A tribute album to Adam Schlesinger being released today on Bandcamp includes cover songs by two actors who collaborated with the late songwriter on projects, Rachel Bloom and Sarah Silverman, as well as contemporaries of Schlesinger’s from the rock world like Kay Hanley, Nada Surf and Tanya Donnelly.
“Saving for a Custom Van,” which takes its name from the title track of the essential Fountains of Wayne album “Utopia Parkway,” is a 31-track collection that covers the breadth of Schlesinger’s performing and songwriting career. Besides familiar FoW songs from the late ’90s and 2000s, the collection also includes songs from his six-season run as the core house writer for TV’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” the films “Music and Lyrics” and “That Thing You Do!,” and Schlesinger’s other long-standing band, Ivy. Even two of the songs he wrote for “Josie and the Pussycats” figure into the expansive track list.
“Saving for a Custom Van,” which takes its name from the title track of the essential Fountains of Wayne album “Utopia Parkway,” is a 31-track collection that covers the breadth of Schlesinger’s performing and songwriting career. Besides familiar FoW songs from the late ’90s and 2000s, the collection also includes songs from his six-season run as the core house writer for TV’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” the films “Music and Lyrics” and “That Thing You Do!,” and Schlesinger’s other long-standing band, Ivy. Even two of the songs he wrote for “Josie and the Pussycats” figure into the expansive track list.
- 6/16/2020
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Last week, the surviving members of Fountain of Wayne — Chris Collingwood, Jody Porter and Brian Young — performed their 2003 song “Hackensack” with Sharon Van Etten as a tribute to the band’s vocalist, bassist and songwriter Adam Schlesinger, who died last month due to complications from Covid-19.
It was the first time the band had performed together in over seven years and was part of the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund’s Jersey 4 Jersey benefit livestream.
On Friday, Fountains of Wayne released the new recording to Bandcamp, on the same day...
It was the first time the band had performed together in over seven years and was part of the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund’s Jersey 4 Jersey benefit livestream.
On Friday, Fountains of Wayne released the new recording to Bandcamp, on the same day...
- 5/1/2020
- by Claire Shaffer
- Rollingstone.com
As Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert both pointed out during Wednesday night’s powerful Jersey 4 Jersey benefit broadcast, the great, unfairly maligned state of New Jersey has taken repeated blows over the last couple of decades, including the death of more than 700 residents on 9/11, and $30 billion worth of damage from Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Now, the Jersey death toll from Covid-19 has reached 5,000, making it the second-hardest-hit state in the union. “I’m never more proud of this state than when we have our backs up against the wall,” Stewart said,...
- 4/23/2020
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
Fountains of Wayne reunited for their first live performance in seven years to remember Adam Schlesinger, their co-founding group member who died on April 1 due to complications from coronavirus. Musicians Chris Collingwood, Jody Porter, Brian Young and Sharon Van Etten were among dozens to participate in Wednesday's Jersey 4 Jersey concert special to benefit the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund. Late-night star Stephen Colbert introduced the group, remarking, "I was lucky enough to work with one of their founding members, longtime Montclair resident Adam Schlesinger, who tragically passed away from the coronavirus. Tonight the band is reuniting for Adam, and for New...
- 4/23/2020
- E! Online
Chris Collingwood met Adam Schlesinger in the mid-1980s, when they were both freshmen at Williams College. Over the next 25-plus years, they would be each other’s closest creative partners, forming the band Fountains of Wayne and recording five acclaimed albums of wise, witty music between 1996 and 2011. The work was truly collaborative; both of them wrote songs, and Collingwood sang them as the band’s lead vocalist.
After Schlesinger’s death at age 52 from coronavirus complications on April 1st, Collingwood shared his memories of his late friend in correspondence with Rolling Stone.
After Schlesinger’s death at age 52 from coronavirus complications on April 1st, Collingwood shared his memories of his late friend in correspondence with Rolling Stone.
- 4/10/2020
- by Simon Vozick-Levinson
- Rollingstone.com
When Adam Schlesinger developed symptoms of the coronavirus in mid-March, his friends thought he would pull through. A healthy 52-year-old, he’d been blessed all his life with both talent and luck. He was the most boundlessly energetic person any of them knew, with a career unlike any other indie songwriter’s — playing in multiple acclaimed bands and writing songs for movies, TV shows, and Broadway, among countless other projects.
