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- [00:00]
Dan Kennedy
As we approach the end of the year, I'm thinking about the next. Next year is the year I finally make my Spanish better than my 9 year olds. Rosetta Stone is the most trusted language learning program available on desktop or as an app. And it truly immerses you in the language that you want to learn. I can't wait to use Rosetta Stone and finally speak better than my 9 year old who's been learning Spanish in his own way. Rosetta Stone is the trusted expert for 30 years with millions of users and 25 languages offered. Spok, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Korean, I could go on fast language acquisition. Rosetta Stone immerses you in many ways. There are no English translations, so you can really learn to speak, listen and think in that language. Start the new year off with a resolution you can reach today. The Moth listeners can take advantage of this. Rosetta Stones lifetime membership for 50% off, visit rosettastone.com moth that's 50% off. Unlimited access to 25 language courses for the rest of your Life. Redeem your 50% off@RosettaStone.com moth today.
- [01:10]
Fab Morvan
Welcome to the Moth Podcast. I'm Dan Kennedy. The Moth is true stories told live on stage. The story you're about to hear by Fab Morven was recorded live at the Moth in March of this year. The theme of the night was between stories of passing.
- [01:35]
Rob Pilatus
So picture this. We are at the shrine in Los Angeles, California. It's 1990. We are at the biggest party in music industry. It's the Grammys. We just finished performing Girl, you know it's true. Ooh, ooh, ooh I love you. We're now backstage holding our breath listening to the MC to call out the nominees for our categories. Best new artist. We are Milli Vignelli and let it be Tone Loke. Soul to soul, Indigo Girls, but not us. Please don't do this. And the winner is Milli Vanilli. The crowd goes crazy. We froze, but we have to get out there with big smile on our faces as well. So we get in there and we hold the award high and dedicated to all the artists out there with a dream. Wow. We're living a fairy tale. But there was a but we had a secret underlying all the good times. So now. I met Rob when I was 19 years old in Munich, Germany, and he was 22 and he was raised by a family in Germany. They were white and he was black. And because he was black in school he got teased a lot. So when he became of age and could defend himself and Retaliate. He adopted the motto, it's better to be feared. I was born in Paris. My motto was, it was better to be loved. We were opposite personalities. He was loud and had a healthy appetite for life and very spontaneous. I have to add, I was quiet, shy, and always thought twice before doing anything. But we connected. We did what young men do. We love music, dancing, girls going out, having fun. And we had a name in the club scene. And part of it was because we looked different and we had worked really carefully on this one night we were watching TV and we had seen this program on pop icons and we noticed one thing. They have good hair. Okay, Good hair. Alright. Okay. After thinking about it a little bit, we decided, this is it. Braids. The girls are gonna love it. It's gonna be sexy. Let's go for that. That's one. And then we shared a love for music and a lot of respect for music as well. And through the grapevine, one of the biggest producers at the time, Frank Farian, Hurdle's kids, they could dance, they could sing, and they had great hair. So we were invited to the studio and there, right away, we were seduced by the music factory and the state of the art equipment, the gold records on the wall. So we were at the mercy of the big producer. We were eager to please him. When it was time to sign a recording contract. Hell yeah, where do we sign? You know? And the only thing that rang true to our mind was, in our mind was advance money. We need to get some food, get some clothes and refresh the trademark, the hair. Even though there was no attorney, no managers present, we signed this paper. But later we found out that it was not just for one single, it was for three albums. Months went by and we were waiting, eager to like, okay, it's time to record now. Come on, what's going on? News came, we came to the studio and now we're in Studio A with Frank Farn. He's about to press play and we're about to listen to Garry Neu's RU for the first time. Instrumental. The music starts and we're like, wow, the music is rocking. For the next four minutes, Rob and I fantasize about being on television. When he stops, first question is, when are we going to record? And he mumbles, yeah, we need to talk about that. So we move to another part of the studio and they started speaking in German as usual. I didn't speak German at the time, so I'm on the side and I'm waiting, you know, for them to Translate to me later, get briefed. But then something happened, something weird because we were all smiles, we were all positive. And then the room got cold and felt like it was getting darker and they were fighting. The voice were getting louder and louder and louder until the producer, Frank Farn, walked away. Rob turns to me and says, they don't want us to sing on the record. I'm like, but we signed a recording contract not long ago. And then he's hesitating to tell me, like, look, they want us to lip sync. I'm like, lip sync. Like, no way. Let's get out of here. But here came the punchline. All the money that they had given us, they said, okay, you can walk away, Just go on, move on with your life, but pay this back. We were broke, so we were against the wall. All the money that had been killed given us, we use it to live, to eat. So now the trap that they carefully prepared is closing slowly but surely. Slowly but surely. Slowly but surely. The only thing for us to do is to join them because we can fight them. And the only way to get out was to get deeper in. So now we're promoting the record and it's