Whatever happened to Fountains of Wayne? (c/d?)

anyway, Nick is right, also see yesterday's Pitchfork-news for more details on the new album.

re their music -- i have Utopia Parkway, which i think i listened to once four years ago and never again, and i remember just about nothing about it (except some cheesy song about high school proms). which says it all AFAIC.

No no no no! Utopia Parkway is much better, though the debut's singles are superior to Utopia's singles.

I distinctly recall them being good fun the one time I saw them live too. They had a cheerleader.

"radiation vibe" is an incredible song. the rest of the album is cool enough, but nothing can quite match that one. didn't he write "that thing you do" for the tom hanks film?

The design art for the new album is possibly my favourite album cover since "Beautiful Freak":

http://www.fountainsofwayne.com/fow.jpg

The actual "Fountains of Wayne" store is featured in an episode of The Sopranos, fact fans. It's where the black guy Tony gets fired from being a cop ends up working.

As for why they're great... quite simply, they just make such sublime, enjoyable, pure pop music, not pop as in the "made entirely from sugar" sense, but pop in just this form of "We can't do anything BUT make music" way. They're also the pussiest band ever, which you've got to love them for.

"Utopia Parkway" is better than the debut album, IMO, but "Leave The Biker" is the second finest thing they've ever done (behind their cover of "Today's Teardrops" by... Gene Pitney was it?)

Oh yeah, classic classic classic. CLASSIC.

"Will you stop pretending I've never been born/Now I look a little more like that guy from KoRn?"

and that cover-design is indeed superb.

Because the new album is out now! And it's great! Nowhere near as good as Utopia Parkway, but really, what is?

Stacy's Mom is adorable. Download it now. Or buy the album, if anyone still does that.

RIP original Fountains Of Wayne
http://hometowntales.blogspot.com/2009/06/fountains-of-wayne.html

...But their name lives on!

Hearing good things about the new one. Anyone heard it?

Had no idea they had a new one coming, tbh. I liked Traffic and Weather alright I guess, but it also felt like the first time the band was kind of spinning their wheels.

Listened to two thirds of it. It's much more sedate: none of the huge choruses; none of the big guitars.

It seems to follow the same pattern as the last few for me - the first listen seems very underwhelming, but by the second or third listen everything is clicking into place. Another winner, at least for me.

I'm thinking I should reassess Traffic and Weather, since I probably only listened to it once.

Traffic and Weather is where I jumped ship (and I purchased and sat through that b-sides collection they released)

Traffic and weather was exactly the same for me - underwhelming. If nothing starts clicking after three listens then you can probably safely continue to ignore it but it took about that long to reveal itself to me. Same with the new one.

yeah I only gave Traffic and Weather a couple of listens. Liked 'someone to love' as a lead single but nothing really struck me too much. Might reassess. Where can one hear the new one?

Traffic and Weather was a bit of a letdown after the stellar Welcome Interstate Managers. I have high hopes for this one.

This one is better than Traffic and Weather, which seemed very by numbers, and where the lack of empathy for the subjects was very offputting - but had one killer song in I-95. They seem to have done a Teenage Fanclub - reached the point in their career where they can't be bothered to write rockers anymore. This one's almost entirely mid-tempo and understated, and the guitars never crunch: the dominant texture is acoustic guitar overlaid with muted electric. It's got a lot more in common with Crowded House than Cheap Trick. There's another meta-song where Collingwood explains that he's writing the song for someone, but it's not as good as Valley Winter Song. There are several songs that make reference to consumer goods and the year they were made. I'm not sure yet whether to feel disappointed

I think I probably liked Traffic and Weather a lot more than most other people but admittedly Welcome Interstate Managers was a higher mark that Traffic would have struggled to reach no matter what. If anything bugged me about Traffic, it's probably that it seemed to be trying too hard to go for yuk yuks (title track, "Strapped for Cash") and some of the good stuff didn't seem to stand so high because of it ("Michael and Heather at the Baggage Claim", "Hotel Majestic"). That's not so big a problem here.

The lack of blazing guitars here doesn't bug me so much - that's not really what drew me to them in the first place, though I never complained when they went there. "Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart" and "A Dip in the Ocean" from the new one are probably the ones with the loudest guitars and yeah, they're definitely not overpowering. It's okay by me.

I strongly support buzzy FoW over ballady FoW so I'm concerned about this, but will loyally buy it.

