8ch@reddit
Scammers. Maybe Taylor Smith is doing it too..can you imagine?
ziperhead944@reddit
It made me question who else was doing it.. turns out, quite a few.
oldfogey12345@reddit
I never liked them in the first place so I wasn't really affected.
Funkopedia@reddit
What's sad is that the people who actually did perform on the tracks released an album after that under the name of "The Real Milli Vanilli" and nobody bought it. Turns out having 2 flamboyant German accented muscle men is at least as important as having musical talent.
Particular_Act_5396@reddit
Completely indifferent. I didn’t know a single person in high school who listened to them. It was just crappy pop on MTV and the radio
jar1967@reddit
bizoticallyyours83@reddit
I wasn't into milli vanilli as a kid, the only things I knew about them was them getting caught, and that they made an appearance on the Super Mario 3 cartoon.
Evening_Internal82@reddit
Utterly indifferent. Wasn't into their music. Wasn't into the awards. It had no impact or bearing on my life.
Intelligent_Neat_377@reddit
it was all an act… that’s why it’s called showbiz… 🕺💃
jtphilbeck@reddit
Girl you know it’s true.
Jahidinginvt@reddit
How do you think I feel? Betrayed, bewildered?
Altruistic_Fondant38@reddit
I really didn't care.. I liked the music.. it's so sad what happened.
beer_flows_like_wine@reddit
Didn’t care a bit.
Pete_maravich@reddit
🤷
Psychological-Dirt69@reddit
Devastated. I was in love with them.
Janku@reddit
In the late 80's, vindictive. Today, pity / remorse.
MaddaddyJ@reddit
Glad. I didn't think they were Grammy worthy. I was a rock/metal guy then. Now I think that their singles are alright and the original performers deserve more credit.
dvl36s@reddit
Didn't lots of bands use live backing tracks (like they do today) in the 80s? What about their backing track crapping out meant they were frauds to everyone? I know it's a known fact now but how did everyone figure it out by that happening? Like Ashley simpson's snl gaffe didn't out her whole career as fraudulent.
travelinmatt76@reddit
The media decided to blow it all out of proportion. It was pretty clear from live interviews that they barely spoke English, but they always doubled down that it was them singing. A lot of stuff went to shit for them, it's all on their wiki if you want all the details.
AztecGodofFire@reddit
I didn't care. Did anyone think they were true artists and not just some group manufactured by the record company anyway?
togocann49@reddit
Nothing. I never saw them live in concert or anything, so I was not scammed. Tunes were tainted a bit, but still a couple bangers. When it comes to studio magic, you have to be aware that some music is seriously produced, and I looked at it like that. Like those awards they hit, I thought they should’ve been given to real singer and producer, but there were others that felt betrayed, and of course their radio play went way way down
ProfMeriAn@reddit
Yeah, I felt bad for them, too. Given the option, a lot of people would have chosen to sell their souls and do far worse to make it in the music biz. And many have done so.
TheManWhoClicks@reddit
“Ah hmm ok”
jamesobx@reddit
Wait, what?
BaseballFanHNL@reddit
I wasn't a huge fan so it was more interesting than bummer.
citymousecountyhouse@reddit
They did a live tour in smaller venues a couple months before the gig was up. A friend was all excited and asked a lady with the crew if they could perform some song, don't remember the name. The lady said "We can't. We don't have that one on tape" like it was the most normal response in the world. My friends and I were like "huh?"
MajorKabakov@reddit
It filled me with inertia
FlightlessRhino@reddit
I thought the real musicians should have gotten the Grammys. But the entire music industry exposed itself as a joke by not doing so.
NativeSceptic1492@reddit
I didn’t know until years later. I was away
Gaglia79@reddit
Gurl you know it’s true - Still a banger!
iamgazz@reddit
I’m more a rocker so wasn’t a fan of their type of music and didn’t care. A few years ago I watched a musical documentary about them and felt sad for them because of the devastation it caused their lives - with one of them taking his own. All while their “handlers” were cashing in and living the high life as if nothing had happened.
Much-Specific3727@reddit
Horney
foreskinfive@reddit
Fucking heartbroken
Floopydoodler@reddit
About as upset as when I found out Martha Wash was singing C&C songs instead of that skinny young girl. It all made sense and I still didn’t give a shit.
ExHippieChick@reddit
Yes! She also sang for Black Box and was never credited.
Floopydoodler@reddit
I know it. Strike it up will be on my playlist until I die - she’s got an amazing g voice
LennonGrace3@reddit
I loved them, I think I was like 12? So I was heartbroken for them. I remember thinking they were terrible at lip syncing in their videos, their mouths never really matched with the words. So at least I had an answer to the reason for that. And then when the one guy committed suicide, I was sad for them all over again.
mradentz@reddit
Vindicated.
Humulophile@reddit
Vindicated.
NutzNBoltz369@reddit
Same mastermind of this:
https://youtu.be/16y1AkoZkmQ
Unexpected_Gristle@reddit
It was like 9/11 x 2
Few_Assistant1383@reddit
It was a tragedy for me to see the dream was over
gretzky9999@reddit
Give the Grammy to the real voices would have been the right thing to do.
MyriVerse2@reddit
Never a fan. Didn't care.
SaugusBull@reddit
They got a bum rap, they were an essential part of the act
techman74@reddit
Didn’t care, great songs regardlesss
skot77@reddit
Nobody was angry, we all laughed because we all knew something was up when they had such thick accents.
Heres a 33hz version of Girl You Know It's True
Hagfist@reddit
I didn't like them, I was thrilled
Jnb69@reddit
I reacted like when Lady Diana died, I couldn’t give a fuck
YlawSlim@reddit
Sad
brianinwi@reddit
Whatever
ghoulish-figure@reddit
i felt second-hand embarrassment.
charitytowin@reddit
The amount for which I could not have cared less shocked the nation
NeoKingEndymion@reddit
I wasnt bothered by it
Jenjikromi@reddit
I thought about poor Marth Wash and C+C Music Factory doing her dirty!
tuco2002@reddit
Which one was which?
HorrorhoundHippy73@reddit
Didn't bother me any since I was a rock/metal head and didn't like Milli Vanilli .
I thought it was funny that the girls in my class were upset by it .
Effective-Kitchen401@reddit
I was listening to weird al
Cjkgh@reddit
indifferent. I still like the songs to this day
ikediggety@reddit
I was surprised it was such a big deal, they were obviously manufactured.
SnooTangerines9068@reddit
Who was really surprised?
SomeOldDude73@reddit
It didn’t really hit me all that hard.
Milo_Minderbinding@reddit
I laughed. And laughed at the jokes.
RigamortisRooster@reddit
Ask the one that committed suicide
Major-Specific8422@reddit
Shrugged. It was pop music, artists at the time lip sync regularly during performances.
