Sekuler: The thing that gets lost is that [lip syncing]
was not a unique practice in the music business. My first PR gig was
with Casablanca Records and we had the Village People, who didn’t sing
on their first record. What was unique, and became problematic, was that
these guys had tried to conceal it and went on tour and they weren’t
singing on stage either. What was unique was the success they had, and
the Grammy win, and that was their downfall. The business would be very
unforgiving with them when they learned they had nothing to do with the
records.
Eliot Sekuler (MV’s outside publicist): I was on the
MTV tour already with Paula... where [a number of the acts] were just
singing to a recording. [Milli Vanilli] had a fairly elaborate playback
system for its time, a digital device that was unusual for them. And it
failed. It got stuck while they were on stage.
https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8551402/milli-vanilli-oral-history-lip-syncing
Eliot Sekuler worked in publicity / public relations in
LA for 35 years from which he recently retired. He has lived in Mount
Washington for the last 30. In 2000 he became politically active,
picking up where he left off in his New York youth many years ago. As
an active member of the community, he helped create the Arroyo Seco
Neighborhood Council and was its president until he termed out. He also
served as President of the Mt. Washington Association and still serves
on its board. He conceived the idea of Lummis Day in 2006 as a way to
bring together disparate groups separated by economics, culture and
ethnicity. He continues to be a driving force, active on the several
committees, co-producing the film fundraiser and editing the Out West
Magazine. At LDCF events and the festival he can be found anywhere and
everywhere.
http://www.lummisday.org/board
"What was the betrayal? Did anyone in America believe that the Village
People or the Monkees really sang themselves? The Archies? Please.
Everyone's been doing it for 25 years. Madonna, Janet Jackson--these
perfect dance shows are expected now. So the best way to go onstage is
with tapes.
http://articles.latimes.com/1990-12-31/entertainment/ca-5618_1_milli-vanilli/2
But despite all the outrage over Milli Vanilli, no one should expect
artificial pop groups to disappear. Farian says it's American consumers
who need to wise up. "Sure, for young kids, it's very powerful to hear
that the heroes are not on stage, but in the studio," he says.
"But the kids have to learn, have to open their eyes. We sell illusions
and they are not reality. That's a good lesson for every kid to learn."
It’s no secret that groups have been fabricated throughout the history
of pop music. Most of the Monkees early music was done by studio
musicians, there’s the Partridge Family (seriously now), and it’s
believed the Village People were not the ones singing on their albums.
The list goes and on.
Beyond that, in other areas of the entertainment industry, such as
movies, the end product is a result of numerous contributors with the
actors, who play a relatively minor role relative to the amount of
credit they get, often simply being the face of the product of sometimes
literally thousands of people’s work. Beyond that, numerous
celebrities (and even professional authors) “write,” and take complete
credit for, books in which they really just hired a ghost writer to pen
the actual thing based on (sometimes extremely few) notes and ideas from
the listed author. Nobody bats an eye at any of that.
So why was everyone picking on Rob and Fab?
WELL, FIRST OFF, BECAUSE THEY WON A GRAMMY,
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/11/day-history-november-19th-lip-synching-duo/
Groups have been fabricated in the past; most of the Monkees' music was made by studio musicians, and it is generally believed that the Village People, a popular group during the disco era, were not the singers who appeared on their albums. Even groups that take credit for playing their own instruments have been known to bolster their recorded efforts with uncredited studio musicians. But Milli Vanilli were the first fabricated group to win a Grammy; the credit on the album reads, "Vocals: Fab and Rob.
Wages of Silence: Milli Vanilli Loses A Grammy Award
https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/20/arts/wages-of-silence-milli-vanilli-loses-a-grammy-award.html
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