Highlights From Dirty Pop: Boy Band Scam
Episode 1
The first episode of Dirty Pop delves into the boy band sensation. We see early clips from the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, both of whom set the path for nineties and new millennium music. We also get to see footage of Lou Pearlman (with digital footage being digitally altered to generate his voice and synchronize his lips) talking about the pop sensation of this time….a lot of which was said in his book Bands, Brands and Billions.
Lou talks about discovering New Kids on The Block in 1989 and not realizing they were a real band. He was leasing planes at the time for major music act, which included NKOTB. Seeing their success inspired him to put together his own boy bands, thus giving us BSB, NSYNC and more.
AJ McLean recalls BSB’s first song Loverboy that they played at a talent show in 1993 and cringes. Howie Dorough also had the same reaction, but recalls how it was the band’s first experience with having fans.
They both remember how Lou helped them get their start and get their audition for BSB. Both of them saw it as a dream come true at the time. There is also a flashback of Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson, both of whom talk about their audition and how the band came together. Kevin’s cousin Brian Litterall remembers getting the call to join them for the audition, rounding out the band we now know and love.
There is more archive footage of their audition and performance. Howie talks about how Lou was a good salesman with an eye for talent. He also remembers how he would bond with the guys and become a father figure to them, especially Kevin, who had recently lost his own father to cancer in the band’s early days.
A team was put together to help manage the band, arranging tours at schools around the country. This allowed for them to get their names and music out.
Melissa Moylan, who worked for Lou at a TCBY franchise location, would soon become his artist rep. She would meet him and BSB in person on the same day and would soon be working for him for fourteen years, as well as for his transcontinental companies.
Along with BSB, other musicians were making it big, including Snoop Dogg and Nirvana. This meant that they had to put in many hours of hard work while still working around child labor laws that determined how long minors could work pre day.
There is more archive footage of the band practicing and Lou watching them.
Lou talks about his transcontinental company, as does his mother via archive footage. Lou’s friend Marc Piacenza also recalls knowing the Pearlmans and called Mrs. Pearlman ‘everyone’s mom.’ He said that him and Lou were like brothers and that they would often get into misadventures together….even one where Lou forged his driver’s license.
Marc also recalls Lou’s start in the transcontinental business, leading to archive footage of Lou’s career in that field. We also see how he combined his love of the field with the success of his acts, since he would fly them around. Marc also remembers giving up his career as a cop to work for Lou.
Julia Vazquez, Frankie Vazquez Jr’s mom, also shares her memories of Lou and how he helped out the family by investing their money.
More archive footage….including interviews with Lou and the early BSB success. AJ recalls their first single making it big in Germany and how surreal it was to have such success happen so fast. Howie remembers the fame and how they would need security guards even in their early days.
More archive footage and memories of the band’s early success.
We then get into the NSYNC archives and Chris Kirkpatrick offering his memories of starting his career in hopes of making it big. He remembers getting the call about Lou’s offer and knew it was an opportunity he didn’t want to miss.
There is more archive footage and memories of Lou’s first days with NSYNC, giving them ample opportunity to travel, perform and eventually build their band into a mega-success.
BSB also shares their success stories via archive footage while AJ remembers the band exploding into fame worldwide, which included tours, winning awards, meeting fans and the fame that wend along with it.
Chris shares similar memories of their humble beginnings and how they had to work harder than ever to reach the caliber of BSB. They were also touring the world and becoming superstars.
Both bands worked hard despite wanting time to regroup and rest. At the time, they all began considering Lou to be their father figure or ‘Poppa,’ not knowing what was really going on behind the scenes.
Lou talks about the success of the bands and makes a name for himself as the ‘sixth Backstreet Boy.’
Before long, it came to light that while Lou was making millions, the band members and people who worked for him were not. They finally realized what was up and decided to take action…..
Episode 2
Episode two gets into Lou Pearlman’s blimp business, how some crashed and the money he made after the fact.
The boy banders then talk about suing Lou and being conned by him. In the end, the bought Lou out for what AJ said was a decent amount of money. However, Lou would remain a sixth member.
Lou continues to talk about Transcontinental and then gets into his show Making The Band, which brings us O-Town.
Cue archive footage from the beginning of O-Town’s rise to fame, complete with a lot of tension between the guys and Lou.
Erik-Michael Estrada from O-Town recalls getting on the show and the band rising to fame.