TheAmazingSasha@reddit
I felt really good about it.
citysims@reddit
Nothing, a large percentage of singers were backed up and supported by session/studio singers. Same thing today if you can believe it with the garbage that's referred to as "music"
feeb75@reddit
Meh...
tarabuki@reddit
Didn’t care. I didn’t listen to that type of music back then.
AdmiralJaneway8@reddit
I honestly did not care. I did not think it was nearly as big a deal as it was made out to be. Especially with today's lens on, these poor guys were really thrown to the wolves to the tune of literally one of them choosing to leave this world instead of living it, and I feel bad for them to this day.
Natural_Board@reddit
Normal
One2ManyMorings@reddit
I was in the fourth grade, it was probably my first time experiencing the concept of a pop culture ‘scandal.’
Huskerstar922@reddit
I didn't care. My dad was pissed. When they did the class action lawsuit, he sent in the bar code from my cassette to get the 2 or 3 bucks.
Due-Ask-7418@reddit
I understood that it meant they would no longer get airplay, so I was relieved.
Massive-Response3448@reddit
Betrayed
MaenHoffiCoffi@reddit
I felt deeply nothing at all.
Straight-Mess-9752@reddit
I threw their cassette tape in the garbage after it happened.
Organic_Mix2282@reddit
Wasn't a fan but laughed at the time
Vampchic1975@reddit
I didn’t care
Few-Pineapple-5632@reddit
Kinda sad because it was a great song and video. The actual artist never would have hit with that song.
drunken_ferret@reddit
Not surprised
TheGr8Lov@reddit
Hilarious 😆
imllikesaelp@reddit
“People thought that was their voice?”
Shartplosion@reddit
Horny.
Educational-Worry-14@reddit
I was (and still) a metalhead so I was amused after reading about it but it’s nothing but a trivia now.
MuppetRejected@reddit
https://i.redd.it/002rbv51y7je1.gif
SageObserver@reddit
I was absolutely devastated! Just kidding….no one gave a shit.
johnnyi827@reddit
I was glad I wouldn’t have to hear “Blame it on the Rain” anymore, aside from that, I couldn’t have cared less.
FullWoodpecker1646@reddit
I laughed so hard
Born-Big5535@reddit
I grieved for days, read viktor frankl, went to counseling, finally was able to get to a comfortable place to trust people again after a long road of recovery. I didn’t know what was real any more
Hyphum@reddit
It was the first time I’d heard of them. I guess I felt like… who?
marcopoloman@reddit
Never liked the music to begin with, so nothing changed for me when these asshats were exposed.
Fantastic-Stock664@reddit
Meh. Didn't care then, care less now
Cricket_Support@reddit
that was the funniest bit, ever.
whatevertoad@reddit
Idk laughed about it with a friend or few and didn't think about it anymore. Like most things when I was a teenager.
PutPuzzleheaded5337@reddit
I didn’t care….it was beautiful music that fit the times.
trebordet@reddit
Didn’t make a bit of difference. None of them can sing or play.
jfs101@reddit
I saw them “live” on a taping of the Mickey Mouse Club back in 1990 on a school field trip to Disney-Hollywood Studios (Disney-MGM Studios back then). Couldn’t understand a single word they said during the interview, but had perfect English while singing… Clues were given 😂
primaltriad77@reddit
Yeeessssss!!! I thought the same thing when I saw them in an interview: how can they sing in perfect English when their accents are so thick and they barely know English??? I knew something was off, but as I was in middle school at the time, it never occurred to me that they weren't really the singers. I had heard about the ladies in ABBA needing to learn their song lyrics phonetically because they didn't speak English, so I thought it was something like that. I did know at the time was that Neneh Cherry deserved that Best New Artist Grammy more than they did, so I was pissed when they won. Not too long after that, the truth came out. When I was in college, Rob and Fab told their story on Behind the Music on VH1 (the premiere episode, I think), and I had a lot more sympathy for them. Now, I feel nostalgic for the videos and the music. The songs were catchy, and they looked great!
stompy1@reddit
I also listened to Def Leopard and their accents are so thick, I thought it was like that, lol.
jfs101@reddit
I was a Junior in HS when I saw them. I liked their music.
primaltriad77@reddit
I liked their music too, but it seemed like they were awarded the Grammy for being the most commercially successful. I just didn't think their music was challenging enough or interesting enough for them to be Best New Artist. (My dad raised me on Jimi Hendrix, Parliament/Funkadelic, and George Duke, which is why I thought that at a young age.)
Spiritual-Island4521@reddit
I thought that it was funny. In living color was a popular show back then and they did a skit about them. I enjoyed it.
partsguy850@reddit
I forgot their number.
Few-Association7403@reddit
The same awful feeling I got when Elvis married a 14 y/o!
Disbelief-Society@reddit
My sister saw them at some combo concert (before the truth came out) and came home saying that they were not singing - not even close. I feel bad for them.
Opsdude@reddit
Whatever.
Eric-305@reddit
I didn’t care.
Ok_Independent3609@reddit
Utterly unsurprised.
TiredRetiredNurse@reddit
I think that is when I quit buying music from most of the stars of that day and beyond.
Jimmy-the-Knuckle@reddit
I was sad. It felt like the end of good raw music and the beginning of synthesized music. It wasn’t that clean of a transition but the two genres’ divide felt very fresh and jagged.
Ok-Boat4839@reddit
I didn't care.
HumpaDaBear@reddit
I thought it was horrible. There’s a documentary that sheds some light on what happened. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milli_Vanilli_(film)
petshopB1986@reddit
I felt the producer should have faced more heat, he did not. He created this mess then skipped off with his money and the guys took the fall.
ExHippieChick@reddit
That was a shitty situation all around.
petshopB1986@reddit
It really was.
BandsAnimals@reddit
I went from feeling fab to robbed.
RG1527@reddit
In light of everything autotone ill give them a pass.
No-Guard-7003@reddit
I lost their number. :-(
OoklaTheMok1994@reddit
I'm forever grateful to Milli Vanilli because they've given me one of my favorite comeback lines.
Whenever anyone uses an appeal to popularity or an appeal to awards in an argument, I simply respond, "And Milli Vanilli won a Grammy. So what."
CookinCheap@reddit
Couldn't fucking care less
Severe-Ad717@reddit
Surprised and a little disappointed
Timely-Youth-9074@reddit
I laughed my ass off.
Capitalistic music is fake? No duh.
djay1991@reddit
Didn't listen to them, didn't care
thirtyone-charlie@reddit
Probably about the same as I felt the first time i heard their music maybe slightly amused but didn’t give a shit.
esleydobemos@reddit
who? exposed to what?
DrMindbendersMonocle@reddit
Thought it was funny
iBoojum@reddit
Not surprised nor outraged. They kind of annoyed the fuck out of me to start with.
schroobster@reddit
I didn't get why the music and the actual recording artists were obliterated. The music didn't change; the faces did. If you liked the music, why wouldn't you want more of it?
