Last week pop star Britney Spears earned some fresh demerits from critics and fans when her performance at the House of Blues in Florida went awry in a most undignified fashion. It seems the prerecorded track that she was lip syncing to began to skip. Now, I feel for Ms. Spears. Anyone who relies on CD's (or DVD's) has probably had them skip or jam at the worst possible times, so I would figure the controversy would focus on more reliable discs. Actually, no. The controversy is over the revelation that Britney lip syncs. I didn't realize this was news, but I digress. Of course Britney is not the first popstar to suffer from such a scandal. Ashlee Simpson got burned back in 2004 during a Saturday Night Live appearance. And every time something like this happens, people will no doubt recall the most infamous example of rock and roll swindles from back in the late 80's.

In July of 1989, a popular dance duo had their 'live' performance on MTV ruined by a skipping playback machine, fueling speculation that their live shows were faked. But by the following year, their careers were over when their manager officially revealed that they didn't actually sing on their studio recordings either. They even had to give back their Grammy. What was the name of the group?

Bonus Question: Maybe all these discredited pop stars could turn their lemons into lemonade by pointing out that decent lip syncing is itself a tricky skill to master. Not convinced? Well, back in 1984 there was a T.V. show that rated contestants for their originality, appearance, and lip sync ability as they mimed along to popular songs of the day. What was the name of the show?