“Like a lot of workaholics, he kept a million different things going at once, and was incredibly restless just sitting around,...
“Like a lot of workaholics, he kept a million different things going at once, and was incredibly restless just sitting around,...
- 4/10/2020
- by Simon Vozick-Levinson
- Rollingstone.com
When he needed to be, Adam Schlesinger was one of the most talented chameleons in the musical world. Whether as the lead singer of the band that would eventually achieve global notoriety or through his more translucent contributions to the soundtracks of beloved TV series and films, he had a knack for being able to deliver the precise feeling or atmosphere from whatever genre you could name.
It was how Schlesinger filled in those gaps with his own particular wit and care that made him not just an invaluable musician or songwriter, but an evocative storyteller. He died on Tuesday at the age of 52, leaving behind a legacy across TV, film, and music for which he was rarely the face, but so often the heart.
More from IndieWire'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' Redefined Songs in Musical Comedy With One Showstopping Number'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' Live Radio City Show Is 'R-Rated' Says Rachel Bloom
It’s...
It was how Schlesinger filled in those gaps with his own particular wit and care that made him not just an invaluable musician or songwriter, but an evocative storyteller. He died on Tuesday at the age of 52, leaving behind a legacy across TV, film, and music for which he was rarely the face, but so often the heart.
More from IndieWire'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' Redefined Songs in Musical Comedy With One Showstopping Number'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' Live Radio City Show Is 'R-Rated' Says Rachel Bloom
It’s...
- 4/2/2020
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
Musician Adam Schlesinger, a founding member of Fountains of Wayne who won an Emmy for his songwriting work on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, has died at the age of 52.
Schlesinger was hospitalized earlier this month in upstate New York after contracting the coronavirus and was placed on a ventilator. He passed away Wednesday morning, our sister site Variety reports.
More from TVLineCNN's Chris Cuomo Tests Positive for Coronavirus, Will Broadcast From HomeAndy Cohen Is 'Feeling Better,' Set to Launch Wwhl @ Home on Monday, Following Coronavirus DiagnosisCrazy Ex-Girlfriend's Rachel Bloom Mourns Loss of Songwriting Partner Adam Schlesinger: 'He Is Irreplaceable'
Along with Chris Collingwood,...
Schlesinger was hospitalized earlier this month in upstate New York after contracting the coronavirus and was placed on a ventilator. He passed away Wednesday morning, our sister site Variety reports.
More from TVLineCNN's Chris Cuomo Tests Positive for Coronavirus, Will Broadcast From HomeAndy Cohen Is 'Feeling Better,' Set to Launch Wwhl @ Home on Monday, Following Coronavirus DiagnosisCrazy Ex-Girlfriend's Rachel Bloom Mourns Loss of Songwriting Partner Adam Schlesinger: 'He Is Irreplaceable'
Along with Chris Collingwood,...
- 4/1/2020
- TVLine.com
Adam Schlesinger, the lead singer-songwriter from the rock band Fountains of Wayne and a music producer and composer on “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” has died due to complications from the coronavirus, his lawyer Josh Grier told The New York Times. He was 52.
Schlesinger had been hospitalized due to Covid-19 for the past week and was on a ventilator, TheWrap reported on Tuesday. Representatives for Schlesinger and for Fountains of Wayne did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Schlesinger earned three Emmy Awards for his work on “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” and was a Tony Award nominee in 2011 and 2012. He also won a Grammy Award for the 2008 comedy album “A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!”
In 1996, he also earned an Oscar nomination for the title song to Tom Hanks’ movie “That Thing You Do!” as well as a Tony nomination for the score to the 2008 Broadway musical version of John Waters’ “Cry-Baby.
Schlesinger had been hospitalized due to Covid-19 for the past week and was on a ventilator, TheWrap reported on Tuesday. Representatives for Schlesinger and for Fountains of Wayne did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Schlesinger earned three Emmy Awards for his work on “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” and was a Tony Award nominee in 2011 and 2012. He also won a Grammy Award for the 2008 comedy album “A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!”
In 1996, he also earned an Oscar nomination for the title song to Tom Hanks’ movie “That Thing You Do!” as well as a Tony nomination for the score to the 2008 Broadway musical version of John Waters’ “Cry-Baby.
- 4/1/2020
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Adam Schlesinger, co-founder of the New Jersey power-pop group Fountains of Wayne and Emmy- and Grammy-winning songwriter for film, television, and theater, died Wednesday from complications related to Covid-19. He was 52.
