Girl you know its true....

It has often been noted that the most impacting moment for my generation was the revelation of the Milli Vanilli hoax. Actually, that’s probably never been said but I am here today, ladies and gentlemen, to argue that Fab & Rob’s lip synching scandal is to my generation what JFK’s death was to my mother’s baby boomer peers. Of course, I realize that this argument is deeply flawed, ridiculous, and slightly offensive; however let us proceed to explore the phenomenon best known as “Blame it on the Tape…(jam)”.

Let’s recap: During a live performance for MTV, “Girl you know its True”‘s recording jammed and began to skip resulting in:

“Girl you know its
Girl you know its
Girl you know its….”

And so on, and so forth.

Milli Vanilli quickly ran backstage (well, sure.) and apparently, no one at the concert even raised an eyebrow. (MTV fans are known for their keen observational skills and sobriety). However, the critics did notice and days later, the house came tumbling down when the producer confirmed that Milli Vanilli (aka Fab and Rob) did not actually technically sing, per say, on the album. Then, their grammy was revoked.

Oh, the tears. The disillusionment. The turmoil. Our nation suffered a great loss that day. Well, they were actually German, but still. It did shifted our standards in music consumerism. Now, its apparently okay to lip synch and synthesizers can make my groggy morning voice sound like Celine Dion; proven by the astounding record sales of Ashlee Simpson and Britney Spears.

Even though Milli Vanilli tried to come back, even under “Fab & Rob” (now why didn’t that sell well?!), things didn’t work out so well. Now, one is deceased (that actually is sad) and the other a D.J. who occasionally gives live performances in LA. I hope he does well and I salute you, Milli Vanilli, for your impact on my people. And the best news? Universal Pictures is making a movie based on the story of Rob & Fab.

Indeed!