I always thought FoW would be so good at pop writing especially for the Kelly Clarkson and Pink pop rock types. Although maybe their revelry in the mundane isn't aspirational enough for that kind of thing.

Heh, yeah, was saying elsewhere that I think their songs would lend themselves better to covers by country artists.

On first listen, I'm impressed with "Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart", "A Dip in the Ocean", "A Road Song" (though kind of paint by numbers), "Workingman's Hands" (not quite "Hung Up on You" but nice slide guitar), and "The Summer Place". "Richie and Ruben" is seriously distressing, as is to a lesser extent "Acela". The slice of life vignettes are a key part of FOW's songwriting but they work better with "he" or "she" subjects that allow listeners to filter their own experiences through the story. Desmond and Molly/proper noun tracks about specific people or well-known things just don't work because the music stops doing the talking and the stories tend to be clunky and strange. "Hate to See You Like This" and "Radio Bar" could be growers.

I continue to find it interesting that they have dabbled so enthusiastically in hypercompression and vocal processing. This obviously isn't new ("Maureen" was the first time I noticed the loudness war, before I knew what the term even meant) but still unfortunate when the melodies and vocals don't need any extra help. Brendan Benson did the same thing on his latest album, usually to negative effect. "Radiation Vibe" and "Survival Car" sound so organic and, well, REAL by comparison. "Firelight Waltz" verges on Rascal Flatts territory.

I'm almost hearing more Owsley (circa his self-titled album) than Fountains of Wayne in a lot of these tracks.

I don't think there's any more need to discuss this album: the Jersey Journal has had its say.

http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2011/07/melodic_witty_songs_on_fountai.html

This should perhaps be in the worst music writing thread.

First album classic, second great, third meh, 4th a smarm-fest - this: meh.

Gamemaster1015 July 21, 2011 at 4:46PM

Power pop? Is that really a music genre?

Hawaii 5-0? WTF??

Live perf / interview on WFMU momentarily

http://wfmu.org/upcoming#9934

I want to live in this alternate universe where "Red Dragon Tattoo" is played on the radio.

Richie and Ruben sucks live as well...not sure why they are leading with this track. I Hate to See You Like This is a good second song though.

Halfway in, liking this much better than Traffic and Weather.

Nothing is as bad as Traffic And Weather....

This is is their best since Utopia Parkway, which admittedly isn't saying much, though it's a huge improvement

That's twice you've made this somewhat baffling assertion that Welcome Interstate Managers isn't all that good. I mean I like Utopia Parkway just fine but still surprised that you find it better than WIM...what was it about it you found so "meh"? Honestly curious here.

Me too. Some days, WIM is my favorite. So many great songs.

Mexican Wine / Bright Future in Sales / Stacy's Mom might be the best consecutive run of three songs in their whole catalogue, but after that WiM drops off steeply for me -- but again this may just be becaue their ballads and country pastiches don't do it for me.

I think I prefer "California Sex Lawyer" to anything on Traffic and Weather.

they'll never touch the debut IMO, it's the only one that's not just listenable but great, front-to-back. then again I prefer the comparatively "lo-fi" two-member recording style.

WIM does have four or five great songs though.

That's twice you've made this somewhat baffling assertion that Welcome Interstate Managers isn't all that good. I mean I like Utopia Parkway just fine but still surprised that you find it better than WIM...what was it about it you found so "meh"? Honestly curious here.

Well, I did one of the occasional attempts at a Welcome Interstate Managers reassessment this afternoon and I have to report I remain unconvinced there's a single great song on there. 'Mexican Wine' and 'Halley's Waitress' come closest, though'. For me, the level of uninteresting acoustic cheese songs is way, way too high and the upbeat stuff - well, there's hardly any of it. 'Bright Future In Sales' and 'Mexican Wine' are OK for cheesy, semi-ironic rawk value... 'Hey Julie', 'Valley Winter Song' - I'm guessing a fan favourites here - are just dull. 'Fire Island', 'Peace And Love' and 'Supercollider' are just flat-out dreadful, the latter appearing to be a bewildering homage to 'Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants'-era Oasis. The recurring businessman lyrical theme is uninteresting, these and the other characters don't present themselves as people captivating enough to be cared about, which seems kind of important for what I'm guessing FoW wish to achieve.

I'm yet to revisit what I remember as the appalling Traffic And Weather, but I'm pleased to say the new album has the pre-WIM spark back and sounds more like the logical follow-up to 'Utopia Parkway', which sags towards the end like all of their albums except for the debut, though was otherwise a pretty great album.

