It was just announced on the news here (in LA) that Adam Schlesinger, of Fountains of Wayne and ‘That Thing You Do’ fame has died as a result of the Corona virus. I’m gutted.
Adam Schlesinger RIP
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Likewise…there was a nice tribute on Twitter by Jude Rogers. I hadn’t realised he was the same age as me.
That is very sad news, especially as he was only 52.
As part of Fountains Of Wayne, he has given me a lot of pleasure over the last 20 years. I also enjoyed his synth pop sensibilities in the band Ivy. Amazing knack for writing catchy but original songs.
Sadly, I suspect more musicians will follow him before this virus passes.
As far as I’m concerned, FoW were the finest pop band of the past 25 years. Despite the falling out, I held out hopes they would pull together another batch of songs. I’m very sad.
I totally agree, John.
FOW’s catalogue is absurdly high in quality and consistency.
I’ve been a fan since a certain D. Baker Esq. first played ‘Radiation Vibe’ on GLR sometime in 90s, & I bought all their stuff upon release from then on.
Calling them ‘Powerpop’ or ‘like The Cars’ does them a major disservice – they managed to produce instant toe-tappers & growers, wistful ballads and tremendous observations in their songs.
Unlike any other band I can think of, I generally reckon each album got progressively better, despite the fact that on a first listen I always felt they hadn’t quite matched their previous offering.
Hardly more than 2 or 3 days go by without me playing them and my kids know all the words to all their songs despite having developed very different musical tastes .
FOW were one of the few outfits played in the family car that everybody could agree to listen to.
I’m deeply saddened by the news, having held out some hope of more music in the future. Thoughts are with his loved ones & the other band members.
Whenever I realise its FoW-time I always struggle to pick one album (it’s rarely a single track). Often, just to span the years, I end up playing the ‘Out of State Plates’ compilation which is at least 50% stuff that apparently wasn’t good enough to get on the albums… and it’s a double CD!!
Let’s not forget the excellent (presumably final) Monkees album from a few years that AS had a big hand in as well.
Totally agree about ‘Out of State Plates’ – it’s jammed with top notch material.
It is indeed – a mark of a great band, I think. Another example would be Super Black Market Clash.
I only found out he was ill last night when my wife told me. As Kjwilly says, we’re sadly going to be reading a lot of obituaries over the coming weeks/months.
A friend who is a senior nurse in a prominent London hospital left the shift today with two patients on ventilators on an open ward, being overseen by ITU nurses and says to take very good care of yourselves because it’s about to get a hell of a lot scarier very quickly. The clamour for new ventilators is one thing, but there are only a certain amount of nurses that are used to looking after ventilated patients. If we get to a stage where we have ITU nurses overseeing multiple patients on ventilators it is going to put them under an immense amount of pressure, so the government needs to do everything in its power to look after the NHS staff now, more than ever.
American jazz trumpeter Wallace Roney died of “complications arising from the Corona Virus” on the 31st. He was 57.
There are sure to be more.
Oh my. This is horrible news. I remember playing the first FoW album and someone asking if it was a greatest hits, such was the quality of the songwriting. I feel lucky I got to see them a few times and had hopes they might reform one day. Adam’s work for other acts (‘Work To Do’ by America, ‘That Thing You Do’ and ‘Kind of a Girl’ by Tinted Windows, for starters) are similarly catchy and identifiable. I can’t post links, but can highly recommend Sodajerker podcast’s interview with him. A hell of a songwriter, and by all accounts a funny, generous and kind feller. Rest in Peace Adam.
This is really sad and shocking. I absolutely loved those first few albums, and he was only a few years older than me.
Fountains of Wayne made quality records – a few more wouldn’t have gone amiss. Hackensack and this song were my favourites out of many great songs – a sad loss
One of the things I like about visiting New York (and environs) is that there are constant reminders of FoW on road signs. Fire Island is one of them.
This hit me hard this morning… I knew he was unwell, but the last update I had seen seemed positive enough.
Loved FoW right from Radiation Vibe. I think the first three records are great, and the other two are pretty good too. As mentioned above, even their B-sides compilation is a cracker.
Lucky enough to see them live a couple of times too, and apologies if you were standing beside me at those gigs as it’s very likely that I found it hard to resist singing along.
Will be listening to a lot of Schlesinger-related stuff over the next few days. RIP Adam, and thank you.
In tribute, possibly my favorite FoW song:
A brilliant band that turned out pitch perfect pop songs that are among the best ever written. The aforementioned Hackensaw is just the saddest song and Richie and Ruben another beautifully crafted skewering of social types but always done with a big heart. I don’t know exactly which songs Adam wrote but the FoW body of work is smallish and perfectly formed. What a loss to the songwriting world. Bless him.
FOW sound like they should be right up my boulevard but somehow they’ve pretty much passed me by. What should I start with?
I’d recommend starting right at the beginning with ‘Fountains of Wayne’ – it’s a cracking debut full of great tunes & their trademark super sharp lyrical observations.
If you don’t take to it, you’re not going to like the rest of their stuff, but the obverse is, that if you do, you’re in for a huge treat as their albums just get better and better.
Danny Baker ( a fan from their first singles), was fulsome in his praise for Adam S. & FOW and made the point that FOW are one of those rare outfits that are really hard to knock up a ‘best of mixtape compilation’ because of the quality of their songs. He’s right IMO, as they are catchy, witty, rocking, poppy & touching & it’s clear they actively love the discipline of constructing classic songwriting.
Without getting too gushing, they can also do genre takes so well ( Country for instance) that you can’t see the join.
Dive in, & I really hope you enjoy!
If you’re not immediately taken by the first album then it might be worth then working backwards. It’s hard to tell when you’ve bought the albums as they came out. but there’s stuff on the last album that could have been on the first one but also stuff that couldn’t possibly have been.
Just given them a go, not completely smitten if I’m honest but I think I preferred the debut over W.I.M.
Will give them another go though!
Play the debut 3 times and it is your friend for life. Listening to it now. Every song is my favourite track.
Message received and understood.
Welcome Interstate Managers is a joy…
Fuck, this is sad news. “I-95” is a great, great song, possibly my favourite of all their great, great songs.
Sad news. I saw them play at the Garage in Glasgow – they were absolutely thrilled to be able to tell us that they had been to Killermont Street that afternoon , and then played it as the encore.
All the albums are great – wry and funny and smart, packed full of tunes.
Lovely podcast here on songwriting with him : https://www.sodajerker.com/episode-58-adam-schlesinger/
Here is a moving tribute from Conan along with FOW doing a Kinks cover Better Thins
And here is a FOW Tiny Desk session.
I am another FOW virgin. I have heard a few songs that I have liked a lot. I’ve got a lot to explore.
I’m kicking myself that it took a tragic death to spur me into listening to this fine band.
I can only echo everyone’s thoughts on this the FOW albums have been staples for the past 20+ years I’m not sure as to which songs were Adam’s or Chris’ but the bar was set high in terms of quality.
Anyway here’s the three remaining FOW plus Sharren Van Etten on bass playing at yesterdays New Jersey Benefit concert.
Check out @IndieForBunnies’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/IndieForBunnies/status/1253242614725345281?s=09
Thanks for posting that NE1 , much appreciated.