Milli VanilliMuch has been made of the Milli Vanilli debacle. They have been accused of lying, lacking talent and being pontificating egotists. It seems as if I am the only person who will defend their just cause. Not long ago, the Millis were basking in the glow of their duly earned Grammy award for best new group. Millions of teens, the world over, relinquished their money and leisure time to the new gods of the techno-dance age. All of us know of the circumstances leading to the Millis' ultimate demise.To respond to these malicious and defamatory charges, brought against them by people ed to be blunted, that of synth-rock. These groups from the 1970s (e.g. Genesis, Yes, Kraftwerk) were tried for treason v. the same puritanical constitution. The groups' keyboards produced an artificial sound that made the blasphemy of original rock seem pale in comparison. Alas, corrupt people must have found something worthy about the newer, progressive bands' noises, as millions of their albums infiltrated world homes. As an aside, might I add that during the 1960-70s, an equally pointed controversy was erupting, over whether the consumption of illegal narcotics was a perquisite to appreciate the sonic onslaught of psychedelia. What would Timothy Leary say? The 1980s saw the outbreak of sampling. Artists were ripping off preexisting material from films, politicians and other artists. Detractors cried foul: "How can you play copyrighted material - that's cheating?" Right. And that's the best part about it. So here we are in 1991. Today's artists employ all of the aforementioned techniques. All are more or less respected. The techno- wizards use samples, replayed in sequences, possibly on backing tapes, in their `live' performances. Hardly a soul raises a fuss. In the MTV generation, to quote Andre Agassi, "Image is everything." Milli Vanilli is a testament. The hype, playing the part, the spectacle is astronomically more important than the music. Isn't the real reason you're ticked off over Milli because you thought you had every group pinned down where you wanted them, somebody else did the singing -were we entertained any less? If you found out that some morticians did the singing on every Beatles song, would you treasure them, and the memories they bring to life, any less? Before you kick sand in Milli Vanilli's face, start asking some questions about Norm from the Elk club. Lay off Milli Vanilli; in 20 years they'll be reality.
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