Mexican Wine / Bright Future in Sales / Stacy's Mom might be the best consecutive run of three songs in their whole catalogue, but after that WiM drops off steeply for me

B-b-but..."Hey Julie" and "Hackensack!"

"Valley Winter Song" is all time.

The new album is kind of great. Not reallly "meh" until near the end. I'm lovin it!!!!

sorry to come in with the 'prefer the early stuff' but never heard anything as good as Radiation Vibe...just sounds effortless

They are on Letterman tonight (also featuring Louis CK!)

never heard anything as good as Radiation Vibe

to me this is so obviously correct that it doesn't detract from the rest of what they did, it's no more "prefer the early stuff" than saying violent femmes never equalled "blister in the sun"

First time watching Letterman in like ten years but I happen to be in front of the TV and the Louise / FoW doubleshot is too good to pass up for Golden Girls reruns tonight

They were good! They came across a lot more 'stylish' than I expected (even if that style was 'ironic detachment'), and I came away liking that "Dip In The Ocean" song more than I did initially, so, success.

Kirstie Alley is insufferable.

Louie was good.

As far as early FOW goes, "Leave the Biker" > "Radiation Vibe." Just sayin'.

You don't have to fuck anything if you disagree, though.

I'm a "Survival Car" guy, myself.

Just found out that "A Road Song" from their new album has also been covered by America of all bands, on their new covers album. Huh!

"Survival Car" is great! Maybe we should poll the album, there are a ton of little gems on there.

FoW albums ranking
1 Debut
2 WiM
3 The new one
4 Utopia Parkway

5 Traffic and Weather

Can't argue with that too much except to say that 1 and 2 positions are probably changed for me most of the time.

1 Debut
2 Utopia Parkway
3 The new one

enormous drop-off

4 Welcome Interstate Managers
5 Andrew Ridgely's 'Son Of Albert'
6 Traffic And Weather

to me this is so obviously correct that it doesn't detract from the rest of what they did, it's no more "prefer the early stuff" than saying violent femmes never equalled "blister in the sun"

Mudhoney to thread

lol at the Andrew Ridgely

B-b-but..."Hey Julie" and "Hackensack!"

Fer crying out loud people! What about their unquestioned masterpiece, No Better Place? Their best evah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, the WIM hate on here is bananas.

Data point: downloaded the album last night, went to bed, woke up feeling kinda miserable, ate breakfast, started playing new album. Instantly felt less miserable!

Also, WIM is jam-packed with hits.

This new is actually pretty good, I can see myself returning to it a lot more than Traffic and Weather.

All the talk about the mellowness of much of the new one has me hesitant to even listen, even if it supposedly better than the last one. But probably will

It's more of a grower than any of their others (I know that's a weird word to use when describing a power pop band known for instantly likable hits), but worth the effort I think. About a million times better than Traffic and Weather. I'm really enjoying this new one.

They're alternating electronic and acoustic shows on their current US tour (or at least the DC area gigs offer 1 of each)

Electronic?? What have you done with my Fountains of Wayne? (Guessing you mean electric, but if they've gone the full-Mould, it could be...interesting?)

ha

At the time it seemed good, but there's a smarminess to Traffic and Weather that's hard to identify until you hear it alongside the other albums--something in the production is really off and the Desmond & Molly-itis is almost unbearable at times. I think the debut is missing some polish but I can see why people prefer it to their later stuff. IMO the highs aren't as high as on WIM or Utopia.

1. WIM
2. Utopia Parkway
...
3. s/t
....
4. Traffic & Weather

My back of the envelope 1-CD greatest hits would have 4 from FOW and T&W, 5 from Utopia, 8 from WIM, and Maureen. The new one will probably slot in at #4 ahead of T&W. I've listened it to it 9-10 times already and it's holding up. The shirt they give you with the Yep Roc package is also nice.

OK, I take back what I said about "Richie and Ruben". That is some catchy shit.

The Summer Place, Richie & Ruben, Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart and A Drop In The Ocean = great new FoW songs.

I like this more every time I hear it. The only one I'm not sold on right now is "Radio Bar." Think it's the sax.

My wife doesn't understand why I like this band, btw.

I also just realized how much this band reminds me of Grandaddy circa Sumday. "El Caminos In The West" could have been a FoW tune. Anyone ever make this connection?

Gotta say I've never made the connection to Grandaddy, but I have made the connection from both of them to Electric Light Orchestra so there's probably something in that!

I love this record.