Although years later I learned how shi!tty a deal Rob and Fab got, so I feel bad for them as well.
jeneh17@reddit
I was there that night in Bristol, CT! I remember being confused when the music stopped but missed the reason why it stopped.
ktk80@reddit
Used and betrayed. 😢 Then, when Monsters: The Menendez Brothers came out, I liked them again. 😁
FancyRise@reddit
Exactly my sentiments. I forgot how much I liked their songs at the time. I was trying to explain to my Gen z kids how they were on the top of the charts then poof gone after being exposed and they both explained to me they were “cancelled”. 😆
ktk80@reddit
Yep. 😀 I’d forgotten how many of their songs I knew the words to.
ItzNuckinFutz@reddit
I honestly didn't listen to them enough to care one way or another.
grimacefry@reddit
Ironically the songs on the studio recorded albums sound so flat and boring, it's comically bad. But the songs performed live, actually work well, with lots of energy and catchy pop rhythms. All or Nothing is probably best example, the live performances absolutely slap
Huwabe@reddit
😢...
CourageFamiliar8506@reddit
Sad. I am still sad. I never burnt my cassette.
MikeMcMyke@reddit
Betrayed
Woody_Roger@reddit
Amused.
Senior_Confection632@reddit
I may have yawned.
Kooky_Improvement_68@reddit
I thought it was hilarious that the same producer that “created” that fake ass Rasputin singing guy, managed to do it again like 20 years later.
I_Dont_Like_Rice@reddit
I actually remember when I heard it, I laughed so hard. Then it just became sad because they really hit bottom.
CollieChan@reddit
It ruined the already worst episode of super mario bros for me. Yes, they made peach a Milli vanilli fan.
speece75@reddit
At the time I swallowed the media message that they were frauds
Now I realize they were cutting edge
I will never forget your number good sirs!
odd-42@reddit
Vindicated.
Kauffman67@reddit
We kinda knew
EngineerIllustrious@reddit
I didn’t care that the two performers of the music I didn’t like weren’t the performers of the music I didn’t like.
Initial_Lettuce_4714@reddit
Vindicated
Quirky-Knowledge4631@reddit
It's fucked up they have to take the fall for this mess!
Individual-Writing25@reddit
I still can't talk about it
starjammer69@reddit
In my opinion it didn’t change the music. I thought it was wrong to have the Grammy taken. They weren’t Milli Vanilli, they were Fab and Rob.
Delicious_Standard_8@reddit
VINDICATED!
I did not fall as all my friends did. I was so into hip hop and R&B (And the boys who went with it) that I rejected them 100 percent.
I clowned everyone.
Looking back as an adult, I can see how they were used by the industry though and didn't deserve that
PrimaryDangerous514@reddit
Frightened. If they could do it to Milli Vanilli they could do it to any of us. Very very frightened.
JustABizzle@reddit
Bewildered, betrayed…
LeadPike13@reddit
Never really wasted time syncing about them.
Urban_forager@reddit
Sad especially after Rob committed suicide. (His death was ruled an accident but I’m not sure I believe it)
Awkward_Double_8181@reddit
I instantly felt so sorry for them. 😢
Parking-Power-1311@reddit
Stars by many of today's standards.
Empty_Barracuda_7972@reddit
Sad. I liked two of their songs.
CorrsionOfConformity@reddit
Felt nothing at all. Too busy listening to music I liked. No offense
Flashy-Onion-5762@reddit
Girl you know it’s Girl you know it’s Girl you know it’s
SpecialistDegree7879@reddit
What couple of schmucks! 😭
loganp8000@reddit
the same way i do now about most music being released these days.....how the F is anyone even listening to this crap
Ronnie_Dean_oz@reddit
More offended than a Taylor Swift fan finding out that she lip syncs every performance. These guys got crucified for what most modern artists of the last few years do as well - lip sync.
Kurtbott@reddit
Laughed like an idiot
slackerdc@reddit
I couldn't stand them, when I found out they didn't sing any of it I laughed.
Kurtbott@reddit
As a late 80’s early 90’s metal head yeah I hated them with a passion reserved for disco. My sides stated hurting again after thinking about it 30 odd years later.
Lung-Oyster@reddit
Don’t know why you got downvoted because everyone I knew laughed about this and were not surprised that they were a manufactured act.
newnewnew_account@reddit
I watched the performance when it happened.
I remember lip syncing being a thing you just didn't do at that time which is why everybody jumped to thinking that it wasn't them singing the song. And that's why it was scandalous, that everyone correctly jumped to the idea that it wasn't them singing the original song.
Excellent_Budget9069@reddit
It really pissed me off because I loved the music; I didn't care about the Milli Vanilli image. Meanwhile behind them is this wonderful musician who can't take credit for his art because he doesn't look like a fool. I laughed at Milli Vanilli even though I liked the music.
JustYourAvgHumanoid@reddit
I was disappointed
MrKnowbody13@reddit
Unsurprised. Unfazed.
revchewie@reddit
Same as I do now. Didn’t care in the slightest.
ExHippieChick@reddit
Since watching the documentary I feel horrible for all of it . Farian set them up. Promised them that they’d be able to record themselves but never intended to let that happen. Ended in tragedy.
Wide_Breadfruit_2217@reddit
Not as bad as I felt about Gorillaz
Remy0507@reddit
Surprised but mostly amused and indifferent, since I was never into their music.
SunshineandBullshit@reddit
Honestly, I didn't care. Whoever was singing had my heart. I still listen to their songs!
adelec123@reddit
I remember thinking, "Oh man, that's messed up." I still liked the music though.
wimpy4444@reddit
My main thought is it says terrible things about the human race and how superficial they are. If the real singers behind Milli Vanilli were shown from the start they never would have had any hits. Same music but it would have a totally different outcome.
mtnman_ia_319@reddit
I watched it live! I feel like some boomer bragging how they saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show or witnessing the moon landing...
PsychologicalKoala22@reddit
I did not give a crap then, and I don't give a crap now.
jumpinjimgavin@reddit
Vindicated.
Zealousideal_Sky8791@reddit
Who?
virtual_gnus@reddit
The news came out literally the day after I took my girlfriend to see their show at Summerfest in Milwaukee. I didn't care that they weren't singing because I paid to be entertained while listening to good music, and I was entertained.
sportsbunny33@reddit
Yes disappointed and sad for them
Gold_Yellow_4218@reddit
I always felt like something was off with these 2 and the the truth came out. I was like ah ha!
Chuckbuick79@reddit
Girl u know it’s , girl u know it’s
tin_man@reddit
I felt like it shouldn't have mattered. They were pedestrian pop crap, so what difference did it make if something so disingenuous by nature, wasn't as it was presented to be.
gtmattz@reddit
Yup. My thought was 'don't all those pop groups lipsync? Why is this news?'
SummerBirdsong@reddit
Most of them lip sync to their own studio work though. Milli Vanilli synced to somebody else's studio work and passed it off as their own.
