Once Rob and Fab's Grammies were revoked, could the Academy not have given the Grammies to the real singers?
If you look up online, the 1990 Grammy award for "Best New Artist", it's either listed nothing or "Vacant". That's just dumb. Why not give it to the real singers? After all, people still listened to the music.
--Michael D. Clarke
Nah, the real band were chickenshits to let someone else use their work and not say anything. They were complicit in the fraud.
shareBut in the documentary, one of the real singers that was interviewed (I believe it was Charles Shaw), actually spoke out publicly against the fraud in late 1989. But he was paid by Frank Farian $150K to retract his statement and keep his mouth shut.
--Michael D. Clarke
The award takes into consideration the band behind it. Milli Vanilli was nominated, the real singers were not. If they're not nominated, they can't win. Too bad so sad.
shareThe Academy could have awarded the Grammy to one of the runner-ups instead (Tone-Loc, Neneh Cherry, Soul II Soul and the Indigo Girls). If I was one of the runner-ups, I would feel cheated out of the award.
Just leaving it blank is awkward. No other year is like this except the 1990 Grammy year. The whole thing is folly.
--Michael D. Clarke
My true opinion on this is that Milli Vanilli did nothing wrong. Plenty of bands have front people who don't sing. Rob & Fab can be seen as frontmen showmen.
Their producer screwed up in big time. He could have done some quick maneuvering and repackaged the original singers as members of the band and claimed Rob & Fab were just concert and video leads. Or something like that.
What about bands which have a chick which stands there and does nothing but bang a tambourine? She's still a member of the group even if she doesn't sing or play an instrument.
Tone-Loc, Neneh Cherry, Soul II Soul and the Indigo Girls
If I was Neneh, I would be furious that I got cheated out of an award!
--Michael D. Clarke