Me too. Weirdly, something of a grower, but I find myself passing over, cooler, more recently acquired other things to hear it when I'm driving. I like every song except "Radio Bar" (still not sold on that one).

I chose walking in the sunshine to give this a first listen, and it worked alright, but I'm still not pulled in. I have a feeling that at some point in the future, I'll put it on and it will click, because I can tell that's it pretty solid even if I'm not yet overly-enthused. But the summer season is waning and I feel I need to act right now.

"summer place" was in my head today.

Thought this would be about Hurricane Irene flooding.

We're having a rough time here in NJ. Take a look at Wayne's Willowbrook Mall, just about a mile from what once was the actual Fountains of Wayne store....

http://media.northjersey.com/images/0830a_a3willowbrook.jpg

http://media.northjersey.com/images/0830a_a3willowbrook.jpg

Back to the record, this is quickly becoming my #2 Fountains of Wayne record, right behind Welcome Interstate Managers. It's so much better than Traffic and Weather.

Your second sentence is definitely true, but I can't imagine ranking WIM over either of the first two.

I think I'm with kornrulez

Maybe its nostalgia and all the hours I spent with the first two albums in college as an antidote to all the awful music my roommates were playing at the time, but I think those first two are pretty much perfect power pop albums. I'd rank 'em as:

Fountains of Wayne
Utopia Parkway
Welcome Interstate Managers
Sky Full of Holes (although, with time, I think this may climb to #3)
Traffic and Weatehr (definitely their worst)

I like this new record quite a bit after a couple of listens but unlike their other three good albums, I can't get into it TOO much because there's one song ("Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart") that is so far ahead of the other songs, it's absolutely perfect, maybe the best song they've done since the second album, so the other songs haven't had a fair hearing from me. Might listen to it front to back while skipping that one...

jon OTM. First album is just classic after classic. Traffic and Weather was, I think, them trying too hard to be Steely Dan for middlebrow people, but mostly failed. (Although "Someone To Love" is still great.)

Yeah, a lot of enjoyable but imperfect tracks on the new one. Even "Someone" has a repeat or two too many. Better than traffic and weather which is full some superficially well written songs that are just not that fun to listen to.

I agree that track is the obvious standout though.

Xgau's certainly given them a lot of coverage lately (given his word limit). I dunno, they seem better as singles artists to me.

Just scored their catalogue up through & including Out of State Plates for $6 at a library sale.

"Welcome Interstate Managers" owns

Yes. I love that record.

when I was 14 I was silly and didn't care for "Halley's Waitress" or "Hung Up on You", but I can't really blame myself for being young

Word on the internet street is that Adam Schlesinger has been placed in a medically induced coma as he's treated for COVID-19. Press isn't reporting it yet, but apparently known friends of his have confirmed it.

Hope it's a lie tbh, but also hope he beats it if it's not.

Fuck

Jesus christ

Not in a coma: https://variety.com/2020/music/news/adam-schlesinger-coronavirus-coma-fountains-of-wayne-emmy-winner-1203549825/

well that's...probably good news at least

never seen his credits listed all together before, between all his projects dude has written a frankly ridiculous number of great songs

https://variety.com/2020/music/news/adam-schlesinger-coronavirus-dead-dies-1203552130/

Fuck. Only source I'm seeing so far, but Variety says he died. Hopefully this is proven wrong or premature, damn.

Hell.

local station played radiation vibe the other night as a get well, such a great song, one of the great alt rock songs

Confirmed by Rolling Stone now too, dammit this one stings a lot. Been a fan since catching "Radiation Vibe" on 120 Minutes or something way back when, don't think they ever released a bad album. Also dug that Tinted Windows power-pop confab way more than I would have expected.

Fuck COVID-19.

RIP. The sound of my tweens.

wow

Holy shit... RIP.

Everything's ruined, indeed.

very shocking. this virus does not only hit the elderly or those with (known) pre-existing conditions.

I had no idea he wrote songs for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend too, maybe I need to bump that higher on my to-watch list.

Been a fan since catching "Radiation Vibe" on 120 Minutes or something way back when

Same. I bought the cd as soon as I could get to the store, and it remains one of the most perfect songs of the 90s.

RIP Adam

saw Ivy and FoW play many times

Fucking hell, this sucks

jesus damn RIP

huge Apartment Life fan

ugh :(((((((

Crazy Ex GF had some great songs.

bad time to ask this, probably, but do hardcore FoW fans know there are Adam songs and Chris songs, like Teenage Fanclub or something like that? or are they all pretty much collaborations that sound like FoW?