Connect_Surprise3137@reddit
They do now. Soon it will even be AI-generated.
evilJaze@reddit
That was my sentiment. The music wasn't deep or epic, but it was fun to listen to when it came on the radio. I'd never go see them in concert so whoever made the music didn't really matter to me. It reminded me of the other controversies of a similar vein like Snap! hiding the overweight singer from their videos and instead showing a thin girl singing the melody instead.
FozzieJer69@reddit
It was the end of the world as I know it.
STFUisright@reddit
But did you feel fine?
SummerBirdsong@reddit
Disappointed, but not much.
analogpursuits@reddit
Amused and a little gleeful.
DiscountAcrobatic356@reddit
Nothing. Felt nothing. Didn’t listen their music
dbopp@reddit
This story came out the same day that nba player James Worthy was arrested for soliciting a prostitute. That got buried real quick. The luckiest day of James’s life!
FakeRealityBites@reddit
Or done on purpose knowing how PR works
edWORD27@reddit
I turned to and said, “Girl, you know it’s true. They don’t actually sing their songs!”
ZombieButch@reddit
I... didn't feel anything. I was never a fan, didn't listen to any radio stations that played their music, etc. It was like finding out some guy in Australia held up a convenience store; it didn't have anything to do with me.
WorldlinessRegular43@reddit
Felt bad they were set up for failure.
sexless_vampire@reddit
I didn't give a f***. Couldn't stand them to begin with
FakeRealityBites@reddit
Kind of unfair considering how many stars do it now. Britney's whole career was lipsynching. Most of Taylor's live performances too
Saint909@reddit
My whole world came crashing down.
italyqt@reddit
Saw them in person, they were doing backflips while singing. So yeah it was then.
mrsjeter@reddit
Ha! I saw them in concert!!
kejovo@reddit
Same! They were part of MTV jam tour
Null_Singularity_0@reddit
Didn't have any strong feelings about it. I'd heard a few of their songs and I liked their music, but I wasn't a big fan or anything.
hvacigar@reddit
They must feel pretty cheated these days as people will believe flat earth theories and basically anything else you tell them. They could make a killing today, out in the open, and no one would care.
SteelerNation587543@reddit
Fabrice long ago came to terms with it and has staked himself out a nice, respected career in the music industry. Rob never got it together and died in what is presumed to be a suicide 25 years ago. In any case, it was a damn tragedy that they never really signed up for at the hands of an unscrupulous music producer.
Redsmoker37@reddit
Can't say I felt any kind of way, but they just seemed like a total joke at that point.
Andy_the_Wrong@reddit
Did not care
Fixxxer02@reddit
Didn't bother me...I just enjoyed the music
myloginwastaken2@reddit
I kinda remember wonder why the actual singers just didn’t get the music contract and just call themselves Milli Vanilli. Or better yet Milli Vanilli Classic.
funktopus@reddit
I thought it was a silly thing to get angry about. It was music on a tape. You can't tell who was singing it.
TraditionalYard5146@reddit
Not particularly bothered or surprised
baroncal1973@reddit
I just blamed the rain
Wellwhaddyano@reddit
Vindicated. Somehow, I knew it was fraud.
huevosyhuevos@reddit
I felt pretty good, thanks asking. How’s things going with you?
sota_matt@reddit
I vividly remember because my grandmother was a huge fan and took it pretty hard.
Big-Sheepherder-6134@reddit
I thought it was funny.
ShakeWeightMyDick@reddit
Good music. I’ve never gotten emotionally invested in any musical artist. I found the whole thing funny and didn’t really care.
prayingforrain2525@reddit
Shocked. But, when I learned the whole story, I just felt sad. Especially since one of them committed suicide.
ForwardLavishness320@reddit
Cathy Dennis quit touring with them because they sexually harassed her.
Cathy Dennis wrote: Toxic, I Kissed a Girl & Can't get you out of my head ...
Milli Vanilli aren't good people
josefkeigh@reddit
I laughed. But since then I’ve been jealous that my sister saw them in concert (whatever that means)
Kokopelle1gh@reddit
I could not have cared less. The only time I even recall thinking about them at all was when I had to ask which one was Milli and which was Vanilli.
I was more of a Van Halen or Rush or Queensryche kinda girl
BuddyOptimal4971@reddit
Somehow, I got over it and moved on.
Hot-Rise9795@reddit
I didn't care, I loved their music. Did people not know about frontmen back then?
MommaD1967@reddit
Never really liked them before that. Then my daughter watches them menendez movie and now she plays them all the time...ugh
WiebeHall@reddit
So fucking what
krushgruuv@reddit
The second you heard them talk, you realized they were lip-synching.
Vespertinelove@reddit
It just made me wonder who actually sang the songs. Otherwise, it didn’t really matter to me.
alrodrigu@reddit
Couldn’t have been surprised any less but I really wanted the ACTUAL artists to get some recognition.
LobsterNo3435@reddit
I always thought if people were dancing and singing it was lip synced. Or it would be a lot of heavy breathing. But for it not to be them at all? Who cares?. It's entertainment.
noonesine@reddit
Black dudes with German accents. Weird..
slop1010101@reddit
They weren't in my wheelhouse, so I didn't really care.
co0p3r@reddit
Shocked, but don't worry folks, we'll always still have Boney M.
PrairieGrrl5263@reddit
Whatever.
Ambitious_Toe_4357@reddit
My German teacher said they still had great performances even if they weren't their voices. He was the only one in class that cared and it needed to be said. I was too young.
twentyshots97@reddit
i have never been asked this question before.
DarthTexasRN@reddit
I didn’t care. Y’all are into some dumb music.
Metalhead for life. 🤘🏻
journey_mechanic@reddit
Poison
unmistakable_itch@reddit
I was pretty angry but eventually I came to the conclusion that I didn't care who sang the songs. It's just catchy pop music and I still listen to them.
And these days it's pretty clear they were duped into what was going on. The SYSK podcast did an episode on it. There was some shady shit going on but they weren't aware of.
Practically_Hip@reddit
Thank god- they sucked
GodIsLoveAndLife@reddit
They seemed like puppets on a string, anyway. They didn't seem "real" to me anyway. And although I was shocked like everyone else was, it didn't really affect me where they were concerned. It was more of an eye opener as to how the music business is nothing more than a show.
Katlahi@reddit
Sad. I loved the music.
_HMCB_@reddit
I didn’t care. The world kept turning.
GrouchyVacation6871@reddit
We didn't care.
WoodsofNYC@reddit
Whatever.
Mother_Midnight_8819@reddit
It was a tragedy to see the dream was over
TrianglePope@reddit
I felt bad for the real singers, they had good voices, good harmonizing, and the fact that they had to be hidden because marketing told us they were ugly was just so dumb.
jzoola@reddit
I wasJack’s complete lack of surprise
gomper@reddit
I didn't know who they were honestly. My music taste was pretty damn far away from whatever that was
pullmyfinger222@reddit
I was there when their track skipped and no one cared. We were still having a great time. It was the media who strung these poor guys up. I know the whole story, and I don't know anyone who wouldn't have taken the deal these guys were presented with. When you're a brokeass nobody and all the sudden you're offered millions of dollars just to mouth words that you're not actually saying you TAKE THAT DEAL.
