Adam Schlesinger died of COVID complications in the spring of 2020, just months before COVID vaccines were available. Today, October 31, 2022, would have been his 55th birthday.
Adam Schlesinger was a talented musician and songwriter who never got the recognition he deserved. Not quite famous enough for a front-page NYT obituary, Adam’s passing in 2020 was noted and mourned by the dedicated fans of Fountains of Wayne, the indie rock band he founded in 1995 with his college pal Chris Collingwood.
Adam’s best songs were about hard-working, long-suffering men and women doing tedious and menial jobs or looking for love in the not-so-usual places, but always dreaming about better days.
There was the song about the lovable girl who runs the office in the Harbor Tunnel and dreams of taking a sick day some time soon.
There was the song about the pathetic loser who still pines for the Hollywood actress who sat next to him in high school in New Jersey.
There was the infectious pop ballad that becomes a big hit for a fictional movie band unironically named The Wonders.
There was the song about the guy who has a bright future in sales if only he can get sober and figure out what the flashing lights mean.
There was the song about the high-school buddies who keep coming up with incredibly bad get-rich-quick business ideas and keep losing all their, and their friends’, money.
There was the song about the waitress who becomes so frustrated with her job that she moves to Lichtenstein.
And of course there was the song “Stacy’s Mom” that became the only hit for Fountains of Wayne (check the link at the end). The homage to Ric Ocasek and the Cars was instantly memorable, and the music video starring Rachel Hunter as Stacy’s mom was an over-the-top adolescent fever dream that cemented FOW permanently in pop culture. Collingwood initially resisted recording the song, because he recognized that it would become the song that labeled the band, the tail that wagged the dog, and would eventually destroy them. He was right about that.
As a big FOW fan, I knew of Schlesinger’s work and I especially loved his magical lyrics. His rhyming schemes were often radical, but almost always worked. From “New Routine”:
She didn’t speak German, only high-school Spanish,
But within two weeks, she discovered she could manage.
From “Acela”:
There’s a train on a track
Painted silver, blue, and black
Headed to Massachu-
setts and then it’s coming back.
From “Hackensack”:
I see your face in
The strangest places,
Movies and magazines.
I saw you talkin’
To Christopher Walken
On my TV screen.
From “Hey Julie”:
Working all day for a mean little man
With a clip-on tie and a rub-on tan.
From “Michael and Heather at the Baggage Claim”:
Michael and Heather at the baggage claim
Tired of playing the waiting game.
Every bag has got a different name.
Michael and Heather may never get home again.
Michael and Heather at the lost-and-found
Looking for luggage that’s soft and brown.
Sir, I’m so sorry, it’s just not around.
Michael and Heather are glad to be on the ground.
It’s been a long, long day.
Can’t we just be on our way.
Michael and Heather on the shuttle bus
Standing alongside the rest of us.
Michael says Heather, have you had enough?
Heather says Michael you know that it’s you I luff.
How could anyone not love lyrics like that.
Schlesinger’s musical instincts were often equally compelling. FOW songs like Hackensack, Valley Winter Song, and Hey Julie have intense musical hooks that infect your brain and just won’t let go.
Another fascinating aspect of Adam’s personality was that he always wrote and played in the background — he never wanted to be in the spotlight. In FOW, Chris Collingwood always sang lead.
Schlesinger’s most publicized and challenging musical assignment was when he was selected to write the song for the 1996 Tom Hanks film, “That Thing You Do” — the song that would become the one-hit success for the fictional band The Wonders. Just imagine how difficult that task was: the song had to be organized around the movie’s title “That Thing You Do,” had to be written in a style consistent with pop music of 1964, had to be instantly likable and compelling enough to pass as a likely smash hit, had to be able to survive multiple performances during the movie without becoming tedious, yet must never rise to the level of genius that might turn the film into a tragic tale of self-destruction. By all accounts, he succeeded.
Adam was also involved with other projects outside of FOW, writing songs for The Monkees, America, Fever High, Ivy, and others. After his success with “That Thing You Do,” he also wrote the pivotal songs for the 2007 Hugh Grant movie “Music and Lyrics.” He wrote most of the 157 songs for the ongoing TV series “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.”
Adam and his bands were nominated numerous times for Oscars, Tonys, Grammys, and Emmy awards. He wrote and produced nine songs for the 2008 special “A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All,” which won a Grammy Award in 2010. He wrote the lyrics for Neil Patrick Harris’ opening song of the 2011 Tony Awards show, celebrating Broadway — “It’s not just for gays any more,” which won an Emmy in 2012. He won his final Emmy in 2019 for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for “Antidepressants Are So Not a Big Deal."
Adam Schlesinger was the greatest musician and songwriter that you’ve never heard of. RIP, Adam.
Meanwhile, a few songs for your listening pleasure.
Here’s a live NPR Tiny Desk Concert from 2011. That’s Adam on the far right. Chris Collingwood typically sang lead for FOW.
And if you can spare 33 minutes, this is a concise summary of Adam’s career.