"That Thing You Do" has got to be one of the most convincing songs ever written for a film, also.

Never actually checked out Ivy, I'll have to rectify that.

horrible. he was so talented. he and rachel bloom were collaborating again, on a musical adaptation of THE NANNY.

also i think i’ve mentioned this but “stacy’s mom” is an enduring party song at the college where i teach, like second only to “mr. brightside.”

Had forgotten he produced and wrote for the most recent Monkees albums.

Utopia Parkway is classic start to finish. Soundtrack to 1999-2000 for me. Geez I remember standing a Border’s listening station listening to “Radiation Vibe” over and over. So talented.

I didn't know that!

Two personal stories. One, my friend and I were almost signed to a vanity label of his, way back when. Two, years ago I interviewed him and asked him about his experience in the original "The Real World" season on MTV (he was in someone's band. Becky?). He got really quiet, then, almost accusatory, asked me how I knew that. I told him I actually recognized him when it was shown as a rerun a couple of years later, since I was a fan of Ivy and Fountains of Wayne and ergo one of the few at the time who would know Adam Schlesinger, from, well, Adam. He got quiet again, thrown off by the fact that a seemingly "gotcha" question was actually based in my fandom. Then he just politely asked that I not put that information in the story, so I didn't.

xpost Re: Monkees, sorry.

I have a subway car to myself so I'm playing FoW jams and singing along really loud.

Why does my daughter know "Stacy's Mom"?

xxp just looked that up -- it was Becky's band: https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1997-05-14-9705140080-story.html

Josh I guess it’s permanent youth culture now, it’s interesting to find these things. Apparently Linkin Park is in this category.

This really sucks.

RE: The songwriting - I saw a detailed post that someone made on a (official?) FoW forum a few years ago that broke down the songwriting - I remember it being either solo Chris or Adam songs pretty much all the way. Not sure what the source of it was, but it seems credible.

I think it has done now, but I remember Radiation Vibe, Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart, Leave The Biker being solo Chris songs. I think Stacey's Mom and of course Everything's Ruines were Adam ones. Memory not too reliable otherwise.

*gone now

man this sucks. my fav FOW song seems prescient atm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFUAG_1775U

wow sorry to hear this, Apartment Life is a really great pop record imo.

I didn't really keep up with them later in their career, but I listened to Utopia Parkway quite a bit at the time (""Troubled Times" being my fave) and I was always pleased when I saw that Adam was getting good work in Hollywood. RIP.

Is there a good breakdown anywhere of who wrote what in FoW? I can only find "written by" credits that attribute all songs to both.

I said a few posts ago, there did used to be one on an old FoW message board, but I think it has long gone. Someone on a Facebook group may have it, though.

That debut album was just perfect, really. Head and shoulders above so much of the other major label alt power pop of the era. Although not quite on the same level, Utopia Parkway was an excellent follow-up. They lost me for a bit by Sky Full Of Holes brought it back, for me anyway. Now to finally investigate Ivy.

*but. tired emotional etc

One thing I remember is that Traffic & Weather is mainly Adam songs, while it is back to being more balanced on the last album

The first three albums are some of my favorites of all time.

One thing I remember is that Traffic & Weather is mainly Adam songs, while it is back to being more balanced on the last album

That's mentioned on the Wiki page; Chris was struggling with alcoholism at the time. But still no song breakdown.

It took his passing for me to realise that so many songs I've loved from TV and film were written by him.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend definitely has some classics, and also shout out to Way Back Into Love from Music and Lyrics.

Goddamn you coronavirus. Why didn’t you take a politician instead?

I interviewed the two of them a number of times, and ran into them very often in the late 90s/ early 00s in NYC;… they did not say so specifically when I talked to them, but it is clear to me that the more humorously inclined tunes were his and the more heart on sleeve offerings were Chris's… I think they had a VERY bad breakup, as the final record which I've never heard was allegedly tortuous to produce…

I think the more overtly character-based songs are nearly always Adam's.

Chris tweeted about Adam's condition just yesterday. I hope they were able to patch things up in recent times.

Also somehow missed that Schlesinger co-composed the score to Damsels In Distress!

Sky Full Of Holes is their third best album for me, easily. Was so pleased with it when it was released. Revisiting all of these is going to be strange.

Gonna assume "Haley's Waitress" is an Adam tune. Always loved how the lovely vocal bridge only shows up once.

