Adam Schlesinger’s “That Thing You Do” is an amazing song, but don’t sleep on the fake Wham! Once again, our narrator is in love with someone who’s dating higher on the food chain — a biker with “crumbs in his beard from the seafood special.” And there’s, you guessed it, another winking Beatles rip at the end. It was nominated for best original song at the Academy Awards and at the Golden Globes. Here's a sampling of his work in rock, film, TV and more. (The timing of that pause shows a keen comic sense.) Hilarious, tragic. He won three Emmys, a Grammy, and the ASCAP Pop Music Award.He was nominated for an Oscar, Tony Award and Golden Globe for best original song in 1997.. His best known work was writing and co-producing the title song to That Thing You Do!. He received two Grammy Award nominations for “Stacy’s Big Star had three. As far as power-pop supergroups go, it doesn’t get much better than Tinted Windows, which brought Schlesinger together with Cheap Trick’s Bun E. Carlos, Taylor Hanson and James Iha. Keith Phipps. It’s a gorgeous acoustic ballad, with a winking reference to “I Want to Hold Your Hand” after the third chorus, and it sketches out some ideas that came to perfection later in “Troubled Times.”. Superdrag and Fountains of Wayne both specialized in well-crafted, out-of-time power-pop with smarts and humanity. Crucially, the film needed a great retro song that a) sounded credibly like a British Invasion-styled song from, specifically, the summer of 1964; b) was great enough to have been a hit; and c) could stand up to being heard over and over in the movie. And “Where’s the Bathroom,” a musical theater patter song for Rebecca’s awful mom, played by Tovah Feldshuh, is history’s greatest catalog of passive-aggressive behavior (“I see your eczema is back”). No one ever called FOW the voice of a generation, but no group wrote more songs about the economic tribulations and uncertainty of Gen X. “Red dragon tattoo is just about on me/I got it for you, so now do you want me?” the dim bulb pleads. Adam Schlesinger, who co-wrote over 150 songs for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, among many other film and TV songwriting credits, died this week of coronavirus complications. The song hit No. Available with an Apple Music subscription. The arrangement is dominated by a dulcet string arrangement for two violins and a cello. Adam Schlesinger, the co-founder of pop-rock band Fountains of Wayne and an Oscar-nominated songwriter, has died from complications related to coronavirus. Sung to a girl who’s with the wrong guy, by a guy who thinks he’s the right guy. The first song on the first Fountains of Wayne album is lightly adorned power pop that became richer on subsequent albums, while keeping the downtrodden, slightly resentful tone. In a perfect world, the bubblegum electro song “Tantalized” would’ve been a huge hit, as its snappy ’80s beats and sparkling keyboards rival those favored by iconic production svengalis Stock Aitken Waterman. The elegant pre-chorus is another indication of songwriting growth, and Collingwood brings the right amount of pathos and empathy to a lyric about a boy pining for a girl and imagining it will work out. Spencer Kornhaber Though Fountains of Wayne … “Utopia Parkway,” a midtempo harmony fest with a buzzing, distorted guitar line (they’ve also moved from Beatles references to nodding at the Cars), is narrated by a smug outer-borough wannabe with a custom van and a cover band who has never turned from boy to man and his baby doesn’t understand. Nearly as good, on the same album: “Lucy Doesn’t Love You.”. — Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) April 1, 2020 Everyone’s moving, no one’s content. “I Could if I Wanted To,” a loser’s self-deceiving lament from the same season, evokes second-level grunge ballads, and “What’ll It Be?” couldn’t love Billy Joel any more if it were married to him. They had one huge hit, “Stacy’s Mom,” but wrote dozens of funny or sympathetic songs about Gen X misfits, like an earthbound Beach Boys serenading the suburbs rather than the sea. Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger: 20 Essential Songs Read full article Jon Dolan, Brian Hiatt, Christian Hoard, Daniel Kreps, Angie Martoccio, Alan Sepinwall and Simon Vozick-Levinson Only S-Curve offered them a deal. Adam Lyons Schlesinger (October 31, 1967 – April 1, 2020) was an American songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. American band Ivy has recorded material for six studio albums, one extended play (EP), and for various compilation albums and soundtracks.Formed in 1994, the musical trio consists of Dominique Durand, Andy Chase, and Adam Schlesinger.After releasing the EP Lately with Seed Records in 1994, the band recorded their debut album, Realistic, which was released in 1995. Although his c.v. contains dozens and dozens of indelible songs, here are 11 moments that reveal he’s a power-pop master. Here’s a ringer: not a song by Schlesinger, but a hilarious song about him, by the alt-country loose cannon Robbie Fulks. It was written and named for a record executive they’d worked with and his wife. “He is irreplaceable.” Working again with Javerbaum, Schlesinger won a 2012 Emmy Award for writing the song “It’s Not Just for Gays Anymore,” performed by Neil Patrick Harris to open the Tony Awards telecast. Here at Rolling Stone, we’re all hoping that he makes a full recovery; according to Schlesinger’s lawyer, “the doctors are doing everything they can think of and they’re cautiously optimistic.”In the meantime, here are 20 reasons we love him, drawn from the many songs Schlesinger wrote, sang, produced, or performed on. Schlesinger produced and was a Wizard Of Oz-like background songwriting figure for Fever High, the synth-pop duo comprising Anna Nordeen and Reni Lane. He was 52. “I have so much to say about Adam Schlesinger that I am at a complete loss for words,” she tweeted Wednesday night. He played bass in Tinted Windows and wrote most of the songs, James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins played guitar, Taylor Hanson of Hanson sang and Cheap Trick’s Bun E. Carlos manned the drums. Superdrag and Fountains of Wayne song produced and was a Wizard of Oz-like background songwriting figure for Fever,! After news of his work in rock, film, TV and.. 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