BridgestoneX@reddit
meh. whatever
TheObesePolice@reddit
I listened to post-punk, & I still do, so I was pretty unbothered
BUT, there were multiple girls in my class that made a very grand gesture by tearing apart their tapes & I think a couple tapes were even burned in protest
Yet, I was the weirdo...
allislost77@reddit
Wished it would have continued…everyone lip syncs and auto tune
keepitrealbish@reddit
I felt bad for them.
Gbjeff@reddit
I had no idea how big the extent of using backing tracks was. Seems like almost every band has a story.
Ctendall@reddit
I don’t remember. I however find it ironic that they have a karaoke version of blame it on the rain, which I have to admit that I sang it.
Icy_Knowledge7983@reddit
Confused
Adaminium@reddit
Shocked, I tell you! Shocked!
Dull-Geologist-8204@reddit
Kind of pissed but not the way you think.
I really didn't care but a cousin of mine liked them. Mystepdad didn't and started making fun of my cousin like told you they were bad. We were young kids at the time and I just thought that was an ahole move to shove it in some kids face because they liked something you didn't like.
Also, people were enjoying it and everyone was getting paid so what? No one was losing until it was "exposed."
GeneralPatten@reddit
Not a second thought
Archangel1313@reddit
Did not care.
ritchie70@reddit
I felt completely ambivalent and disinterested.
Auntie_L@reddit
Delete like them at all. Their arrogance rubbed me the wrong way. How you gonna be that full of yourself when you weren’t actually performing any of the songs.
Significant_Other666@reddit
Like they sucked so bad anyways it was actually hilarious 😂 😃
CharmingDagger@reddit
Vindicated, and then sad. I told my girlfriend at the time that I didn't think their speaking voices sounded anything like their speaking voices. She said I was full of shit, so I dropped it.
When they were exposed, I gloated nonstop for a few days. After that, I felt bad for the fans who were duped. Plus the two guys seemed like they were victims of a sketchy producer.
Dark_Web_Duck@reddit
I laughed? Because they were a joke? Didn't care.
edmond-@reddit
They were the first of the cancel culture revolution. Girl I’m gonna miss you.
series_hybrid@reddit
I was amused. Didn't care then, don't care now.
KlownPuree@reddit
I think I just said whatever never mind.
Auntie_L@reddit
Didn’t really care because they were a couple of arrogant buttheads
Optimistiqueone@reddit
I didn't care I wanted more music, but I was young. Not sure how I would feel if I were older.
Dense-Stranger9977@reddit
Jovial
MyLittleDiscolite@reddit
Those were two of the most beautiful black men ever
Hairy_Company3998@reddit
I laughed. I cried. I screamed at the sky.
Just kidding! I didn't "feel" anything.
megamanx4321@reddit
It was literally the first time I'd heard of them. I don't even think I'd heard the music before. Didn't know what to think about it.
JFeth@reddit
I didn't care one bit. I wasn't a fan of theirs so it didn't affect me at all.
SunnySoCalValGal@reddit
I felt horrible for them! They were completely used, abused, hung out to dry and left to fend for themselves. Welcome to America! God awful story.
issi_tohbi@reddit
I was mad they didn’t let them still make music, I was in 5th grade and wanted more jams I didn’t care about that other mess lol
Ch1efMart1nBr0dy@reddit
I thought, are the 4 real singers gonna release and album now with these two as backup dancers or whatever?
Isiotic_Mind@reddit
Indifferent, i love Milli Vanilli!!!
GenXer1977@reddit
Maybe it’s because I wasn’t really much of a fan, but I didn’t care at all. I didn’t really see why it was such a big deal.
9inez@reddit
Didn’t care about them at all before or after.
Which-Neat4524@reddit
I was more upset that Martha Wash wasn't in the Black Box videos or C&C Music Factory!!
Outrageous_Bit2694@reddit
I was actually there. On a mtv tour. And they lost their shit on stage.
Rojelioenescabeche@reddit
Nothing
Which-Neat4524@reddit
It didn't change the fact that the music was good.
ExtraAd7611@reddit
I was disgusted that the actual singer didn't take Rob & Fab's place as Milli Vanilli.
Nerdy-Boomer65@reddit
I thought, "What or who else is fake or a lie". Didn't think, over time, almostly everything was faked lol
MachineProof5438@reddit
I didnt care
Propjet@reddit
I thought it was funny. What I couldn’t understand is why they didn’t just use the real artists and let them enjoy their reward for a good album
djauralsects@reddit
Vindicated.
Fun fact: Milli Vanilli and Boney M were both created and produced by Frank Farian. Frank was the actual vocalist for Boney M. He made a fortune off of fake lip syncing bands twice.
cynicalkindness@reddit
That this was just the beginning of the massively fake bullshit that I was gonna see in my life.
BeepBopARebop@reddit
Stop with the Milli vanilli! They show up on this sub way too much. They totally sucked. Nobody liked them. Stop it.
BottleTemple@reddit
I thought it was funny at the time. I watched a documentary about it a few months ago and now I think it's reaaly sad.
Guest78911@reddit
It was great to dance to back in the 80s
iatecurryatlunch@reddit
it was a tragedy to me to see, the dream was over.
LockieBalboa@reddit
I see what you did there, and I approve.
Visitorfrompleides@reddit
Felt sad, I liked the music.
Kvedulf_Odinson@reddit
No Gen X gave a fuck! Not really, even less now.
Imcluelesstoday@reddit
Pretty much same as now.
ny7v@reddit
Cheated.
OldBanjoFrog@reddit
Thought it was hilarious
daddyjohns@reddit
I was shocked, that it was a scandal. I was already into punk then grunge, and assumed the entire pop scene was already just lip syncing.
Global-Guava-8362@reddit
They had a hard and short life after this
makeup1508@reddit
they weren't my cup of tea before they were discredited so I was meh.
baboonontheride@reddit
Sad for the actual singers
FANTASYJUICINGLMTD@reddit
Didn't care Then Do NOT CARE NOW!
bba ba ba ba baby plz lose this Reddit...
error201@reddit
I really didn't care. Who cares who's on stage? The actual session singers got paid for the work. I think their one mistake was accepting the Grammy as the singers.
Forgotten_Pants@reddit
Meh.
in-a-microbus@reddit
I was into Metallica. My actual response at the time was "who's Milli Vanilli"
SquirrelzTree@reddit
Exposed for what exactly?
Trying to pull off that b* in the first place
Good Times
Alovingcynic@reddit
I felt bad for them. They were being monetized by an industry that was probably more concerned with laundering drug money than making art.
BoomerishGenX@reddit
I wondered how a prerecorded tape could get stuck on repeat like that.
some_one_234@reddit
IDGAF comes to mind
Mymarathon@reddit
Ikr
guitar-hoarder@reddit
Did not care. The act was awful in the first place.