Anyone else like Ivy? I love the first two records and EP.

me!

List I have kept of who wrote what.

92 Subaru Adam Schlesinger
A Dip In The Ocean Chris Collingwood
A Fine Day for a Parade Chris Collingwood
A Road Song Adam Schlesinger
Acela Adam Schlesinger
Action Hero Adam Schlesinger
All Kinds of Time Adam Schlesinger
Amity Gardens Chris Collingwood
Baby One More Time Max Martin
Barbara H. Chris Collingwood
Better Things Ray Davies
Bought for a Song Chris Collingwood
Bright Future in Sales Adam Schlesinger
Bus Stop Graham Gouldman
Can't Get It Out of My Head Jeff Lynne
Cemetary Guns Chris Collingwood
Chanukah Under the Stars Adam Schelsinger
Cold Comfort Flowers Chris Collingwood
Cry One Tear Chris Collingwood
Denise Adam Schlesinger
Everything's Ruined Adam Schlesinger
Fire In The Canyon Chris Collingwood
Fire Island Adam Schlesinger
Firelight Waltz Chris Collingwood
Go, Hippie Chris Collingwood
Hackensack Adam Schlesinger
Halley's Waitress Adam Schlesinger
Hat and Feet Adam Schlesinger
Hate To See You Like This Adam Schlesinger
Help! John Lennon/Paul McCartney
Hey Julie Adam Schlesinger
Hotel Majestic Chris Collingwood
Hung Up on You Chris Collingwood
I-95 Adam Schlesinger
I Know You Well Chris Collingwood
I'll Do the Driving Chris Collingwood
I Want an Alien for Christmas Adam Schlesinger
I Want You Around Chris Collingwood
Imperia Chris Collingwood
It Must be Summer Adam Schlesinger
I've Got a Flair Adam Schlesinger
Janice's Party Chris Collingwood
Joe Rey Chris Collingwood
Kid Gloves Chris Collingwood
Killermont Street Roddy Frame
Laser Show Adam Schlesinger
Leave the Biker Chris Collingwood
Little Red Light Adam Schlesinger
Lost in Space Adam Schlesinger
Maureen Adam Schlesinger
Mexican Wine Adam Schlesinger
Michael and Heather At The Baggage Claim Adam Schlesinger
New Routine Adam Schlesinger
Nightlight Adam Schlesinger
Peace and Love Adam Schlesinger
Places Chris Collingwood
Planet Of Weed Adam Schlesinger
Please Don't Rock Me Tonight Chris Collingwood
Prom Theme Adam Schlesinger
Radiation Vibe Chris Collingwood
Radio Bar Adam Schlesinger
Red Dragon Tattoo Chris Collingwood
Revolving Dora Adam Schlesinger
Richie and Reuben Adam Schlesinger
Seatbacks and Traytables Chris Collingwood
Sense Into You Adam Schlesinger
She's Got a Problem Adam Schlesinger
Sick Day Adam Schlesinger/Chris Collingwood
Sink to the Bottom Adam Schlesinger
Small Favors Chris Collingwood
Someone To Love Adam Schlesinger
Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart Chris Collingwood
Song Of The Passaic W: John Alleyne Macnab M: Adam Schlesinger
Stacy's Mom Adam Schlesinger
Strapped For Cash Adam Schlesinger
Supercollider Chris Collingwood
Survival Car Chris Collingwood
The Girl I Can't Forget Adam Schlesinger
The Man in the Santa Suit Chris Collingwood
The Senator's Daughter Adam Schlesinger
The Story In Your Eyes Justin Hayward
The Summer Place Adam Schlesinger
The Valley of Malls Chris Collingwood
These Days Jackson Browne
This Better Be Good Adam Schlesinger
Today's Teardrops Gene Pitney/Aaron Schroeder
Traffic and Weather Adam Schlesinger
Trains and Boats and Planes Burt Bacharach/Hal David
Troubled Times Chris Collingwood
Utopia Parkway Adam Schlesinger
Valley Winter Song Chris Collingwood
Workingman's Hands Chris Collingwood
Yolanda Hayes Adam Schlesinger
You Curse at Girls Adam Schlesinger

(From a Facebook fan group)

What a body of work for both of them though. What a loss.

Their Baby One More Time is something else

what a terrible loss. writing a song that makes "that thing you do" work as a movie is a significant achievement on top of everything else he did as a working musician.

