That Thing You Do - Adam Schlesinger
#music #theforeverplaylist #AdamSchlesinger #ThatThingYouDo https://youtu.be/BJn-Jl2ZeQU
#AdamSchlesinger
Fountains of Wayne’s First Live Shows in 12 Years Have Blessing of the Late Adam Schlesinger’s Family
#Variety #News #AdamSchlesinger #ChrisCollingwood #FountainsofWayne
https://variety.com/2025/music/news/fountains-of-wayne-concerts-reunion-blessingr-1236307970/
The Wonders Play “That Thing You Do!”
Listen to this track by fictional movie band and bona fide one-hit wonders The Wonders. It’s “That Thing You Do!”, the theme song from the movie of the same name directed by Tom Hanks that came out in October of 1996. Its theme song was released earlier in September of that year, and scored a top 20 placement on the U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40, and placed in charts internationally, too. So, it really was something of a one-hit wonder in real life, even if the band posing on the record sleeve were fictional.
The film was a slow-burn success, initially not performing all that well in theatres. It slowly grew into the beloved cult hit it is today thanks to DVD rentals, television broadcasts, and subsequently with Disney+ subscriptions. Even now, it stands as a breezy rock biopic meets coming of age story that’s bursting with affection and charm, free of the baggage that a lot of similar movies about real musicians tend to carry. On the other hand, and because it’s not about a real band, it was also free of familiar songs at the time of release. That made getting the music absolutely spot on an even more important objective than usual.
Hanks, producer Jonathan Demme, and other production partners put the word out to several songwriters you’ve heard of to secure the right tune. They knew the song had to have the right personality. So, they had to treat its selection like they were casting another part in the movie. The winner of the songwriter’s lottery out of hundreds of submissions was a writer and musician who had then only recently secured a publishing deal with Polygram. His name was Adam Schlesinger, a songwriter who certainly knew a thing or two about how to write a Sixties-era pop song. But what were the specific requirements his composition had to meet to win the spot in the movie?
For one thing, Schlesinger needed to acknowledge that the title song could not be just a standard title song. The tune is integral to the plot of the movie, practically a character itself that turns out to be as likeable as the fictional smalltown band who sings it in the story. Without the song, there’s not much of a movie. With that in mind, Adam Schlesinger had to hit his marks with incredible precision.
The song he wrote had to:
- Be convincing as a pop song written in 1964 by a band who loved The Beatles.
- Be appealing as a legitimate one-hit wonder.
- Be resilient enough to stand up to repeated listening throughout the length of a feature film.
Schlesinger knocked it out of the park, meeting all of the above requirements and then some. His song serves the movie in exemplary ways on all these fronts. Significantly, its appeal has less to do with nostalgia for 1964, and more to do with how much it resonated with movie fans and pop music lovers in 1996 and beyond.
The poster for the 1996 film That Thing You Do! From left: Ethan Emery, Steve Zahn, Tom Hanks, Johnathon Schaech, Liv Tyler, and Tom Everett ScottTo write the song, Schlesinger considered the compositionally deft corners that Lennon and McCartney took in their early Beatles songs. In the same way then, “That Thing You Do!” both employs and diverges from the standard R&B one-four-five chord structure by throwing in unexpected but undeniably appealing changes that contrast majors and minors – just like The Beatles. It even includes a classic less-is-more George Harrison-style guitar break. These structures, textures, and emotional effects enhance the mood and tone of the song’s lyrics rooted in a classic theme typical of Sixties pop songs; falling in love with someone you shouldn’t have fallen in love with.
To submit the song to Hanks’ production team, Schlesinger had to cut a demo (which you can listen to right here!). For this, he also had to cast the part of lead vocalist. That role fell to his friend, singer Mike Viola, who was reluctant at first to take the job. He was in a place where he wasn’t feeling emotionally aligned to singing a sunny-sounding pop song for a Tom Hanks movie. Viola had recently lost his wife to cancer and he was feeling lost. In an effort to get the singer out of his rut, Schlesinger coaxed him into laying down the lead part while Schlesinger himself sang backup. Viola’s emotional vulnerability worked in his favour, perfectly in synch with his keen instincts for pop song phrasing.
Mike Viola on stage in 2012 (image: Justin Higuchi)With the demo sessions overseen by producer Andy Chase, the winning-song-to-be was ready for review. It would take a few months of great anticipation for Schlesinger before the news came down the pike; Tom Hanks and his people approved the song for use in their film. It was everything they needed to build a movie around. Importantly, they also loved Mike Viola’s lead voice on the demo enough to hire him to sing on the finished version produced by Don Was.
The tune had a life of its own after it appeared in the movie. Along with its placements in real-world charts, “That Thing You Do!” went on to garner Adam Schlesinger Golden Globes and Oscar nominations for Best Original Song. Even without those official accolades, it is an amazing achievement on a songwriting and performance level to carry it beyond its place in the movie. It certainly stands as a significant milestone in the careers of both Adam Schlesinger and Mike Viola.
Schlesinger continued to make a name for himself in his celebrated band Fountains of Wayne. This was along with other songwriting and production projects for other artists and for film soundtracks in ensuing years into the 21st century. Along with his work in Candy Butchers, Mike Viola contributed music to film projects as well. This includes those featuring fictional musicians like Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and Get Him to the Greek. This is in addition to his songwriting and production work with real musicians like Panic! At the Disco, Mandy Moore, Andrew Bird, and others.