Starchild1968@reddit
Girl, you know it's true!!
Law_of_Attraction_75@reddit
I didn’t care- I loved them
J662b486h@reddit
I didn't give a shit.
johnonymous1973@reddit
Didn’t care. Girl You Know It’s True was straight bangers.
phred_666@reddit
I really didn’t care.
Monkeyboogaloo@reddit
Speachless
SilentWolf79@reddit
And years later Dethklok sells tickets and they're animated.
Bredda_Gravalicious@reddit
didn't really care about them until Damon and Keenan did them on In Living Color
Fluid_Force_7940@reddit
I read all of these to see if anyone else wrote in for their “official apology/refund request” or whatever document it was from the record company—my bestie and I used to argue over who got to keep it, we thought it was the best piece of ephemera ever and I cannot understand why we just requested one—possibly one of us had to actually prove that we bought the album?? Does anyone share this memory? Off to scour the internet for this document I can see in my mind’s eye!! We were goth chicks who bought the record just to get the paper and laughed way too hard at it. It was SO SERIOUS, the wording. I really feel crazy that this happened and I don’t recall more than the most scant details! I do remember dramatic readings of it over and over when we needed a good laugh!
horsenbuggy@reddit
I honestly didn't care. I absolutely adored that Cd/album. I didn't care who sang it. OK, let the real band put out a second album. It will probably be just as banging.
Stefanz454@reddit
It drove me crazy…
jcwillia1@reddit
Pissed off cuz I didn’t give a shit about the controversy and I thought the music was awesome
WaitingitOut000@reddit
I didn’t care really, as I wasn’t a fan. But recently we watched a documentary about them/the whole scandal and it was so interesting. It really made me sympathize with Rob and Fab.
cardprop@reddit
I didn’t care, just moved on with my life
Dee_Jay77@reddit
Everyone does it they just got caught
LachlanGurr@reddit
I felt like listening to Swedish Death metal, only more than before.
General-Chance-9039@reddit
I watched them on Behind the Music. They were not bad guys, they just got caught up in something bigger than them. I felt sorry for them.
RAWR_Orree@reddit
"I KNEW IT!“
I thought they were terrible and was not at all surprised to find they were up to shenanigans.
Justsomerandofromnj@reddit
Me when the news broke.
Emily_Postal@reddit
I didn’t care.
SHADOWJACK2112@reddit
I enjoyed going to the used CD stores and grouping all of the Milli Vanilli CDs into one giant section
fury_of_el_scorcho@reddit
It made me regret my Milli Vanilli tattoos (plural)/
fadedtimes@reddit
I didn’t understand the issue as a lot of acts lip sync
Unlivingpanther@reddit
I wasn't surprised.
Drapidrode@reddit
glad after it went away, and a little foolish for thinking that was them
dudedudedudewait@reddit
Didn’t give a fuck
macbookwhoa@reddit
It’s MTV pop music. Who gives a shit?
Let’s put in a Guns N Roses record.
Psychedelica45@reddit
It woke me up to the fact that everything is manipulated. These people are simply performance artists. I still like them though.
CMJMartino@reddit
I still love the music!
ginleygridone@reddit
What happened to them after?
MuddMeyer@reddit
😂😂😂 They were headlining the first concert I ever went to. Young MC and Expose opened up for them. No regrets at all
DisastrousMechanic36@reddit
I didn't care. it was so obvious that most artist's lipsync'ed tv performances. I was surprised that it took so long for one of them to get outed.
Ivy1974@reddit
Didn’t care.
Raiders2112@reddit
Back then I was a Metalhead and a Rocker and thought their "music" sucked, so I laughed my ass off.
What's sad, is it was a foretelling of what we have now in modern Pop/Hip-Hop music. Not quite the same, but the same to a certain level.
ApatheistHeretic@reddit
At the time, I thought they were posers. Looking back, they were just ahead of the curve
TwistedMemories@reddit
I didn't like or listen to them. I couldn't even tell you any of their songs.
Adhesiveness269@reddit
It didn't matter much to me. I still like their music.
MichiganGeezer@reddit
Logical me: Living Colour didn't betray us. I played Cult of Personality a few more times.
Thirty_Helens_Agree@reddit
I was just watching that documentary about the making of Platoon. One of the actors was like “I wasn’t sure I should do the movie because I had just joined the band Living Colour.”
Big-Beat-1443@reddit
didn't really care, it was interesting and all but whatever.
Happy-North-9969@reddit
I didn’t care. The music banged.
duper12677@reddit
The ultimate posers
Clemmey@reddit
I never cared for their music, regardless of that, in retrospect it really started exposing artists. Now it is auto tune. Nothing against true artists.
regent040@reddit
I didn’t like them. My girlfriend at the time played their tape constantly. When they got found out I remember being kind of a dick about it, which might’ve been why she broke up with me. Funny thing was that years later I found the music of Boney M and loved it, only to find out the same people behind Boney M were behind Milli Vanilli. I still owe her an apology
redbanner1@reddit
Still loved the music.
I think this was probably one of the first true indications to me that the entertainment industry was just one big pile of manipulation, and that "great artists" are not discovered, they're manufactured.
I'm glad the internet fucked up all their business models.
IwearBrute@reddit
Sad, I liked them and I was about 11 years old. It didn't matter to me that they lip synced but it did to everyone else for some reason.
Thirty_Helens_Agree@reddit
I went along with the popular sentiment. Then I saw that documentary and I was completely outraged by the dude who orchestrated the whole thing and not only got off Scot-free, he went on to do it again and again, like with unrelated Belgian techno anthem, Pump Up the Jam.
This was after I read a book about the guy who came up with the idea of the RICO statute - he hated seeing the mob bosses get away with running a criminal enterprise while just the street crooks got busted.
jm5ts@reddit
I could not have cared less and I didn't like their music in the first place
Regular_Dentist2287@reddit
"Thank God! That stupid bullshit is finally over. Now where the hell did I put my klacker and pogs?"
Smart_Map25@reddit
So crushed!! I absolutely loved them. May still have the cassette.
fuckssakereddit@reddit
It was a tragedy for me…
pedsmursekc@reddit
To see the dream was over?
Unusual_Memory3133@reddit
Sorry for them - they weren’t trying to scam anyone, they were just two model/dancers who got caught in the music industry machine. They were just doing what they signed up to do.
ilovepadthai@reddit
Didn’t care. Never liked their music.
jseger9000@reddit
Mostly I felt bad for them. I didn't know the whole story, but it was pretty obvious those were just two front men hired for their looks rather than the masterminds that put the thing together.
Virtual_Mechanic2936@reddit
The music is still good, even if they weren't the artists.
LaximumEffort@reddit
I chuckled a little, then didn’t care until the suicide. It was sad then.
PreferenceNo7524@reddit
At first, I just thought it was funny. Then I felt sorry for them. A couple of young foreign guys taken advantage of by powerful execs makin' promises.
