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American Morning

Showbiz Today Reports: Once-Boy Band LFO Wants to Be Taken Seriously

Aired July 05, 2001 - 11:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LAURIN SYDNEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Life imitated art "Sopranos"- style this holiday. Sixteen-year-old Robert Iler, who plays Tony Soprano Jr. on the HBO mob drama is free on bail today, after being arraigned on robbery and marijuana possession charges. Iler was arrested, along with three others, for allegedly robbing two teens of $40. He denies the charges. Iler's character on "The Sopranos" also got into legal trouble this past season.

It's the time of the seasons for summer girls, at least for the group LFO. That was the name of their big hit single from '99, that extolled the virtues of girls who wear Abercrombie & Fitch. The group, a product of the boy band hit factory, is back with their sophomore effort, which they talked and sang about with our Jodi Ross.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JODI ROSS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Every Other Time" is the first single off the sophomore album from LFO, a record titled "Life Is Good."

(on camera): Is life good for you guys?

RICH CRONIN, LFO: We don't mean it like we're living so well. What we mean is, generally, life is good.

ROSS (voice-over): Life really got good about two years ago, when the song "Summer Girls" put LFO on the M-A-P.

That summer, LFO found Lou Pearlman, the man who helped orchestrate the success of the Backstreet Boys, as well as *NSYNC.

Pearlman initially served as financier, but soon he was heading the boys in an all-too-familiar direction.

CRONIN: He did try to get us to become a boy band. It didn't work for us. We didn't want to do it. It wasn't us. Just by being associated with that name, a lot of people stamp you with, like, the scarlet letter, and you're not credible. I hope that this album will raise awareness and change people's minds a little bit about us.

ROSS: Rich Cronin writes most of the music, usually candid songs about relationships and love. "Girl on TV" featured his now former- girlfriend, actress Jennifer Love Hewitt. CRONIN: I don't regret it. It's part of my life. One thing that's important about our stuff is that we're, basically, documenting our lives as we go along in song.

ROSS: Their new video spoofs the MTV show "Cribs," about those who live in the lap of luxury.

CRONIN: We're not rich. We don't come from money. We come from great families. We're middle-class suburban kids. We are those kids buying the records.

ROSS: LFO says they're in this for the long haul, and that's good, because they definitely don't have billiards to fall back on.

CRONIN: We are one sad bunch of pool players here -- except for you.

ROSS (on camera): I'm actually not going to air any of this.

(voice-over): Oh well, not true, but these boys don't have to worry: Their future in music seems to be right on cue.

Jodi Ross, CNN Entertainment News, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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