More archive footage of the band…..as well as footage of people asking Lou to make them or their family members famous.
There are also several more acts featured, including B4-4, Innosense, Natural and Brooke Hogan….all of whom worked for Lou, all of whom hoped to reach the success of the bands before them.
Michael Johnson of Natural recalls working with Lou and how he claimed to make his dreams come true. He and his band signed with Lou, which worried their families because of his past issues with BSB and NSYNC. The band themselves saw other acts Lou worked with and thought they would reach the same level of success.
Natural began touring and believed that Lou would put them on the map.
Both bands recall meeting famous people through Lou and believed he was setting them up for success.
An interview with Lou regarding the Michael Jackson case is shown, as is some archive footage of MJ and his life.
The bands recall 9/11 and dealing with the aftermath. Lou had helped them travel.
There is discussion of Lou’s personal life….which leads to allegations of abuse. Erik-Michael claimed he never saw anything, but that if there are victims, he feels bad for them and what they went through.
Word soon got out about how Lou was mishandling money from the bands, insurance from the blimp crashes and more. He began facing lawsuits, which led to the discovery that he was using fake financial statements to get out of paying what he owed.
Frankie’s mom recalls her son withdrawing and losing weight during this time, suspecting that he knew more than he was sharing about Lou’s misdealings.
Frankie and Lou would end up fighting over what was going on with the financial dealings…..leading to Frankie dying by suicide. Family and friends blame Lou for his death.
Three months later, things would really take a turn for the worse, with people realizing how horrible Lou’s actions were.
Episode 3
The final episode of Dirty Pop opens with Art Garfunkel wishing Lou a happy 50th birthday. Archive footage is shown from the party, with acts like BSB and Aaron Carter sharing memories.
In the present day, Howie says he had no idea what was really going on behind the scenes.
Erik-Michael watches archive footage of Lou’s interviews and promises of fame. The two of them, along with Chris, talk about how music was changing.
In 2005, Lou made a show called Big In America, which featured a band trying to make it big in, you guessed it, America.
There is even more archive footage from the show, people who worked on it and how people he tried paying off were being written bad checks. People wanted their money and were upset that they weren’t getting what they were owed.
More people are interviewed about Lou’s finances and how he kept screwing people over…..including people who worked closely with him and the Vazquez family.
The nature of Frankie’s death is questioned and if Lou had more to do with it than people initially thought. Nothing was ever proven.
Before long, the FBI is brought in and Lou’s places of work and home were investigated and raided. However, it looked like Lou took everything in a hurry and skipped town. It is believed that someone at Transcontinental ratted him out for running a Ponzi-like scene.
Michael was traveling with Lou at the time and claims that he had no idea what was going on. He just thought they were working together.
Julia, Frankie’s mom, thinks that her son completely fell apart once he realized what was going on with the business and Lou’s shady dealings.
More people talk about being scammed by Lou and how they never got the money they were owed through investments or Lou’s promises.
Lou was running several scams using fake banks, seals, signatures and statements. He would also send fake letters from people, saying that everything was a misunderstanding….one of which was Harry Wilner, who had been dead for years before the scam began.
All the while, people who were close with Lou were either oblivious to his actions or slowly learning that he was a true scam artist.
Michael recalls seeing news about Lou’s scams online while in a business center in Bali, while Lou was right next to him, planning his next scam. At that moment, he knew he had to leave.
During that same visit, other people staying at the same place spotted Lou, leading to his capture and arrest. Michel found out that Lou was using his name and credit card, connecting him to the case.
We see more archive footage from the bands, other victims and the raid of Lou’s houses and places of business and people recall how Lou destroyed people’s lives.
Lou got 25 years in prison, but a month would be reduced for every million dollars he paid back.
People react to Lou’s sentencing, including Michael and Lou’s childhood friend Peter. Michael remembers getting calls from him, being upset that he never copped to what he did and acted like he had some sort of good life in prison.
Peter recalls Lou being taken to the hospital while in prison, where he would eventually die due to health issues. Michael recalls getting the news and how it all became a media circus trying to get his body back to New York.
Those who knew him remember Lou for his actions, but also for the way he put pop music on the map. Others remember him for the good person he was to them, despite his Ponzi-like actions.
Of the $500 million Lou stole, only $10 million has been recovered from his accounts and assets.
Nearly 2000 individuals and families invested with him over 30 years, making it the longest running Ponzi scheme in history.
