Looking like a plumper and more jovial version of Karl Rove, Lou Pearlman is to blame for the late-90s boy band craze.
I can't say I'm shocked by this development. After all, Lou made his living (outside of creating businesses on paper and defrauding investors over a 20 year period, that is) by manufacturing musical acts, most of which had no actual talent, and none of which were organically formed. Much of the artificial shit-pop I was subjected to as a high school student had its genesis in Pearlman's bald head.
While I must say I'm tickled that he's being convicted of actual fraud, I'm somewhat upset that he cannot be tried for cultural swindling as well. This is an individual who convinced millions of screaming teenagers that five dancing boys with nominal vocal ability constituted music. This is an individual who stripped music of its spontaneity and dynamism, replacing it with carefully scripted contrivance and market-tested sheen. Teen pop has been a cultural phenomenon since the birth of the record industry, but never did it stoop as low as it did during the Pearlman era. The man had a key role in severely cheapening the art form most dear to me, and for that I can never forgive him.
Lou Pearlman's plea bargain will incriminate several other individuals involved in his web of lies. It will expose him to the public as the corrupt and immoral businessman that he is. On the same token, it will likely spare him extensive jail time. It may allow him to get back on his feet, sell his story, and live out the rest of his life comfortably before he finally succumbs to hypertension and/or congestive heart failure.
Most unfortunately, it will never repair the damage done to an entire generation of music consumers.
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