Schelsinger’s lawyer, Josh Grier, confirmed the musician’s death to Rolling Stone. Schlesinger was hospitalized in March and tested positive for the coronavirus. At the time, he was placed on a ventilator and heavily sedated.
Schlesinger had one of the most unique and busiest careers in pop. With Fountains of Wayne — a group that blended power-pop delight with...
Schelsinger’s lawyer, Josh Grier, confirmed the musician’s death to Rolling Stone. Schlesinger was hospitalized in March and tested positive for the coronavirus. At the time, he was placed on a ventilator and heavily sedated.
Schlesinger had one of the most unique and busiest careers in pop. With Fountains of Wayne — a group that blended power-pop delight with...
- 4/1/2020
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Adam Schlesinger, a musician and songwriter highly regarded for his work as a member of Fountains of Wayne and an Emmy-winning songwriter for TV’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” has died as a result of coronavirus complications, Variety has confirmed. He was 52.
Schlesinger died Wednesday morning. He was divorced and is survived by two daughters.
He had previously been reported Tuesday morning as “very sick and heavily sedated” by his attorney of 25 years, Josh Grier. He had been in an upstate New York hospital for more than a week at that time, Grier said.
An Egot contender, Schlesinger has been nominated for Oscars, Tonys, Grammys and Emmys and won the latter two awards. At the 2018 Emmys, he was up for two trophies for his “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” work and picked up one, winning in the outstanding original music and lyrics category for the song “Antidepressants Are So Not A Big Deal”. He was...
Schlesinger died Wednesday morning. He was divorced and is survived by two daughters.
He had previously been reported Tuesday morning as “very sick and heavily sedated” by his attorney of 25 years, Josh Grier. He had been in an upstate New York hospital for more than a week at that time, Grier said.
An Egot contender, Schlesinger has been nominated for Oscars, Tonys, Grammys and Emmys and won the latter two awards. At the 2018 Emmys, he was up for two trophies for his “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” work and picked up one, winning in the outstanding original music and lyrics category for the song “Antidepressants Are So Not A Big Deal”. He was...
- 4/1/2020
- by Chris Willman and Jem Aswad
- Variety Film + TV
The news that Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger has died at age 52 due to complications related to Covid-19 comes as a painful shock to fans of his hilarious, heartfelt, utterly one-of-a-kind style of songwriting. Working alongside Fountains of Wayne co-founder Chris Collingwood, and on his own in assorted side projects and TV and movie gigs, Schlesinger built up an unparalleled catalog of character studies of dreamers, lovers, and total idiots, mostly set in his native New Jersey and the surrounding areas. (“One of the great things about putting New...
- 4/1/2020
- by Jon Dolan, Brian Hiatt, Christian Hoard, Daniel Kreps, Angie Martoccio, Alan Sepinwall and Simon Vozick-Levinson
- Rollingstone.com
Songwriter Adam Schlesinger, best known for co-founding Fountains of Wayne, has been hospitalized due to the coronavirus, but has not been placed in a medically induced coma as suggested elsewhere. Variety first reported the news and Schlesinger’s long-time attorney, Josh Grier, confirmed the details to Rolling Stone.
Schlesinger has been in a hospital in upstate New York for over a week and is receiving good care. Grier said that while he is unable to visit Schlesinger, the doctor reports he’s received have not once used the term “coma.
Schlesinger has been in a hospital in upstate New York for over a week and is receiving good care. Grier said that while he is unable to visit Schlesinger, the doctor reports he’s received have not once used the term “coma.
- 3/31/2020
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Updated: Adam Schlesinger, a musician and Emmy-winning songwriter highly regarded for his work as a member of Fountains of Wayne and songwriter for TV’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” has been hospitalized with coronavirus and is on a ventilator but is not in a coma, contrary to initial reports, his attorney of 25 years Josh Grier confirmed to Variety early Tuesday morning.
“He’s very sick and is heavily sedated, as are all people on ventilators, but no one has used the word ‘coma’ to me,” Grier said. Schlesinger has been in an upstate New York hospital for more than a week and is receiving excellent medical care, Grier noted, adding that doctors were reluctant to make predictions because so much about the disease remains unknown.
His Fountains of Wayne bandmate Chris Collingwood posted a note from Schlesinger’s family stating that “his condition is improving and we are cautiously optimistic.”