exciting because people are responding to the song. They're responding to us. And this is like, wow, we are rock star. When I say ho, you say, hey. Ho. Ho. Ho. Just like that. Imagine a young man feeling that. Now we got girls galore. It's everywhere. We have so much choices. Oh, God. We don't know what to do with ourselves. We turn our hotel room into party central. You need food, room service. You need alcohol, room service. You go to the club, no problem. Bring your friends. Everyone knows who we are. So now we're working and working harder and harder. We hate the idea of lip syncing, but we love performing and making people happy. So the night and the usual suspects have become our best friends. Now we're working. We're working. But then every night, every night, it's me, myself, and I faced with reality. I didn't sing on the record. Rob didn't sing on the record. We didn't. And that was a secret that we were holding at the Grammy. Now Frankfyen, the great businessman that he was, already was working on the second album. We sold by now 30 million singles and over 7 million albums. But we're done. We decided, this is it. We're going to pull the plug. He doesn't know that yet. And it took a lot from us to say, okay, this is over. It was difficult, you know, we're fighting ourselves. So on the last trip we took to Germany. It was the first and last trip promotional trip for the second album. We said, it's over, you know, we're done, do whatever you want. Take us to court, do whatever. And he sent a very clear message. He said, I took you in, I'll take you out. Whatever, dude, we're out. We went back to LA List lived our life trying to make some plans. A few weeks later, our assistant came running while we were finishing our morning run. The cat is out the bag. The cat is out the bag. He's like, we never heard that before. A cat isn't. We don't own a cat. There's no bag, there's no. I don't know. So then we understood. Frank Farian flew to New York, the city right here, which I love, and told the world they didn't sing on the record. How ironic. The guy who created it all did this because he had an ego the size of a Empire State Building in the Eiffel Tower. Now we're full of emotions and it's like free at last. Yeah, but it's the end of a never ending story. So we're sad and happy and we know the backlash is coming. Before we could even get back to the house, the trucks of the outside parked, camera, microphone salivating at us arriving. We walk through the gauntlet. Fab. Rob, Rob, Fab. You have anything to say? We walk through, we turn the TV on. Bam. It's everywhere. It's media frenzy. Milli Vanilli lip syncing as if we were the mastermind behind it. The label is gone. They made the lion's share of the profit, but nobody's questioning them. It's all about Rob and Fab being blamed, being punched, boom, boom, every day by public humiliation. And it's hard to take. It's very difficult. We're alone. Everybody left us there by ourselves. We feel betrayal in a sense. So we call out a press conference when we give back the Grammy that we didn't want in the first place. And there, same scenario. Everybody is aggressive. We're the meal tickets. Scandals make money. People watch tv, it sells newspapers, and we're there. We go home and this is it. Like, what are we going to do now? I get a chance to talk to my family, to my mom, and she tells me, make it right so that you can walk with your head up high, no matter how long it takes. So I thought about it. After some soul searching, I realized that music was part of my life and I couldn't live without it. So I worked on myself, my skills as a songwriter, producer, musician. And I felt better. I felt hope. Rob on the other end, took it a lot harder. And he went in a spiral down, hanging out with the old friends, doing drugs to remove this pain that he had. Because everything was taken away. Fame usually gradually disintegrates just like this. But we didn't get a chance to experience this. It was from famous to infamous, just like that. And it hurt. The press said Rob died of an overdose. And I said, no, he died of a broken heart. So there I was when the news came. My ears just, they rang. And suddenly I realized that he's not coming back from this one. We had a lot of close call before, but it's over. I guess he got his wish. Immortality. He'll be young forever. So now I was alone with my friend, my brother. What's next? So I looked at the horizon and I said to myself, I'm going to channel this pain into music, which I love. And I worked on an album called Love Revolution. And I dedicated a song to Rob Plato's called It's yous Life. And there's no bitterness, I have none. I've learned a lot, made me a better man. And I feel like I lived the life of a hundred men. But before I leave, I'd like to sing a few of those lines that I, that I wrote for Rob Pilatus. Oh no, don't take that alley. You will see it's the wrong place to be for your soul but who am I to tell you what to do? But it's your life but it's your life. Thank you.
- [13:57]
Fab Morvan
Fab morven is 1/2 of the best selling pop group Milli Vanilli, where he became involved in one of the music business's most notorious controversies. Since that experience, Fab has worked hard to rebuild his career as a performer, singer and writer, most recently in Amsterdam, where he has connected with the city's fabled dance music community, including a release on renowned DJ Tiesto's label. And if you're looking for the latest news from the Moth, including information about our tour shows across the country, visit our recently redesigned website, themoth.org our podcast.
- [14:35]
Dan Kennedy
Host, Dan Kennedy is the author of the book Rock An Office Power Ballad. Learn more@rockontheboook.com thanks to all of you.
- [14:44]
Fab Morvan
For listening and we hope you have a story worthy week. Podcast audio production by Paul Ruest at the Argo Studios in New York. Podcast hosting by PRX Public Radio Exchange helping make public radio more public@prx.org.