To think what happened to Milli Vanilli is so sad

[ineeduourhelp]

I was under 5 when this whole scandal happened so don't remember it at the time but till this day still play the track and absolutely love girl you know it's true.

I also have a crush on them (especially Fab 🤣)

But on a serious note it's so so sad what happened to these guys it breaks my heart - mainly because they could actually sing!

It's so bizarre they were not allowed to take over and start singing themselves as I'm convinced they could have had fame in their own right.

Was anyone perhaps a bit older to remember when all this happened?

Oh no, please don't be the bearer of bad news on my behalf lol, the Frozen song by Idina is so catchy (and not annoying anymore now it's not played every 0.000002 seconds!) and in comparison the Demi Lovato version is so lacklustre and boring IMO

Apparently this isn’t even really Phoebe Buffay!

How could Cher be uncredited? She was in the video 😶

Duh, it was Ursula.

Yes it was a big scandal at time and they took the fall but clearly were just caught up in it. The song was already recorded and they were young and poor but had look and were recruited to front it then song did well and they were told it’s normal to lip sync can’t change sound to you now and so it carried on. Acts always lip synced on pop shows.

I don't think anybody actually denied that it was Cher, but her name wasn't mentioned in the album (it may have been in later re-issues). Apart from recognising her distinctive voice, you would otherwise have been led to assume that she was some unknown backing/session singer and not a huge star in her own right, who had in fact been a star for years before anybody had even heard of Meat Loaf.

I remember Milli vanilli they had to hand back the award they got. It was a sad situation but I guess the truth had to come out. The original Ride on time singer was called Lollietta Holloway but I believe there was a re-release featuring Heather small.
The girls in Boney M were the actual singers, they both had terrific voices.
Sadly Bobby Farrel died penniless on the same date and in the same city as Rasputin who they sang about (daft song but very catchy)

Marni Nixon also voiced Deborah Kerr in The King and I.

This thread is making me laugh - to Heather Small or not to Heather Small!

I didn't know this either
They only had one video it was her on totp and her jacket got stuck on her arm as she was dancing.. and it was number one for weeks and they had to keep playing it!
i wonder if it's on YouTube

I remember totp was like this a lot. People not singing when they were performing. It was very confusing as a child.

TOTP was known for the miming. Some of the artists didn't even try very hard to pretend they were singing.

I remember once Steve Harley messed up the lyrics to Make Me Smile and we said at least that shows he's really singing!

Re Singin in the Rain - to really blow your mind, Debbie Reynolds was dubbed in that as well!

I agree. As I recall Loleata settled out of court - she was quoted as saying she got a fur coat out of it.

Just trying to remember if Celene Dion's version has 'off to the cupboard with you now chip' (best bit).

Didn't All About Eve muck up the miming on TOTP too?

I remember Rod Stewart and his band kicking a football about on TOTP while they were supposed to be miming. Maybe it was a kind of protest at not being allowed to sing live.

It’s Heather Small: www.nme.com/features/30-years-full-story-ride-on-time-controversial-80s-megahit-black-box-2547708

@Tsort
I have heard this story before about Heather Smalls. You know what? At the end of the day I think maybe it just depends on when and where you heard it. Every dance track that makes the charts is a toned down version of the real song in the majority of cases, as well as not hearing it mixed by a quality dj.
I reckon if you were listening to radio 1, the chart version who knows! The production of the one I raved to, the original version from the 80's is loleatta!

I remember this! The feed going into their ears (not a technical term) wasn't working properly so they didn't know when their backing track had started to play. Consequently they just sat there while their song played around them.

I have a feeling TOTP issued a public and profuse apology, and invited them back soon afterwards, and they performed beautifully. Lovely song, by the way!

Yes, that All About Eve cringefest! I gather that a lot of the artists didn't want to mime, but were told that they had to.

Didn't John Peel also 'play' the (presumably not wired up) mandolin on 'Maggie May' with Rod Stewart; and wasn't the 'blunder' big picture of Jocky Wilson, shown during Dexy's' performance of 'Jackie Wilson Said' done deliberately for a laugh - and maybe a protest against enforced miming/something else - or am I completely imagining that?

Also, Owen Paul had his own 'All About Eve' moment on Pebble Mill!

That was it! I was cringing watching it 😄

I don't remember All About Eve but Morrissey waved a bunch of gladioli around in order to emphasise that he clearly wasn't using a mic or singing (like the massive fanny he is). Other people made it obvious they weren't plugged in or otherwise fucked about on TOTP. Nirvana went the other way and demonstrated their "live"-ness by performing like they were being played at 33 rpm instead of 45. And KLF went the whole hog with half of South London on stage for all the various elements they chucked in plus a satellite link to Tammy Wynette so that she could sing her sample, live.

I think the All About Eve thing was that they played the wrong song. I'm probably wrong (right about Loleatta though).

Ride On Time had no singer on the original & the best version!

Vocals were Lifted/Sampled from Loleatta Holloway - Love Sensation & what a sample or 3 made a dance classic!
Unfortunately after the copyright saga that followed, the model who mimed the original record was then made to re record the 'Samples' from Loleatta's record with disastrous results (For dance music fans at least) One simply cannot 'sing' samples that are cut up & sampled fast - Comedic TV appearances & the truly dreadful re-issue was then plugged on UK TV & radio!

Black Box was Italian Daniel Davoli ISTR & released plenty more dance records sampling all & sundry but those records were so good - Such a long time ago now!

Milli Vanilli's GYKIT was the only one I cared for - some great effects throughout & lots of stereo effects!!

Railroaded by the nasty press in 1989 for something that really didn't matter.....the records were liked.....what else matters? The songs were heavily studio created, could be anyone singing on a track like that!
Didn't they make a 'Comeback' some time later? 🤔

Ps... I've probably seen live performances by loleatta admittedly.... I can't actually remember anymore!
I'm hopeful that she felt and was eventually paid well for her contribution to dance music. Rip