Both musicians worked together on The Monkees’ acclaimed 2016 golden anniversary record Good Times!. This was another context in which they applied their skills in writing, performing, and producing original music with a distinctive Sixties feel, this time with a real band who was at one point also (erroneously!) thought to be just a fictional one from a television show.
Tragically, Adam Schlesinger died in 2020 from Covid-19 at the too-young age of 52. He is respected and greatly missed by music fans and by his peers.
Mike Viola is an active producer, songwriter, and performer today. You can learn more about him and his recent projects at mikeviola.com
To learn more about the movie That Thing You Do! and how it was made, check out this article that documents an oral history of the movie, including contributions from its director, Tom Hanks, and most of the cast as well.
Enjoy!
#90sMusic #AdamSchlesinger #filmMusic #FountainsOfWayne #PowerPop #TheWonders
Ivy - Realistic
Ivy's first album, which I think is underrated in general. Every part of Ivy's later LPs is present here, and it's a strong, fun set of pop gems.
Nice pressing - good to see this get re-released.
#nowplaying #vinyl #pop #AdamSchlesinger #ivy #andychase #dominiqueDurand
How Rachel Bloom Turned a Standup Show Into a Death-Defying Solo Musical
#Variety #News #Podcasts #AdamSchlesinger #CrazyExGirlfriend #RachelBloom #Stagecraft
#AlternateFridayMusic
July 21 2023
The word is Over
#Ivy “Edge of the Ocean” from Long Distance, 2000
Lyric: :
"At the edge of the ocean we can start over again"
A side project of #FountainsofWayne’s #AdamSchlesinger (gone way too soon), silky, breezy Ivy was a bit smooth #downtempo, a bit frothy pop. If #Morcheeba was the afterparty, Ivy was the champagne brunch the next morning.
No in-depth analysis, just personal anecdote:
Back when I took vacations to #GrapefruitLeague #SpringTraining in Florida regularly, I liked to pop in the noise-cancelling headphones and pour this into my ears as the plane left the frigid #Boston ground, to cleanse my heart of the detritus of the previous season (#RedSox fans - IYKYK) and turn to hope:
“There's a place I dream about
Where the sun never goes out
And the sky is deep and blue
Won't you take me there with you
Oh, we can begin again
Shed our skin, let the sun shine in
At the edge of the ocean
We can start over again”
Ich kann diesen #crazyexgirlfriend-#Soundtrack übrigens extrem empfehlen - zu jedem Track aus ersten Staffel gibt es einen Audiokommentar von #RachelBloom und #AdamSchlesinger. So interessant! warum gibt es das nicht öfter?
Und direkt wieder traurig, dass #AdamSchlesinger nicht mehr lebt 😞
https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/adam-schlesinger-best-songs-fountains-of-wayne-9348960/
TFW you feel like an idiot beacuse it's so damn obvious that Stacy's Mom is a Cars tribute and you somehow missed it.
(I mean, even beyond the music, the video has the kids dresssed as the Cars, the license plate is "I ❤️ RIC"...I'm such a moron.)
#AdamSchlesinger #Fountains OfWayne #GoneTooSoon #TheCars #NewWave
A band I *didn't* miss - Ivy.
Most of their stuff was never released on vinyl—something I hope will change—but VMP recently released something I rarely buy: a "best of" LP featuring a ton of great tracks.
The thing is, every one of their albums is chockablock with great music. Given Schlesinger, Chase and Durand, how could it not be?
No more, though. Covid - you suck.
Could not figure out why #像阳光那样 kept reminding me of the band Ivy, thought it was because French pop influence on Ivy. Realized this morning just as the bridge and title lyric were playing that I felt like I do listening to the bridge of "All Kinds of Time" by Fountains of Wayne, huge atmospheric sound like you're looking through deep space. I just started bawling because we lost #AdamSchlesinger too damn soon.
You can't convince me this (fabulous) #FountainsOfWayne video isn't a full-on #DEVO homage.
"Denise" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y36usNVGhI
NYJ, born the year Bill Haley hit the charts, less certain every day. #Borges #RayDavies #IanDury #Sicily #RichardStark #GoreVidal #Pezband #DenisJohnson #dimsum #poicephalusparrot #GuillermoDelToro #Seinfeld #TheGoodPlace #TheLongShips #TheInLaws #MelBrooks #JonathonLethem #JohnCheever #SarahSilverman #Bedwetter #AdamSchlesinger #JulianCope #CalvinTrillin #KurtVonnegut #TerrySouthern #THWhite #EdithWharton #BrianKVaughn #JerryRagavoy #DocPomus #JerryWexler #DonMattingly #Jellyfish #BradJones
RT @Racheldoesstuff@twitter.com
Adam Schlesinger was nominated for an Oscar for writing "That Thing You Do!" in 1997. I don't know why he wasn't in the official In Memoriam segment tonight (especially because he wrote one of the greatest film songs of all time) so I'm honoring him here. #AdamSchlesinger
🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/Racheldoesstuff/status/1386561378790432771
Oh the bitter irony. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFOZWRknYSI R.I.P. #AdamSchlesinger
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