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Bunga Bunga

Listen Now: Blame it on the Fame: Milli Vanilli

Bunga Bunga

Wondery

Scandal, Silvio, Whitney Cummings, Society & Culture, Bunga Bunga, Comedy, Italy, Berlusconi, News, Politics, Silvio Berlusconi, History

4.34.7K Ratings

🗓️ 13 May 2024

⏱️ 4 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When Frank Farian first laid eyes on Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan, he saw everything he wasn’t. They were handsome, young, and Black. But Frank had something they didn’t. He had power.


So, Frank offered them a devil’s bargain. Almost overnight, Milli Vanilli’s debut album went five times platinum and scored a Grammy nomination. But when the lie at the center of their success started to unravel, Rob and Fab would discover the hard way the difference between star power and real power.


From Wondery, Blame It on the Fame is a story about the lie that shot to #1 and what it cost to tell the truth. Hosted by Amanda Seales.


Listen early and ad-free exclusively on Wondery+: Wondery.fm/BIOTF_MV

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

In the early 90s it was the biggest scandal in pop music the stars of Milli Vanilli the Grammy winning multi platinum R&B phenomenon were exposed as frauds.

0:11.0

They never sung a note on their own songs. In a flash, they went from

0:15.2

famous to infamous. But none of this was their idea. So whose was it?

0:19.8

Enter German music producer Frank Farien.

0:22.8

He saw the success of acts like Michael Jackson and Prince,

0:26.0

and he wanted in.

0:27.5

No matter the cost.

0:29.2

So he devised the perfect pop heist.

0:31.8

Two once in a lifetime talents who were charismatic, full of sex

0:35.6

appeal and phenomenal dancers. The only problem? Sounding American. But Frank

0:41.1

knew just how to fix that.

0:43.0

Wundery's new podcast Blame It on the Fame dives into one of pop music's greatest controversies

0:49.0

and takes a never before heard look at the exploitation of two young black artists.

0:54.6

Millie Vanilla set the world on fire, but when the truth came out,

0:58.6

Rob and Fab were the only ones who got burned.

1:01.8

I'm about to play a clip from Blame It on the Fame.

1:03.8

Follow Blame It on the Fame on the Wonder Apper wherever you get your podcast. Two young men with silk scarves tied over their long black braids sat behind a long table.

1:28.0

They leaned into the microphones in front of them and introduce themselves as

1:33.5

My name is the very small man.

1:35.4

My name is Rob of you later.

1:37.6

In front of them was a room full of reporters.

1:41.1

But Rob looked cocky, like a debate club student who's never lost a tournament.

...

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