A prefab group masterminded by producer Frank Farian, where he assembled a collection of studio musicians to record his fusion of European dance-pop and American Rap.
The esemble lacked “image”, so a pair of aspiring models/break dancers, Pilatus and Morvan were brought in to front the outfit.
They did not actually sing the material, merely lip-syncing the songs.
Girl You Know It’s True was their lead-off single and it became an instant hit, peaking at #2. The next three follow-ons, Baby Don’t Forget My Number, Girl I’m Gonna Miss You and Blame It on the Rain all hit #1.
They won a Grammy in 1990. And then the unthinkable happened… Pilatus and Morvan, now giddy with success (and wired on cocaine) wanted to actually sing on the next record and Farian blew the lid off the whole deal.
A fracas ensued, they were stripped of their Grammy’s and unceremoniously dumped into the dustbin of pop-culture.
Arista records deleted their record from it’s catalog (the biggest selling delete bin item on record) after a class action suit was filed by disgruntled album purchasers.
Farian attempted to reform the duo in 1991 as “The Real Milli Vanilli releasing Moment of Truth which promptly stiffed.
Pilatus called reporters and police to his hotel room in Los Angeles where he was threatening to kill himself.
The duo reformed again as Rob and Fab in 1993 and again, the record tanked, selling a mere 2,000 copies despite an appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show.
Pilatus hit the skids in earnest, entering various drug rehabs and having a string of run-ins with the law for charges such as assault. He was found dead in a Frankfurt hotel room in 1998.
Fabrice Morvan lives in New York and continues to pursue a solo career.
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