The biggest and most embarrassing hoaxes in music history

Nationalized Austrian American Fritz Kreisler lived several lives between 1875 and 1962. He was a doctor, soldier, and musician. In fact, he is considered one of the best violinists of all time.

He graduated at the age of 12 with great distinction from the Paris Conservatory. Shortly after his debut in the United States, he then studied medicine before returning to music in 1899. At the start of the new century, his reputation was phenomenal on both sides of the Atlantic and, as if that were not enough, he mastered the piano.

When he turned 60, on February 2, 1935, he made a revelation. Kreisler has a long history of performing little-known pieces by great masters such as Vivaldi, Pugnani and Corelli, among others.

According to his testimony, he discovered this material in a French monastery. However, it was all a lie. He had simply composed taking inspiration from each person’s style. ““It doesn’t matter who wrote these works as long as people like them,” he responded to his critics. “The name changes, the value remains,” he said.

Far from affecting his prestige, the incident increased his popularity.

Alabama native Jimmy Ellis attempted a singing career in 1964. He wasn’t bad at it, except for one very interesting little detail: he shamelessly imitated Elvis.

In 1969, record executive Shelby Singleton purchased the catalog of Sun Records, the label on which the King of Rock became famous, except for his songs. Without any qualms, Singleton summoned Ellis to record versions of Everything’s OK (Mom) and Blue Moon of Kentucky . The covers were released in 1972 with diffuse information, implying that they were alternate versions of the originals. However, the fully electrified instrumentation revealed the configuration.

After Elvis’ death in 1977, Shelby Singleton took up the hoax. He released more songs than those purchased from Sun Records, layering Ellis’ vocals with those of other great pioneers such as Jerry Lee Lewis. The themes were analyzed and certified original in the morning Hello America, and also by the famous Doc Pomus, a key composer of early rock & roll, and British music journalist Roy Carr, editor of media outlets such as NME and Melody Maker, who even called one of the songs a ” authentic “. ” and a reminder “of the days when recording sessions were fun.”

At the same time, as if it were clarifications and apologies, Ellis released the single I’m not trying to be like Elvis and the album On Demand – Ellis sings Elvis.

In 1978, writer Gail Brewer-Giorgio published Orion, a novel about a Southern singer who, tired of fame, fakes his own death. Shelby Singleton rubbed her hands again. Jimmy Ellis became Orion wearing a mask that he did not take off even during rehearsals, releasing several albums and singles to relative success on the country charts. When asked where he was born, Orión replied “at Sun Records Studios.”

In 1983, he took off his mask. Faced with lack of success, he used it again four years later. On December 12, 1998, he was attacked in a store he owned in Alabama, with his partner. Both were shot.

Towards the end of the 1980s, Italian producers Daniele Davoli, Valerio Semplici and Mirko Limoni formed an electronic dance music production team – the same style that encouraged Jorge González to change the sound of Los Prisioneros to hearts (1990) -, releasing the single Number one under the name of Stars light.

The song was a success – ninth place in England -, encouraging the trio to release new singles which gradually obtained better positions in various European charts. The stick for the cat came with ride on time And Everyone everyone .

The former was the biggest hit in the UK in 1989, while the latter was a smash hit in the US in 1990, songs which reached other markets including Latin America. By then, Starlight had morphed into Black Box and, most strikingly, the powerful vocals on both singles – if audiences were guided by the corresponding promotional videos – came from a stunning black girl, the model of French-Caribbean origin Katrin Quinol. Strictly speaking, Loleatta Holloway and Martha Wash were the singers on the two tracks, respectively.

According to the parameters of the producers in charge, neither age nor beauty accompanied the two performers. Holloway was 43, Wash 36. The artists filed a lawsuit against Black Box, reaching substantial out-of-court settlements. Wash’s situation went further, prompting a change in US law, which requires vocals to be credited on phonograph recordings and music videos.

The case of Martha Wash has become a paradigm of this system of deception. Even though the singer already had a magnificent CV for having participated in hit singles such as You make me feel (very real) of Sylvester and It’s raining Men of the Weather girls, at the end of the 80s, she was recruited by C+C Music Factory to record several demos. Between them, I’ll make you sweat (everyone dance now) became a phenomenal international success, without crediting his participation. Finally, in 1994, she was invited to join the group.

“Tell the world we don’t record our own music,” Monkees guitarist Michael Nesmith told a reporter in 1967. Frustration within the fictional rock quartet, stars of an NBC sitcom, was growing. The first two albums, which contained sparkling hits like I am a believer (original by Neil Diamond) and Last train to Clarksville had been performed by the collective The Wrecking, legendary session musicians after many successes of the 60s.

In a rare case where fiction becomes reality, the members of the Monkees asked to be able to act because, after all, they knew how to do it, in addition to being actors: Peter Tork dominated bass, Michael Nesmith was a multi-instrumentalist and sang, frontman Davy Jones played drums and Micky Dolenz pounded guitar.

Although they recorded several albums and played live regularly, the nickname of being an invention made up of people who didn’t know the music persisted. It is also true that when they were given the opportunity to record, they were never able to develop a style because their musical interests differed wildly.

Jimmy McShane was a gay Irish paramedic working for the Red Cross when he met Milanese producer Maurizio Bassi in the mid-1980s. McShane had a certain confidence as a dancer and a characteristic look with wide-rimmed glasses.

Reasons enough for Bassi, himself associated with American lyricist Naimy Hackett, to recruit him as the image of Baltimora, a new wave music project. The band recorded one of the biggest hits of all time –tarzan boy-, released in 1985. McShane never sang the song, but Maurizio Bassi did.

However, for the famous video and presentations live Shane swayed and seemed to sing, as if his life was dying there. Even if Baltimore has had other successes on the European circuit. They could never overcome the impact of Tarzan Boy. Jimmy McShane, who played backing vocals in the group, died in 1995 from HIV. He was 37 years old.

In 1989, Kid K was still in high school. At 17, Belgian of Congolese origin Manuela Kamosi belonged to a hip hop collective, when she was recruited by producer Jo Bogaert for a new project.

Bogaert, who played blues and new wave, recorded several dance hits on the American club scene in the late 1980s. Convinced that if he orchestrated the music and the image, he could achieve great success , he produced Pump Up the Jam , a song that marked an important milestone in the history of electronic music by mixing hip hop and house, with phenomenal success around the world. If there is a song that symbolizes Eurodance, it’s this one. Although the piece was irresistible, the video featuring Congolese model Felly Kilingi made it memorable. The decision to wear it was up to the brand. Nobody asked Ya Kid K anything.

Bogaert never did much to hide that the voice of Pump Up the Jam, did not match the girl in the video. “She brought something to Technotronic,” he thought of the model in 1990. “She was the image.”

Even though Felly Kilingi appeared in the United States and gave interviews in French because he did not speak English, the project’s second video Get up (before the night ends) had Ya Kid K as the protagonist.

In 1992, Felly Kilingi published Time passes a low-quality, no-impact hybrid of funk and electronica.