Ah, as the old expression goes, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.
German producer Frank Farian thought he could fool the music buying public into thinking two young, photogenic singers, Fabrice Morvan and Rob Pilatus, were the voices of Milli Vanilli. And, for about a year, the public bought into it.
While on a Club MTV package tour, a track started skipping, forcing Pilatus & Morvan off stage, and into the Hall of Shame. Farian was forced to admit the two weren't the singers after all, fronting instead for a group of studio singers, one of whom, Charles Shaw, had filed suit, but Farian bought his silence.
Pilatus & Morvan parodied the scandal in a commercial for Beech-Nut gum in 1991, and guest starred in the animated series, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, that same year. However, despite releasing their own material, the scandal had scarred the act for good, and Pilatus passed away a few years later.
Regardless, the videos produced for the album, "Girl You Know It's True", a revamped version of the German 1988 release, "All or Nothing", offered viewers some visual escapism. Proof of this is this next nugget, "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You".
I remember seeing Milli Vanilli---Pilatus & Morvan---in concert, and, like most folks, was fooled, though it did sound like some tracks were sung live. Farian was overcome by greed to retain the deception, but the damage to his professional career was irreversible.
Morvan is still recording today, and spent some time as a DJ in Los Angeles.
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