Was anybody at the Milli Vanilli show at Lake Compounce when the tape skipped? It was July 1989. Would be interesting to hear recording of how it was reported on local radio.spmahn t1_j1zu3x7 wrote
The story and the video was part of the old VH1 Behind the Music show years and years ago. The Lake Compounce thing is blown out of proportion, A. Lots of artists even back then lip synced live in concert, from Michael Jackson to New Kids on the Block to Madonna to Tiffany and Debbie Gibson, it was not a big deal, and it just kind of looks like a DJ was spinning their record and B. The Lake Compounce concert was in the Summer of 89, Milli Vanilli stuck around for at least another year, so clearly it didn’t hurt them that much.
Milli Vanilli lip syncing live wasn’t the issue, the fact that they never sang on their record in the first place was the issue.
Ordinary_Guitar_5074 OP t1_j1zxku3 wrote
Yeah it’s super obvious that bands were lip syncing on TV variety shows. The one that comes to mind is The Animals performing House of The Rising Sun. Also the Mamas and the Pappas singing California Dreaming. It was way obvious.
bbpr120 t1_j209z95 wrote
It doesn't get better than Nirvana "playing" Smells like Teen Spirit on the BBC'S Top of the Pops show.
Ordinary_Guitar_5074 OP t1_j20eksy wrote
That’s incredible. Was he sort of doing a Morrissey impression at the same time? Since it was a British show?
Academic-Animator-48 t1_j20kx10 wrote
Yes he was. I remember reading that.
cjrun t1_j23u40p wrote
wow, for the whole song Kurt committed to the bit. Lol
spmahn t1_j1zytjd wrote
Yeah, lip syncing for TV has always been a thing, trying to produce live music in a way that doesn’t sound awful on TV is really hard. For concerts though, once Michael Jackson came along in 1984, and especially on his Bad tour and combined live music with complex choreography, it changed the game. From that point on, live acts had a choice, they could perform live, or they could do their dance performance live, but you couldn’t have both. Most pop acts from that point chose the dancing.
Nigel_IncubatorJones t1_j245hk8 wrote
That's the truth , it would be almost impossible to sing while doing a lot of those dance moves. You would be out of breath, dancing is cardio, and singing takes a lot of breath control if you want to sing in tune.
TheDudeMaintains t1_j200nkd wrote
A lot of bands, especially as they get up there in age, use backing vocals and/or understudy singers. Jon Bon Jovi, for example, barely has a voice these days but he can get through a set with some help.
cosmicness t1_j20ae25 wrote
I’ve seen some videos. They’re painful to watch.
Quick_Recover8626 t1_j22na98 wrote
My favorite was Jan & Dean in the mid 60’s they made fun of the fact that they were lip syncing by hamming it up. Guess they figured if it was so obvious they might as well have fun with it.
NoHopeOnlyDeath t1_j23pvzn wrote
Which is how you end up with the Iron Maiden video for Wasted Years. The band refused to "pretend to play" and instead just acted like idiots.
lunaticmagnet t1_j249as3 wrote
I think you may be thinking of Holy Smoke.
NoHopeOnlyDeath t1_j24akxd wrote
.........possibly.
ifollowmyownrules t1_j2177dz wrote
Loved Behind the Music!
Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments