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Milli Vanilli

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Milli Vanilli

Milli Vanilli was a pop/dance music project formed by Frank Farian in Germany in 1988, fronted by Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. The group's debut album achieved high sales internationally which earned them a Grammy Award for Best New Artist Feb. 21, 1990.[1] The act became one of the most popular pop acts in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, their success turned to infamy when their Grammy was revoked after it was revealed that the lead vocals on the record were not the actual voices of Morvan and Pilatus.[2] In 1998, ten years after Milli Vanilli's initial debut, Rob Pilatus was found dead in a Frankfurt hotel of an apparent drug overdose[2].

Beginnings

When Frank Farian developed the concept of Milli Vanilli, he chose to feature vocals by Charles Shaw, John Davis, Brad Howell, and twin sisters Jodie and Linda Rocco; however, he felt that those singers lacked a marketable image. He then recruited Robert Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan, two younger model/dancers he found dancing in a Munich dance club, to front the act. Milli Vanilli's debut album All or Nothing was released in Europe in mid-1988, with Rob and Fab's pictures on the front and center of the albums, but no mention of who actually sang the songs. The success of the record caught the attention of Arista Records who signed the duo. Arista deleted several tracks from the original album, added several new ones (including a new track written by Diane Warren, "Blame It on the Rain"), remixed many of the tracks and renamed the album to Girl You Know It's True for release in the American market in early 1989.

This version of the album went six times platinum and led to the re-release of the title track, which peaked at number 2 on the Hot 100 in April of that year and was certified platinum. (The song was a cover version of a Numarx track published in 1987 on the US Bluebird label.) The U.K. release featured the original first album and the remix album together as "2 X 2". Even greater commercial success followed, as the pair's next three singles "Baby Don't Forget My Number", "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You" and "Blame It on the Rain" all reached number 1. A fifth and final single "All or Nothing", also made the Top 5 in the beginning of 1990 in a remixed form which sampled the "Keep On Movin'" beat from UK soul act Soul II Soul. Milli Vanilli's meteoric rise to pop music superstardom culminated with a Grammy Award for Best New Artist on February 22, 1990.

Media backlash

The first sign that the group was lip-synching happened in late 1989 during a live performance on MTV at the Lake Compounce theme park in Bristol, Connecticut. As they performed onstage live in front of an audience, the recording of the song "Girl You Know It's True" jammed and began to skip, repeating the partial line "Girl, you know it's…" over and over on the speakers. They continued to pretend to sing and dance onstage for a few more moments, then they both ran offstage. According to the episode of VH1's Behind the Music which profiled Milli Vanilli, Downtown Julie Brown stated that fans attending the concert didn't seem to care or even notice and the concert continued as if nothing unusual had happened.

Unlike the international release of All or Nothing, the inserts for the American version clearly attributed the voices on the album to Morvan and Pilatus. This prompted Shaw to disclose to New York Newsday writer John Leland in December 1989 that he was one of three singers on Milli Vanilli's hit debut album, and that Pilatus and Morvan were impostors. Farian reportedly paid Shaw $150,000 to retract his statements, though this did not stem the tide of public criticism.[3] Because of rising public questions regarding the source of who actually sang in the group, as well as the insistence of Morvan and Pilatus to Farian that they be allowed to sing on the next album, Farian confessed to reporters on November 12, 1990, that Morvan and Pilatus did not actually sing on the records. As a result of American media pressure, Milli Vanilli's Grammy was withdrawn four days later (however, their three American Music Awards were never withdrawn because the organizers felt the awards were given to them by music consumers),[4] and Arista Records dropped the act from its roster and deleted their album and its masters from their catalog, taking Girl You Know It's True out of print.

After these details emerged, at least 26 different lawsuits[5] were filed under various U.S. consumer fraud protection laws[6] against Pilatus, Morvan and Arista Records. One such filing occurred on November 22, 1990 in Ohio, where lawyers there filed a class action lawsuit asking for refunds on behalf of a local woman in Cuyahoga County who had bought Girl You Know It's True; at the time the lawsuit was filed, it was estimated at least 1,000 Ohio residents had bought the album.[6] On August 12, 1991, a proposed settlement to a refund lawsuit in Chicago, Illinois was rejected. This settlement would have refunded buyers of Milli Vanilli CDs, cassettes, records, or singles. However, the refunds would only be given as a credit for a future Arista release.[5] On August 28, a new settlement was approved; it refunded those who attended concerts along with those who bought Milli Vanilli recordings[7]. An estimated 10 million buyers were eligible to claim a refund and they could keep the refunded recordings as well[7]. The deadline to claim refunds passed on March 8, 1992.[8]

The Real Milli Vanilli

The material for Milli Vanilli's second album had been recorded and finalized in Spring 1990. In the autumn, the first single "Keep on Running" was released for radio play, shortly before Farian revealed the truth about Milli Vanilli. At the last minute, Farian had the artwork to the second Milli Vanilli album changed to depict the actual singers instead of Morvan and Pilatus, changed the album's title from Keep on Running (the name had been meant to correspond with the first single), and changed the artist name to The Real Milli Vanilli. However, the graphic artist who performed the change forgot to update the album cover's spine, so the second album still had the original artist and album name on the spine ("Milli Vanilli — Keep On Running").