Top_Management7550@reddit
M/50's I wasn't surprised. For some reason, I always had a feeling. I still liked the music though
Jjsdada@reddit
Stupid. I had just sent a copy of the tape to a girl.
Smittles@reddit
“Who did what? And people care? Whatever.”
Mojeaux18@reddit
It was a scandal at the time. At the time I was too young and impressionable so my opinion was negative. In hindsight, they were ahead of their time is all.
MizLucinda@reddit
I was in middle school and I think my response was, “hm.” I remember thinking it was weird but also assuming everything adults touched was rigged somehow so I was also kind of not surprised.
libginger73@reddit
Not as bad as seeing some old video of them jumping around in spandex 20 years later. Ugh!!
Mugwumps_has_spoken@reddit
I ripped my cassette apart. Actually pulled the entire thing out.
My dad was mildly irritated, mostly because he would have taken it as a music-phile (he enjoys all music)
old_and_boring_guy@reddit
They were generic and boring, and the fact that they turned out to be fake was just the icing on the cake.
Avasia1717@reddit
i didn’t care.
OverMlMs@reddit
Shocked at first. Thought is was hilarious as f#ck afterwards
Green-Walk-1806@reddit
Didn't care
Never_Dave_1@reddit
I had always thought most pop singing was fake as hell, so I didn't know what all the fuss was about.
drhman1971@reddit
Kinda like the Striesand effect. If I heard their music I didn’t care. Then the big scandal came out and everyone knew because of it. I still didn’t care.
xrobertcmx@reddit
I remember when this happened. I was like, who are they?
habu-sr71@reddit
Yeah...I didn't see it as much of anything other than an opportunity for people to get angry and beat on some people that found some success.
The music business has never been honest or upfront about how the music is made and just how much or how little work is done by the person that has market appeal. From boy bands to session musicians who go uncredited...there are so many deceptions and lack of transparency.
And now in the era of AI generated "original" music who knows how we define a musician is anymore. I do know one thing...people will gravitate towards whatever makes the most money the fastest and with as little effort possible. All the while musicians that spend their lives working hard on their passion are unable to earn a living because the music industry and society never figured out a way to reward music itself outside of pursuing popularity for the sake of money.
It's a complicate topic and I think times are worse than ever for people drawn to the arts thanks to the new threat of AI generated "art".
Keefer1970@reddit
I thought it was hilarious.
HoldMyDomeFoam@reddit
I was mostly happy that the people who actually performed the music got some recognition.
Absolutely could not give a shit about slightly different level of fake in pop music.
Rushrunner367@reddit
I remember seeing them perform in Pee Wee's playhouse. When I found out? I cried. "Blame it on coke Caine yeah yeah yeah"
sunsetcrasher@reddit
Absolutely shocked. I had seen them in concert, and looking back they were running around sword fighting way too hard to not be out of breath. Yet the vocals were perfection.
Current_Poster@reddit
I wasn't particularly into their music, so I wasn't crushed or anything. If anything, I felt like the Grammy people should have done their due diligence. There certainly were other acts who did that, though, so I wasn't mad at MV or anything.
TheLawOfDuh@reddit
Yeah, there’s always been some element of this kind of fakery in pop music at any given time. It comes in different variations. Depending on how much you want to argue is fabricated/fake you could conceivably take quite a few other awards. Since the vocals on the recordings weren’t theirs, they were easy to make an example of.
melty75@reddit
It's a tragedy for me to see the dream is overrrr
Deliriousglide@reddit
I thought it was random and dumb… performers have been lip syncing a long ass time when they do nonstop dance performances of their songs. I felt like this was a racially targeted lynching. Still do.
I would have a very minor care if a solo performer who does not perform aerobics while singing, lip synced, but then honestly, if it’s his/her own legit voice in the recording being used, I do not need to know that s/he has laryngitis or nodes on their vocal chords or ANY OTHER VALID REASON a performer decided not to cancel a performance but rather lip sync to their own performance. I don’t immediately assume there’s some kind of fraudulent cheatery happening. Cancel several weeks tour dates and go through th3 hassle of returning the money"? Or only cancel when absolutely necessary (constitution won’t support the effort of standing/sitting
BahBahSMT@reddit
I had the 2x2 double cassette tape. Felt betrayed. Then discovered LED Zeppelin.
kon---@reddit
Laughed. But not so much that I thought they should be ruined for or end a life due the fallout of it all.
They were hired, fulfilled their role and well, that was that when that clip hit MTV then, the world.
JKinney79@reddit
Hilarious, since they were corny as fuck to begin with.
varietalviki@reddit
I think it was 1989 when I saw them in concert in the bay area. I made my way up to the stage. I could tell then something was not as it appeared... But who cared! We were looking good and it was a fantastic 80s night. You can blame it on whatever you like but that night was sprawling
HouseIntrigue@reddit
I knew it. I worked in a theme park that had them play. I was all about choir, I knew from what their mouths were doing, the sound they were supposed to be making wasn't possible.
Usual_Technician_807@reddit
I personally didn't give a chit! I liked Anthrax and Slayer. PHuck their gay asses!
StreetFriendship1200@reddit
Indifference
Tropical_Hushpuppy@reddit
I wasn't really into their music, so I didn't really have much of an opinion.
KeiylaPolly@reddit
I thought everyone lip-synced.
There was a commercial not long after that made fun of getting caught at it. Carefree sugarless gum, they were lip-synching to Opera and the record skipped, I thought it was hilarious.
dmac66@reddit
I laughed my ass off!
TheSpatulaOfLove@reddit
Didn’t care. Not susceptible to manufactured outrage. 🤷
Ok-Discussion3866@reddit
No strong feelings about it when it happened. I was goth and thought MV were straight up posers. Incidentally, I kinda like them now in a weird way. Some kind of screwed up backwards nostalgia?
TheLawOfDuh@reddit
Pretty matter-of-fact. Pop music has always had an element of acts that are financed to produce hits irregardless of their legit (or lack of real) talent. It was kind of a reality check for pop music fans that not everyone on the charts is a simple rags-to-riches discovered star that we’re all so lucky to get to hear. It’s unfortunate how these guys got shamed by the world though after the fact.
Grafakos@reddit
Utterly indifferent, to be honest.
behemothaur@reddit
I was surprised that people were surprised. Like this whole ground-up manufactured pop music thing was sooo authentic.
PurposeImpressive808@reddit
Horrible. They were the first concert I ever went to but Rob Base opened up and was legit
Jennyelf@reddit
I laughed my ass off. Basically all they had was being pretty.
emccm@reddit
I honestly didn’t see the big deal.
HoneybeeXYZ@reddit
I hated their music but when they were exposed, I sympathized because the producer who created them and had gotten away with similar shenanigans before walked away unscathed. These two young men were villified.
I'm glad Fab is doing okay, and RIP Rob.