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“He’s very sick and is heavily sedated, as are all people on ventilators, but no one has used the word ‘coma’ to me,” Grier said. Schlesinger has been in an upstate New York hospital for more than a week and is receiving excellent medical care, Grier noted, adding that doctors were reluctant to make predictions because so much about the disease remains unknown.
His Fountains of Wayne bandmate Chris Collingwood posted a note from Schlesinger’s family stating that “his condition is improving and we are cautiously optimistic.”
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- 3/31/2020
- by Jem Aswad and Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
“I want to tell you something about me that you might not know,” began a post by Everclear’s Art Alexakis earlier this week. In the startling statement, Alexakis, 56, announced he had been diagnosed several years ago with multiple sclerosis, but had decided to finally go public with the news.
The daunting disease disables the central nervous system by attacking the coating around its nerve fibers, leading to fatigue, walking issues, vision problems and more. Yet his condition is clearly not slowing Alexakis down. He’s in the final stages...
The daunting disease disables the central nervous system by attacking the coating around its nerve fibers, leading to fatigue, walking issues, vision problems and more. Yet his condition is clearly not slowing Alexakis down. He’s in the final stages...
- 3/28/2019
- by David Browne
- Rollingstone.com
A couple of years back, the prolific New York rock sophisticates Fountains of Wayne officially outlived the Wayne, N.J., lawn-ornament shop from whence they got their name. But as Chris Collingwood, who co-founded the band in 1996 with former college buddy Adam Schlesinger, tells us, they almost didn’t make it to their just released fifth official album, Sky Full Of Holes.
- 8/3/2011
- Pastemagazine.com
If there’s a running theme in Fountains Of Wayne’s work, it’s this: Banality points toward truth, because it’s almost always a lie. This is expressed directly in the wry story-songs of Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood, which chronicle the minor yet cosmically funny injustices commonly found in suburban America, and more subtly in the slick, shiny packaging of their bubblegum melodies and production. Superficially, Sky Full Of Holes replicates the sticky-sweet power-pop that Fountains Of Wayne has reliably turned out since the mid-’90s, when the band was as out-of-step with grunge and rap-rock as it ...
- 8/2/2011
- avclub.com
Fountains of Wayne, the lawn ornament store in Wayne, N.J., that was seen in the opening credits of “The Sopranos,” finally shut its doors two summers ago. Fortunately, there’s no closure in sight for the other, even better-known Fountains of Wayne, the rock & roll quartet that’s been one of America’s greatest bands since its 1996 debut. But mellowing does seem to be in the cards, after a four-year layoff. Although band leaders Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger continue to write some of the hookiest and most clever material of the...
- 8/2/2011
- by Chris Willman
- The Wrap
How nice is Michael Benjamin Lerner of Telekinesis? On “Car Crash,” a standout among many bouncy power-pop ditties on the new 12 Desperate Straight Lines, he makes the prospect of vehicular misadventure seem as threatening as a hot-fudge sundae. A lot of that is due to Lerner’s reedy voice—think Fountains Of Wayne’s Chris Collingwood minus the thirtysomething weariness—as well as the deceptive sweetness of his songwriting. As he first showed on Telekinesis’ 2009 debut, Lerner has a habit of hiding romantic dysfunction and alienation behind a sunny façade of frothy “ooh-ooh-oohing” choruses and buzzing bubblegum ...
- 2/15/2011
- avclub.com
DVD Rating: 3.0/5.0 Chicago – Fountains of Wayne have always put together light, breezy pop tunes, so a set in the Windy City seems the perfect location for their first ever concert DVD, “Fountains of Wayne: No Better Place - Live in Chicago”. The 16-song performance runs less than an hour and amplifies the band’s most notable weakness as the songs all kind of start to sound the same, but fans should be thrilled to finally own a piece of Wayne’s world.
The case for “No Better Place” describes FoW as “champions of power pop” and this October 2005 show certainly stresses the poppy hooks that made the band one of the more popular live acts of the mid’-00s. Personally, every time they played in Chicago in the mid-section of this decade, I feel like I heard about it. They have a loyal fan base here, making the location...
The case for “No Better Place” describes FoW as “champions of power pop” and this October 2005 show certainly stresses the poppy hooks that made the band one of the more popular live acts of the mid’-00s. Personally, every time they played in Chicago in the mid-section of this decade, I feel like I heard about it. They have a loyal fan base here, making the location...
- 3/3/2009
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
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