Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Rachel Keenan

Scottish rappers, deaf composers and an AI song called Zygotic Washstands: the biggest hoaxes in pop

Milli Vanilli in 1988, before they were exposed as lip-syncers.
Milli Vanilli in 1988, before they were exposed as lip-syncers. Photograph: Michael Putland/Getty Images

It all started as an unsolicited Facebook message, which may have been the first sign of foul play – and led to Wolfgang Flür, ex-member of Kraftwerk, believing that he was collaborating with Thomas Bangalter, formerly one half of Daft Punk.

Someone posing as Bangalter contacted Flür on Facebook, complimented his music and asked for a signed copy of his album Magazine 1. Flür happily obliged. He said the person told him, referring to Daft Punk: “Without Kraftwerk we would not find our own robot style, being on stage with the helmets”. Believing they were Bangalter, Flür then asked the person if they would like to work on some tracks. The impersonator agreed and sent over demos for the songs, which were worked up into a two new Flür tracks billed as featuring “Thomas Vangarde”, supposedly a new alias of Bangalter.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.