May his memory be a blessing.

his marriage to his ex-wife was covered in Vows, what a time capsule https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/14/style/vows-katherine-michel-adam-schlesinger.html

Nice that maybe my absolute fave ("sick day") is one of the few co-writes.

Most of those not too surprising except Collingwood doing Hung Up on You and A Fine Day for a Parade.

Anyone else like Ivy? I love the first two records and EP.

Over here IVY

RIP. The sound of my tweens.

― coco vide (pomenitul), Thursday, April 2, 2020 12:39 AM (ten hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Fuck, this very much. RIP.

Haven't posted in a minute but ilx was the first place I wanted to come when I heard. This is heartbreaking. RIP

Good reminder of how crazy prolific here was here:

https://music.avclub.com/adam-schlesinger-and-fountains-of-wayne-were-so-much-mo-1842627923

And how he basically had multiple shots at going for the EGOT.

it is so so dumb that "TTYD" lost Best Original Song

Funny bit in what I just posted:

“I was up against Andrew Lloyd Webber and Diane Warren. You know, all my peers, basically,” Schlesinger said in that 2001 interview of losing the 1997 Oscar to Lloyd Webber for Evita’s “You Must Love Me.” “It was funny, because Diane Warren was sitting right in front of me, and she writes these really sappy love ballads, but her personality does not fit her music. When he won, she was like, ‘That piece of shit won?’”

Nice post by Sarah Silverman, apparently they were very close and working on a musical together

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-ewvzUAfyf/?igshid=1ntfv4wnvihdj

This morning I was watching this video of Adam and Mike Viola performing "That Thing You Do" and felt myself close to tears. I just can't believe this.

Considering he's one degree away from Superdrag and Nicki Minaj, I suspect "six degrees of Adam Schlesinger" would shame Kevin Bacon.

If you are interested, Maron moved his 2012 talk with Adam out from behind the paywall. It's actually a pretty good talk.

i'm listening to it, it's very nice. what a balanced sounding, kind fellow he seems. his persona is slightly less gruff than i'd guessed at. i had no basis for my guess, just like...pictures i guess? i just learned brian young was in the posies for a while. i was surprised, and i also learned now he's drumming for jesus and mary chain.

the quick ween commentary was a minor but wild side note to me.

Sad he lost the Oscar and Golden Globe to that incredibly dull song from Evita. That Thing You Do was a great song that needed to sound credible for the whole movie to even exist.

otmfm, and which is sort of easy to never even consider (since the song is exactly what it is). what would that movie even be if the song sucked? i mean, the alt take would be for it to be obviously horrible, i guess?

i still love the "oneders" joke.

Me too. I love the movie.

Every so often if I'm in a brainstorming session I'll randomly say "I keep backing back to the Heardsman"

If you are interested, Maron moved his 2012 talk with Adam out from behind the paywall. It's actually a pretty good talk.

http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/repost-adam-schlesinger-from-2012

Driving to the valley of POLLS: Fountains of Wayne's UTOPIA PARKWAY (An Adam Schlesinger memorial poll)

Is it Adam singing on Everything's Ruined? I always pictured that but never had that confirmed. It could have been the friend who taped me their debut told me so, but that was about 23 years ago so can't remember at this stage.

"From the night I can't remember / with the girl I can't forget" seems like such an obvious couplet and yet they wrote a perfect song around it and no one else did.

Many xp, Brian Young was the drummer on "Amazing Disgrace," my absolute favorite Posies album. Joe Skyward was the other half of the rhythm section for that one, and when I saw them live the power knocked my socks off.

Carl Wilson on Adam

"From the night I can't remember / with the girl I can't forget" seems like such an obvious couplet and yet they wrote a perfect song around it and no one else did.

Did this predate the Magnetic Fields song with a similar conceit?

always got them confused with ben folds five...

Can't get my head around this

Robbie Fulks on Adam:

https://www.talkhouse.com/heres-how-adam-schlesinger-did-that-thing-he-did/?fbclid=IwAR1WJ6tDHwrfP-nelFDaxeQldWP7LPdAqU3SxStMWmrb-lM1v8A21W31pfI

Xpost that Magnetic Fields tune was released first. The Girl I Can’t Forget came out a few years later on Out of State Plates.

CC on Adam:
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/adam-schlesinger-fountains-of-wayne-chris-collingwood-980798/

He viewed himself as a craftsman and not an artist, a word he considered pretentious. He worked diligently every day, even when he didn’t feel like it, which is true of a lot of successful people, and probably the greatest single difference between us.

lol that RS photo makes each member of the band look stoned on a different drug.

