SiriusXM's Rachel Brodsky Talks Milli Vanilli w/ former MTV VJ Martha Quinn-Girl, You know It's Not Completely True

My thoughts on Martha Quinn's thoughts:

I was just reading the interview by Rachel Brodsky of former MTV VJ Martha Quinn on SiriusXM titled "Original VJ Martha Quinn talks ’80s nostalgia, Milli Vanilli + the real reason MTV doesn’t play music videos anymore". Let me first say that I am a SiriusXM subscriber and I listen to 80son8 all the time! 

This week Milli Vanilli was included twice in the "Big 40 Countdown". My twin sister Linda and I were part of the original group and we manage @MilliVanilli, our twitter page and www.facebook.com/therealmillivanilli, our Facebook page. Milli Vanilli was recently featured on the OWNTV Network hit show "Where Are They Now". In depth interviews were done with me, my sister Linda, Brad Howell, John Davis and Charles Shaw.

It amazes me how people seem to come out of the woodwork to describe what Milli Vanilli was all about, yet, neither my sister nor I have ever had a conversation with most of them. If you haven't talked to us I can assure you, you don't know the story. Milli Vanilli isn't just about Rob and Fab.

I met Rob Pilatus in the early 80's in Munich at the same club where Frank Farian "discovered" him and Fabrice Morvan. The club, P1, is owned by my friend Michael Kafer and I was there often. Rob danced in my shows occasionally. He wasn't homeless and from what I remember neither was Fabrice and in fact they shared a small apartment. Was it The Ritz? No. Were they struggling? Probably, just like the rest of us trying to make it in the music industry in a very competitive market, Germany being the 2nd largest record market in the world then and the 4th largest today. Frank Farian found two talented but vulnerable young wannabe's searching for fame and fortune. He promised them the moon and they believed him. Rob once said of his relationship with Frank, that he had "sold his soul to the devil". Both he and Fab knew exactly what was expected of them from the beginning. I would imagine it felt good driving a Ferrari, living in the Hollywood Hills, shopping for $30,000 Rolex's and Versace suits and traveling the world. Until Frank cut them off financially.

So, I do agree it was a tragedy of sorts, but mostly because the truth was never promoted even after I went to the press during the first week of November in 1990 and forced Frank’s hand. In an article for People Magazine from December 3, 1990 they wrote, "The pair's German record producer, Frank Farian, fessed up after Pilatus and Morvan insisted they be allowed to use their actual voices for a change on an upcoming record. Instead, he showed them the door, then revealed at a Nov. 14 press conference that he had originally hired the two unemployed male models in 1987 to appear in promotional videos lip-syncing songs he'd already recorded with vocals by three studio musicians." Well, actually 5 studio musicians. So, Frank may not have been at the table at the press conference but he definitely took the hit.

I, on the other hand, was at the table at the press conference when we gave back the Grammy. I gave interviews to Rolling Stone, Stern, CBS News, and many other news sources letting them know that this was a farce from the beginning. Even after we begrudgingly gave back our well-deserved Grammy, Frank was still making promises to the boys and they still believed him. We did too….. for a short time. Especially when he said he had Grammy's for us and had platinum records shipped from Arista Records in New York to our homes.

Yes, it is a fascinating story and it should be told in all its' glory. But Milli Vanilli isn't just about Rob and Fab. It's also about me, my twin sister Linda, Brad Howell, John Davis and Charles Shaw. It's our story too.