I was recently thinking about the lip sync'ers who made it to stardom.  We all know about Milli Vanilli and their "unfortunate" luck in winning a grammy, which brought the spotlight onto them.  I always wondered how those guys with very thick accents could sing such songs flawlessly in English. 

Are there others out there?  I believe Italo-disco has a few - Den Harrow, Valerie Dore, and possibly Fun Fun.  Perhaps it is a "European" thing.

What about the voices behind the scenes?  Has anything ever become of the voices behind the attractive lip sync'ers?

Technotronic

The music video featured some frizzy haired female with spandex, but the singer sounds male and on "SNL" (hosted by Fred Savege) the singer was male  :o

Technotronic

The music video featured some frizzy haired female with spandex, but the singer sounds male and on "SNL" (hosted by Fred Savege) the singer was male  :o



I was just going to say that about C&C Music Factory.  They had some hot chick in the Sweat Video but it was actually a large woman who sang the female vocals.

I was just going to say that about C&C Music Factory.  They had some hot chick in the Sweat Video but it was actually a large woman who sang the female vocals.


That'd be Martha Wash who actually sang in C+C.  She was quite large yes.  That thin chick in the videos was just for the videos lol

That'd be Martha Wash who actually sang in C+C.  She was quite large yes.  That thin chick in the videos was just for the videos lol


I thought maybe in the beginning she was on stage too for TV performances but I didn't really pay all that much attention to them

good one!  C&C music factory had some big radio hits.  And the chick in the video was hot.  Were they European?  It seems the whole lip syncing models trend was a European thing.

i saw one of my favorite groups "the cars" in the heart beat city tour of 1984, and i thought wow! these guys really sound like the music i hear on records!    never gave it another thought, then about a year ago a fellow co worker says he saw the same tour but in las vegas nevada also in 1984!  and about half way through the show he said the music stopped and then stared skipping, much like a tape or cd might do, and the band members were still playing??  but no sound was coming out?  he said about half of the crowd just walked out!  anyone ever hear of this?  it does kinda taint my  feeling for the cars, and got me really thinking about how i noticed they sound so much like the  music i bought, there didnt seem to be any longer versions or different sounding versions of any of the songs during the show i saw, but  my co worker swears this is what he saw!

That'd be Martha Wash who actually sang in C+C.  She was quite large yes.  That thin chick in the videos was just for the videos lol


Martha Wash also sang on tracks for Black Box.

I don't care who sang on the Milli Vanilli records.  I still have all my MV recordings.  Back in the day before Rob & Fab were found out, they were the def joint in the club.  People got stupid to it.  WORD.

Martha Wash also sang on tracks for Black Box.

I don't care who sang on the Milli Vanilli records.  I still have all my MV recordings.  Back in the day before Rob & Fab were found out, they were the def joint in the club.  People got stupid to it.  WORD.


Martha Wash was one of The Weather Girls.

I was just going to say that about C&C Music Factory.  They had some hot chick in the Sweat Video but it was actually a large woman who sang the female vocals.
But They were 90's!

But They were 90's!


Yeah but since I suck at music trivia people give me a little leeway...because they know how happy it makes me to be able to contribute to the conversation...

It's likely that most of the Euro acts from that time like Rex Abe, Righeira, Magazine 60, Raff, Savage, Lian Ross, Mozart, Ivan, and Baltimora were just face-fronted acts controlled behind the scenes by the producers who relied on session singers.  Whenever vocalists/band members are plucked out of total obscurity and look like they should be models or porn stars, the radar should go up that it's not legit.  The trend continued into the '90s (especially in Italy) when Eurodisco gave way to Piano House and Eurodance and "projects" like  Blackbox, The 49ers, E-Rotic, Cappella, Corona, JK, The Real McCoy, and Whigfield appeared on the scene.

It's likely that most of the Euro acts from that time like Rex Abe, Righeira, Magazine 60, Raff, Savage, Lian Ross, Mozart, Ivan, and Baltimora were just face-fronted acts controlled behind the scenes by the producers who relied on session singers.  Whenever vocalists/band members are plucked out of total obscurity and look like they should be models or porn stars, the radar should go up that it's not legit.  The trend continued into the '90s (especially in Italy) when Eurodisco gave way to Piano House and Eurodance and "projects" like  Blackbox, The 49ers, E-Rotic, Cappella, Corona, JK, The Real McCoy, and Whigfield appeared on the scene.


Good points and true. How many gorgeous models have perfect vocals as well.  lol.  I think Europeans knew but just did not care.

Sometimes it's so obvious that even the front people themselves can't take the charade seriously. 

I remember this project in the mid-90s called Shauna Davis (anytime an act is referred to as a "project", it's a dead giveaway) that had one or two club hits.  MuchMusic in Canada was running The Electric Circus at that time and "Shauna" did an appearance.  The girl who showed up was later part of Bran Van 3000.  I kid you not, three weeks later they brought the act back to do a performance of the second single, only this time it was a completely different girl singing with the exact same voice!  The host tried to be nonchalant about the whole thing ("Oh! You're really here!") and made an off-hand reference to a "problem" with the record company.  It was so obvious that there was some kind of in-house shake-up wherein the real singer was replaced by a hotter girl and probably threatened suit.  The producers had to let her go on air.  It was ridiculous.

2 Unlimited split about the same time, and the duo also did a gig on Electric Circus.  The hitch was that Anita had already hit the bricks, so Ray just brought another girl along and she sang with Anita's voice.

Sometimes it's so obvious that even the front people themselves can't take the charade seriously. 

I remember this project in the mid-90s called Shauna Davis (anytime an act is referred to as a "project", it's a dead giveaway) that had one or two club hits.  MuchMusic in Canada was running The Electric Circus at that time and "Shauna" did an appearance.  The girl who showed up was later part of Bran Van 3000.  I kid you not, three weeks later they brought the act back to do a performance of the second single, only this time it was a completely different girl singing with the exact same voice!  The host tried to be nonchalant about the whole thing ("Oh! You're really here!") and made an off-hand reference to a "problem" with the record company.  It was so obvious that there was some kind of in-house shake-up wherein the real singer was replaced by a hotter girl and probably threatened suit.  The producers had to let her go on air.  It was ridiculous.

2 Unlimited split about the same time, and the duo also did a gig on Electric Circus.  The hitch was that Anita had already hit the bricks, so Ray just brought another girl along and she sang with Anita's voice.


Bizarre but funny.  2 Unlimted.

2 Unlimited split about the same time, and the duo also did a gig on Electric Circus.  The hitch was that Anita had already hit the bricks, so Ray just brought another girl along and she sang with Anita's voice.


That one has me skeptical.  Ray and Anita split at the same time.  The producers behind the group brought in two female vocalists named Romy and Marion to front the name 2 Unlimited, but you never know with music today

I used to watch Electric Circus sometimes, and you could tell the singers were lip synching

The only infamous lip-syncers in the 80s were Milli Vinilli but Im pretty sure there other artists that got away with it. Another famous lip-syncer was a singer called 'Blackbox' in the early 90s. She had a hit dance record called 'Everybody, Everybody and Strike it Up'.  She looked the part of a pop singer but it was actually Martha Washington singing lead.

By the way wasnt there a show that featured contestants lip-syncing to pop tunes? I forgot the host name as well as the name of the show. I know he looked like to me William Katt from 'The Greatest American Hero'