What a great interview. Reminds me a lot of Forster's account of Grant McLennan, except that Adam was really technically proficient.

Yeah

Very nice tribute. Does anyone know what their falling out was all about?

Artistic differences?

i read something in the last few days where Collingwood basically said he checked out during the making of Sky Full of Holes (drugs/alcohol-related, maybe? or maybe he just wasn't into it) and that forced Schlesinger to take over to keep the ship moving. and then once Collingwood was in a better place and tried to return - I'm paraphrasing here - "it was hard to go from him leading back to a 50/50 situation". i think that was the main reason for their separation ... if they truly fought, i'd guess it grew out of that as opposed to artistic differences or whatever.

i wish i could remember where i saw that, maybe someone else will know.

COLLINGWOOD: Well, the - you know, the struggles with alcohol were over in 2006 or so. And Fountains of Wayne was recording long after that. So it hasn't been an issue for several years. It was related to, I think, what eventually caused the demise of Fountains of Wayne in that when we were recording the record before the last Fountains of Wayne record, which was called "Traffic And Weather," I didn't really have a whole lot to contribute to that album. I was out to lunch a little bit, mentally, and just drinking too much.

And I think that the fact that I sort of removed myself from the process at that point made it really easier for Adam to take over. And when I was ready to actually make another album, you know, several years later after I'd sort of cleaned up my act, it was very difficult. It was very, very hard to get back into the position where we were equals.

https://www.npr.org/2016/07/24/487237229/fountains-of-wayne-s-chris-collingwood-returns-with-new-project-look-park

re: Sky full of holes

“Adam and I just fought constantly making that record,” he says. “We stopped making that record in the middle of making that record to try to work out a whole bunch of things that were going on between us. We saw a psychiatrist and tried to work things out. ”

In the end, they reached an agreement to finish the album, tour a bit behind it, and then go their ways.

https://veermag.com/2016/10/life-after-fountains-of-wayne/

and…

AS: I don’t know if Chris wants to do it anymore. Getting the last FoW record finished and out in the world was sort of a nightmare, frankly. If we can find a way to work together and have fun and be creative again and not have it be miserable, I’m totally into it. But I’m too old to have band fights.

CC: I like Sky Full of Holes quite a lot, but it was no fun to make. There were two different writers with two increasingly different visions, and we spent more time fighting than recording. I try never to say never, but it’s staggering to think of everything that would have to happen for me to want to repeat that experience.

https://louderthanwar.com/interview-fountains-wayne/

xpost i had the timeline wrong, but that's it - thank you vm

Listened to UP and Traffic and Weather this am as I was making Easter brunch. The latter was a mainstay in my car CD player after it came out. It’s obviously not on the level of its two predecessors and has fewer classics. But it holds up better than I remember and that the circumstances surrounding its recording would suggest.

Yolanda Hayes for the sneaky win here.

https://youtu.be/R3CfvtjZgog

^ Squeeze's Glenn Tilbrook's new cover of Hackensack

Hackensack is the best FoW song.
(also, Glenn Tilbrook is one of my all-time favorite songwriters, but this cover is a bit limp -- dude *is* in his 60's after all)

https://youtu.be/m9p8t4Q_MX4?t=185 him doing Red Dragon Tattoo in 2003

That's more like it -- back in 2003, Glenn still had the juice (I think i saw that solo tour)

Hackensack w/ Sharon Von Etten:
https://streamable.com/ph4a0c?fbclid=IwAR2WBl1GylprtMdOF9WnS_XXax_yX9fVtX_Sz94FYeTE3fo_RfY2Qpzcj_w

Nice.

Watched Josie and the Pussycats with the kids tonight. Of course Adam is all over the soundtrack, but I've always thought this one by him was a career power-pop highpoint:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fzv-dbiJMM

yes!!!

crossposting w/ the emo thread, only up to the Silverman/Ben Lee "Way Back Into Love" but this is really nice so far

https://fatherdaughterrecords.bandcamp.com/album/saving-for-a-custom-van

Hmm
https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:v3nehlkrb5rra3vfkkzgeoz2/bafkreieprjgn6gjm564lkho4kz4bvrz5zjx2w3oj22cahmamb4y2kvgeqq@jpeg

Apparently playing at Summerfest in Milwaukee with this lineup.

I love how Summerfest lineups are one-part A-list and two-parts state fair.

Just saw they're playing a festival in Ocean City as well.