Milli Vanilli “Girl You Know It’s True” 1988. Hansa Records. German 12″ single, another Berlin acquisition from the same truly bizarre record shop as a lot of our other Germany finds – I think the weird owner was mildly impressed that I knew Milli Vanilli was a German “group” put together by producer Frank Farian (also responsible for the most excellent Boney M). This is also a sort-of Fab Morvan appreciation post (he’s the surviving member of the Malli Vanilli duo) for NOT performing at this week’s national performance farce: he backed out about a month ago along with most of the other booked artists; we have very few records of the other artists who were invited and who backed out, but if I find more I’ll get to those too in the next week or so.

“Girl You Know It’s True” was first written and performed by the US group Numarx in 1987. I’m fairly certain it didn’t chart but the track gained some popularity in the European dance club scene and came to the attention of Frank Farian. Milli Vanilli “recorded” their version and it went to #1 in Germany and to #2 in the US, #3 in the UK. I bet you are singing it now, it was that popular and infectious…and infamous. The track appeared on their 1988 debut German LP All or Nothing and then again on the US 1989 release Girl You Know It’s True. Farian was notorious for putting together bands that didn’t actually perform the material – they would lip synch and dance (which is HARD and I give the performers props for doing it) – but this was not admitted either on the record credits or in “live” performances. According to Wiki “The duo [Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus] served as the public faces for singers Charles Shaw, John Davis, and Brad Howell [all American musicians], who Farian thought were talented musicians but lacked a marketable image.” In July 1989 the backing track for “Girl You Know It’s True” skipped and looped at a live MTV performance and Milli Vanilli fled the stage. Then in early 1990 their  LP won a Grammy for Best New Artist in 1990 but the award was revoked later that year when Farian finally admitted that Morvan and Pilatus didn’t sing a single note on the LP. To this date it is the only time a Grammy award has been taken away; their label Artista dropped them from its roster and deleted their album and its masters from their catalogue, also making Girl You Know It’s True the largest-selling album to ever be deleted plus a court ruling allowed any American who bought the album to get a partial refund. (wiki). I admit to disparaging the band back then but I have much much greater sympathy for them now, after understanding the individuals’ background, their situation and the industry as a whole (in a nutshell: it’s pretty slimy, underhanded, greedy and dishonest). Along with the single version of “Girl You Know It’s True,” there is also a “Super Club Mix” and the track “Magic Touch.”

Jon Spencer “Songs of Personal Loss and Protest” 2026. Shove Records. The latest from the blues explosion man along with his backing band: Kendall Wind and Macky Spider Bowman (The Bobby Lees). The LP insert is hilarious – it’s a long list of possible band name considerations (funniest include “Jon Spencer & the Smartphone Addictions,” “Emerson, Spencer, Lake & Palmer,” most accurate include “Jon Spencer & the Devastators” and “Jon Spencer & His Badass Band) with the final “Jon Kendall Spider” for the win plus an album subtitle “Stink & Fuss.” It’s been a bit over six months since we last saw Spencer perform (December 2025 at Turner Hall in Milwaukee)  so I’m not entirely certain if any of the tracks from Songs of Personal Loss and Protest were played but I feel like maybe my top pick “Knock ‘Em Out” may have been – it’s an absolute ripper and ass-shaker with a vibe that both harkens back to vintage Blues Explosion songs (“Blues Explosion Man”) and looks forward/is contemporary with his young bandmates providing propulsive, high energy rhythm. Besides having the trademark Spencer sound, many also have his sense of humor, too, like on “Orange Slice Blues” (on which he brings levity to his anxiety) and another fave “Wet & Wild.”  Though the album is rocking, fun and funny, he says about the record: “These past few years, there has been a lot of emotional conflict and personal loss — the passing of time takes its toll. Losing friends, losing family, and all of this set against a world gone topsy turvy, where it feels like we are losing basic freedoms… I’m trying to balance a lot of things, but the answer is always rock ‘n’ roll.”

Kim Gordon “Play Me” 2026, Matador Records. We caught Kim Gordon’s set last night at Summerfest – my first time seeing her solo; I did see Sonic Youth back in 1991 opening for Neil Young and Social Distortion (the “Smell the Horse” tour: great lineup, terrible sound as the noise rock/grunge/hard rock/punk mashup tour was done no favors with the now-demolished Bradley’s Center concrete echo chamber). She’s an icon for sure; still cool AF with close to zero crowd banter – mostly just “thank you’s” – and an air of disinterest. The bulk of her set were tracks from her third solo release Play Me and since this is my first time sitting down for a listen, I wasn’t familiar with any of the songs. Honestly, if this wasn’t Kim Gordon I wouldn’t own the LP or gone to see the show. I absolutely appreciate her artistry and creativity but  experimental trip-hop with trap vocals is not really my jam. My top track is “Busy Bee,” co-written by Dave Grohl (he plays drums on the album but sadly did not play this song at the show last night) – it’s way beatier than most the album and also features sped-up dialogue between Gordon and Julia Cafritz (who was in Pussy Galore with Jon Spencer) from an episode of MTV Beach House that Gordon and Cafritz guest-hosted in the 1990s. The title track “Play Me” is also pretty good, as is the lead single “Not Today.” I’m not a fan of autotune at all and while I understand its inclusion both on the LP and at the show last night, it still gives me pain (“Black Out” in particular). Finally of note is the last track “ByeBye25” which is “a reworking of the single “Bye Bye” from her 2024 album The Collective, with updated lyrics based on words flagged [censored] by the second Trump administration. It was accompanied with a black-and-white music video showing Gordon walking through a construction site. Proceeds from the single and associated T-shirt went to Noise for Now, a non-profit organization based on reproductive rights.” (Wiki)