The resulting album, released in Europe in early 1991, was renamed The Moment of Truth and spawned three singles, "Keep On Running," "Nice 'n Easy" and "Too Late (True Love)." A Morvan/Pilatus lookalike named Ray Horton was depicted on the cover and provided vocals on four tracks. In addition, the album featured rappers Icy Bro on "Hard As Hell" and Tammy T on "Too Late (True Love)." A Diane Warren-penned song, "When I Die," has been covered by several other artists, including Farian's No Mercy. For the American market, Farian chose to avoid any association to Milli Vanilli and had the tracks re-recorded with Ray Horton on the majority of lead vocals.

Try 'N' B

In 1992, RCA signed on to release the album as the debut of the newly created group Try 'N' B. The self-titled release included three additional tracks not on The Real Milli Vanilli release: "Ding Dong," "Who Do You Love," and a remake of Dr. Hook's "Sexy Eyes." Because of significantly better sales under the name Try 'N' B in America, a slightly modified Try 'N' B debut album was released internationally.

Rob & Fab

Meanwhile, Morvan and Pilatus moved to Los Angeles, California, and signed to the Joss Entertainment Group, where they recorded their follow-up album under the name Rob & Fab. Almost all the songs on the album were written by Kenny Taylor and Fabrice Morvan, while Morvan and Pilatus provided the lead vocals. Because of financial constraints, Joss Entertainment Group was only able to release the album in the United States, the most critical of all markets to Milli Vanilli. A single, "We Can Get It On", was made available for radio play shortly before the album's release. However, the lack of publicity, poor distribution and the scandal surrounding Milli Vanilli's lip-synching allegations led to its failure.

Milli Vanilli comeback and death of Rob Pilatus

In order to restore their career, Farian agreed in 1997 to produce a new Milli Vanilli album with Morvan and Pilatus on lead vocals. This all led up to the recording of the 1998 Milli Vanilli comeback album Back and in Attack. Even some of the original studio singers backed the performers in their attempt to bring back some of the fame that had been shed so quickly. However, Rob Pilatus encountered a number of personal problems during the production of the new album. He turned to drugs and crime, committing a series of robberies and ultimately serving three months in jail in California. Farian paid for Pilatus to attend six months of drug rehabilitation and plane tickets for him to fly back to Germany. On the eve of the new album's promotional tour on April 2, 1998, Pilatus was found dead of a suspected alcohol and prescription pill overdose in a Frankfurt hotel room.[9][10] Pilatus' death was ruled accidental.[11]

Fab Morvan's solo career

Morvan spent the following years as a session musician and public speaker while working on his musical abilities. In 1998, he was a DJ at famed L.A. radio station KIIS-FM. During this time, he also performed at the station's sold-out 1999 Wango Tango festival concert before 50,000 people at Dodger Stadium. Morvan then spent 2001 on tour before performing in 2002 as the inaugural performer at the brand-new Velvet Lounge at the Hard Rock Café Hotel in Orlando, Florida. In 2003, Morvan released his first solo album, Love Revolution. He marketed the album through his website and CD Baby. Morvan's songs "Roll" and "Time Will Reveal" can be heard on his MySpace profile page.[12]

Later developments

The duo was originally featured in an episode of the The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 TV series, "Kootie Pie Rocks", which also included two of their songs. However, after their lip-syncing scandal was uncovered, the songs in the episode were replaced by generic rock music in further airings.

In 2000, Fab Morvan was featured in a BBC documentary on Milli Vanilli. He was also featured in the premiere episode of VH1 Behind the Music. On February 14, 2007, it was announced that Universal Pictures was developing a film based on the story of Milli Vanilli's rise and fall in the music industry. Jeff Nathanson, screenwriter from Catch Me If You Can, will write and direct the film while Fab Morvan serves as a consultant.[13][14] As of 2010, however, this has not eventuated. However, a Greatest Hits album was released on March 26 of that year.

Discography

Main article: Milli Vanilli discography

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.grammy.com/videos/32nd-annual-grammy-awards-best-new-artist
  2. ^ a b Shriver, Jerry (January 28, 2010). "Milli Vanilli frontman says duo were musical 'scapegoats'". USA Today. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  3. ^ Goodman, Fred (1990-11-30). "Artificial Vanilli". ew.com. Retrieved 2008-07-25. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Milli Vanilli Meltdown Angers Former Fans," Los Angeles Times, November 17, 1990. Retrieved March 26, 2006.
  5. ^ a b "Judge Rejects Milli Vanilli Refund Plan", New York Times, August 13, 1991. Accessed March 21, 2006.
  6. ^ a b "Suit seeks refunds for Ohioans who bought Milli Vanilli album", The Plain Dealer, November 22, 1990. Accessed February 11, 2010. (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/5nSSah1j9)
  7. ^ a b "Small Victory for Milli Vanilli Fans", New York Times, August 31, 1991. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
  8. ^ "Judge Sets Deadline for Milli Vanilli Refunds", Jet, September 30, 1991. Retrieved March 21, 2006.
  9. ^ Vena, Jocelyn (2009-10-09). "TLC Ready To 'Change People's Lives' With New Music". mtv.com. Retrieved 2009-11-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ Chris, Willman. "The Sad Truth". ew.com. p. 2. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  11. ^ "Milli Vanilli's Pilatus Dead At 33". rollingstone.com. 1998-04-07. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  12. ^ Fabmorvanmusic
  13. ^ Variety.com : Universal sets up Milli Vanilli film, by Michael Fleming, February 14, 2007
  14. ^ RollingStone.com : Girl, You Know It's True: Milli Vanilli Biopic will reveal the truth (!)], by Nicole Frehsee, February 20, 2007. Archived at [1].
Individual artists involved
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