Ottomatica@reddit
I felt bad for them. Still do
Spear_Ritual@reddit
“Living Color” predicted this! Was the thought at the time.
Reiki-Raker@reddit
Whatever
Ambitious_Hold_5435@reddit
I didn't think they were very good to begin with. "Girl You Know It's True" was a dumb song IMO. I was embarrassed for them, honestly.
punkdrummer22@reddit
Laughed my ass off. Thought they were crap before I found out so could do nothing but laugh
Aggravating-Fail-705@reddit
“No shit.”
The producer for Milli Vanilli was the same guy who produced Boney M… and everybody knew Boney M weren’t singing their own songs.
_Silent_Android_@reddit
I was disappointed to know it was fake. But girl, you know it's true.
Malgus-Somtaaw@reddit
I was into them and was upset at the time because I couldn't listen to them anymore without getting shit from everyone.
FlyBuy3@reddit
Salty
Dogzillas_Mom@reddit
Not remotely surprised. And I felt a little bad when they had to give their Grammy back, which seemed fair. But the one fella offed himself and that’s just tragic.
Jazzlike_Schedule_51@reddit
It’s a tragedy for me to see, the dream is over.
Careless-Ability-748@reddit
I didn't think about it much at all
TheGreatOpoponax@reddit
I didn't like them anyway, but it pissed me off.
Whether or not I like a band, singer, Whatever, what I do respect are people that write and perform their own music. It takes a ton of work and it takes actual talent...
Grumblegrumblegrumble, old man yelling at sky.
Forward_Camera_3402@reddit
Relieved
KarmaG12@reddit
I really didn't care, I still liked the songs I liked. Once I learned how they were treated I felt bad for them as people. Still like the songs all these years later. Lip syncing has become the norm but it's funny now when artists get "caught", like someone did at the inauguration.
Admirable_Desk8430@reddit
It was sort of an open secret in the music industry before the story broke.
Tangboy50000@reddit
That was the biggest story in the 5th grade. lol
Dirigo25@reddit
I assumed all pop stars were frauds, so I didn't think this was a big deal.
Successful_Sense_742@reddit
Honestly, it wasn't my type of music genre. I just laughed.
deFleury@reddit
I was at the age where I was learning from all sides that sometimes how you look is more important than what you do.
jessek@reddit
I thought their music was awful to begin with. I didn’t care that they were lip syncing. I did find it funny that people wanted their money back.
thelimeisgreen@reddit
Thought it was kinda funny, kinda sad. Didn’t like them before the lip syncing scandal.
FestinaLente747@reddit
Who?
Impressive-Pizza1876@reddit
Oh girl , you know , its true!
rich4pres@reddit
I didn’t care. Those songs, as the kids say, were bangers.
morts73@reddit
I blamed it on the rain.
Numerous_Teacher_392@reddit
I was not surprised abs didn't care at all.
Pretty typical of corporate pop music.
Didn't listen to them before or after.
NoHankyNoPanky@reddit
I got all super pissy pantsed and whinged about it all over the internet… oh wait, no I didn’t, I just went outside and skated.
creepyoldlurker@reddit
I saw them in concert with Young MC and Seduction. They did a great job lip syncing; I never would have guessed on my own. I really loved them and was sad they wouldn’t have more music.
amalgaman@reddit
Huh, that’s weird.
And then I moved on with life.
HelpEmpty7231@reddit
Meh. Didn't really care.
1_innocent_bystander@reddit
I was annoyed, so I went and listened to Black Box instead.
dperiod@reddit
I remember thinking the first time I heard them speak that there was no way they were singing their songs because their accents were so thick. I was not surprised and didn’t care. I still enjoy the songs when they come on the radio.
Handbag_Lady@reddit
I laughed. It was funny. It was funny that no one knew, that they got away with it for so long, and that others knew and kept it under wraps.
I'm sorry it hurt them in the long run, though.
Netprincess@reddit
Sad for them. Now auto tune is everything and on every song. People don't have to be singers. Just play the part.
DKC_TheBrainSupreme@reddit
Still love the music. One of my favorite albums from the 90s.
Asherdan@reddit
I saw them perform at the San Joaquin County Fair at the height of their fame and it was...pretty obvious they were performing to a sound track, honestly, but it was a fun stage show so WTF. So not really surprise when it broke. I do think they got worked for it more than necessary, it was a raw deal,
DIYnivor@reddit
I didn't care. I never liked their music.
No_Recording1467@reddit
Schaudenfreude 😘
Spirited-Document-79@reddit
I didn’t tbh
DontTickleTheDriver1@reddit
Felt bad for Vanilli. He was talented. Wait which one was Vanilli again?
gtmattz@reddit
Not really surprised but overall I just didn't give a shit at all. I was 13 and listening to Metallica pretty much exclusively when it happened.
grumpvet87@reddit
i said, "girl you know it's true"
Kimber80@reddit
It was funny, but didn't bother me. Didn't understand why it was a big deal.
HURTBOTPEGASUS9@reddit
Who? Seriously. Wasn't relly aware of them when the the scandal broke and I'm all just...🤷♂️
love_is_an_action@reddit
I’ve yet to recover.
imk@reddit
Given my age at the time, I probably felt hungry
lothcent@reddit
not suprised at all- and was waiting for more acts to be exposed
In_The_End_63@reddit
The past predicted the future. Exhibit A - Boney M.
hippiechick725@reddit
Honestly, I didn’t care. I liked to watch them dance better than listen to them sing 🤷♀️
slashinvestor@reddit
A friend of mine said the following. Do you like the music? If yes who cares... Its still the same music.
hct4all@reddit
Thought it was ridiculous. Crazy that they were faking it. Normal now but to me it’s unacceptable. I stopped listening to ZZTop when they were exposed for faking it on the Intimidator tour.
HamBone868@reddit
I felt nothing
Hayabusalvr11@reddit
I guess I was surprised. What's so funny to me is that miming as the Brits call it is so common today that they had just admitted to that they would have gotten away with it. No one had to find out it wasn't actually them singing.
It's a good thing for Taylor Swift and all of the other pop singers and even a handful from other genres that the tracks they're miming to don't skip.
Voodoo330@reddit
I said, Who?
PaleDreamer_1969@reddit
You know it’s true
Coffey2828@reddit
Indifferent because I didn’t think it was a big deal. Then the more they tried to explain and/or clean up their imagine, the worse it got until they just became a really big joke.
smokeybearman65@reddit
Beyond being amused by it, I didn't really care. I didn't listen to them or any artist from that genre anyway.
curiousjosh@reddit
Justified.
Aggravating-Clue-493@reddit
Didn't care, seemed to be the norm to me.
Restless-J-Con22@reddit
Laughed
IllustriousEast4854@reddit
Whatever
Lonestar-Boogie@reddit
yawn
Appropriate_Oven_292@reddit
Didn’t really care. Honestly, I didn’t really know who they were
CoolTemperature1602@reddit
Watch their documentary, they were not exposed.