In a somewhat distorted fashion, Lou Perleman is the Phil Spector of the late 1990's. Lou is the fuhrer of today's boy bands in much the way that Spector owned the girl group scene in the early 1960's. Lou isn't nearly as famous as Phil was in the latter's heyday, but this could be chalked up to two factors: 1) Lou's a lot older than his proteges, 2) Lou's been fired by many of his proteges. Whereas Phil was a tyrant within the recording studio, Lou is a tyrant (by all accounts) everywhere but. And as for his own personal fame -- he may be elevated with the ABC series "Making the Band".