https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/milli-vanilli-scandal-30-years-later-felt-like-abandoned-everyone-005012843.html

Not sure if you youngin's remember this ,but it was pretty huge at the time. I was never a fan of their music, but like all pop music, it was everywhere. This is something that I still don't understand...

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When the shocking news broke that Milli Vanilli had not actually sung on their album, the sort of backlash not seen since 1979's "Disco Sucks!" movement erupted. Consumers demanded refunds for their album purchases, threatened to sue Milli Vanilli's label, Arista Records, for fraud, and protested with LP-burning bonfires. The duo's Grammy was rescinded. Arista swiftly dropped Milli Vanilli and even deleted their album from its catalog (making Girl one of the biggest-selling albums to ever go out of print).

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The music is the SAME regardless of who is actually singing it. Why were people so outraged?
Did they only buy it because of the good looking dancing men?

Nvmd

I actually really liked the music back then and had that same question.

I was only 10 at the time, but definitely remember this being all over the news for days. Now, in the age of auto tune, who cares. I understand them giving the Grammy back, but I'm not sure why anyone would think their album was now inferior. You either like the music or you don't.

Rudyjax said:

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https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/milli-vanilli-scandal-30-years-later-felt-like-abandoned-everyone-005012843.html

Not sure if you youngin's remember this ,but it was pretty huge at the time. I was never a fan of their music, but like all pop music, it was everywhere. This is something that I still don't understand...

Quote:

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When the shocking news broke that Milli Vanilli had not actually sung on their album, the sort of backlash not seen since 1979's "Disco Sucks!" movement erupted. Consumers demanded refunds for their album purchases, threatened to sue Milli Vanilli's label, Arista Records, for fraud, and protested with LP-burning bonfires. The duo's Grammy was rescinded. Arista swiftly dropped Milli Vanilli and even deleted their album from its catalog (making Girl one of the biggest-selling albums to ever go out of print).

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The music is the SAME regardless of who is actually singing it. Why were people so outraged?
Did they only buy it because of the good looking dancing men?

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What's confusing about it? It's the same as any other scam. Keep it small and you are fine. Blow up and start winning industry awards and outselling the competition and people are gonna bring you down.

That was during my junior year at A&M. I remember it like yesterday. People were talking about it when I got on the shuttle bus on campus to go back to my apartment. Flipped on MTV when I got in and it's all they were talking about.

I think it was just the betrayel. Big difference between "over-produced" or "autotuned" music and a band that is openly claiming that it was 100% them on the record.
I'm not sure that the reaction would be all that different today if we suddenly found out that, say, Maroon 5 didn't actually sing a single note on their albums, and it was 100% session singers.

Maybe one of those 'who had to be there' deals, but they were HUGE - just exploded into the scene and seemed like they were everywhere that year. I remember reading at the time that they were as recognized even in the most remote parts of the world as Coca-Cola and Michael Jackson.

I think you're being naive.

#1 who said the listeners were outraged rather than the industry.
#2 there was no internet so anyone who wanted to hear that album beyond radio airplay had to spend $15 of their own money. An album/record/CD/cassette isnt just the music - that was what the record companies told consumers forever, so people who spent their money had a right to want a refund.
#3 if you read the article or actually were alive back then, you would know that this was their debut album. They weren't an established band with an existing fan base. They had this 1 album, and were trying to tour to grow the fan base. When the story broke, they were a joke. They had no ability to tour for money and new fans. They were done.

A. Solzhenitsyn said:

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I always liked Vanilli better.

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Vanilli Ice?

#1 who said the listeners were outraged rather than the industry.

Quote:

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Consumers demanded refunds for their album purchases, threatened to sue Milli Vanilli's label, Arista Records, for fraud, and protested with LP-burning bonfires

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#2 there was no internet so anyone who wanted to hear that album beyond radio airplay had to spend $15 of their own money. Analbum/record/CD/cassette isnt just the music - that was what the record companies told consumers forever, so people who spent their money had a right to want a refund.

So the music was no longer good?

#3 if you read the article or actually were alive back then, you would know that this was their debut album. They weren't an established band with an existing fan base. They had this 1 album, and were trying to tour to grow the fan base. When the story broke, they were a joke. They had no ability to tour for money and new fans. They were done.

I was a senior I'm high school and yes they became a joke and then everyone stopped liking music they liked the day before. It was dumb then and it was dumb now.

Man, I completely forgot about Ashlee Simpson and this whole moment. Awesome. My only wish is that it would happen today; it would be incredible on current social media.

I think you can still enjoy the music but singing to pre-recorded tracks of yourself like Ashlee Simpson and lip syncing to songs you never sang on in the first place are two very different things in my opinion. I think it would have blown over if they were just lip syncing it was the fact that they never sang the songs in the first place that made it a big deal.

Same thing with auto tune or production effects on albums, I don't think most people care if you had some digital help making your voice better for an album as long as it was your voice. An example of this is on Michael Jackson's posthumous album Michael there are a handful of songs that were likely not sung by Michael at all and were sung by two people impersonating his voice. If i had bought that album i'd feel like it was fraudulent and misleading, where as if they took some of his existing vocals that were poor quality and digitally processed them to make them sound better i'd be ok with it.

You have a weird definition of outrage. Returning an album is nowhere close to the record burning parties of the end of disco. It was funny. They were a joke. People didnt hate them.

Seems like someone who made ~100 different posts about bre manzel cheating at jogging would have a grasp for why people in the MV era felt defrauded.

You're comparing the "greatest pop star" ever to two guys no one had ever heard.

The music doesn't change. I felt the same now and feel the same today.

Music is the same. I don't care who sings it.

But to go along with your point, this is pretty much why my music preference is bands and not studio created groups and pop stars.

So I guess I can kinda see that.

And of course as someone who never liked the music or the performers it's easy me to say it was the same crappy music.

Rudyjax said:

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Music is the same. I don't care who sings it.

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But that's not the same for all people. Tons of people gush over Johnny Cash's cover of 'Hurt' because "OMG it mirrors his life so much!!!".

free_mhayden said:

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Rudyjax said:

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Music is the same. I don't care who sings it.

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But that's not the same for all people. Tons of people gush over Johnny Cash's cover of 'Hurt' because "OMG it mirrors his life so much!!!".

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Which is why I can't understand why.

I didn't know Cash was a heroin addict.

Bruce Almighty said:

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I was only 10 at the time, but definitely remember this being all over the news for days. Now, in the age of auto tune, who cares. I understand them giving the Grammy back, but I'm not sure why anyone would think their album was now inferior. You either like the music or you don't.

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Now:

expresswrittenconsent said:

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I'm sure it's just your "schtick" as a goofy texags poster, but a real life person who often doesnt demonstrate emotional intelligence, and is incapable of general empathy for others positions, and who often misses the "joke" might be on the spectrum.

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Oh goodbye. I don't have time for personal attacks c

Ahhhhh shoulder padded jackets worn over leggings and thick soled boots! Girl you know it's true!

expresswrittenconsent said:

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I think you're being naive.

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This is his schtick.

expresswrittenconsent said:

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I'm sure it's just your "schtick" as a goofy texags poster, but a real life person who often doesnt demonstrate emotional intelligence, and is incapable of general empathy for others positions, and who often misses the "joke" might be on the spectrum.

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Lol, wrote my post above before reading this.

And goodbye to you to.