Fountains Of Wayne Biography
The New York City-based power pop band Fountains of Wayne was anchored by the singer/songwriter duo of Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood, who first teamed in 1986 while studying at Massachusetts' Williams College. Sharing a mutual affection for melodic British pop, they formed a series of short-lived bands before recording an LP under the name Pinnwheel; legal hassles blocked the album's release, however, and the duo went their separate ways, with Schlesinger resurfacing in the N.Y.C. indie pop band Ivy and Collingwood joining the Boston country group Mercy Buckets. They reunited in 1996 as Fountains of Wayne (so named in honor of a New Jersey gift shop), issuing their acclaimed self-titled LP on Atlantic; that same year, Schlesinger also enjoyed success as the author of the title theme to Tom Hanks' rock & roll movie That Thing You Do!
"That Thing You Do" went on to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song in 1997. Their sophomore effort, Utopia Parkway, followed in 1999 and the single "Denise" was a hit at college radio. Four years later, the band issued Welcome Interstate Managers, the biggest popular success of their career thanks to "Stacy's Mom," a hit across several charts and their first Top 40 entry. Two new songs, plenty of unreleased material, and all the fan favorites were collected on the double-disc Out-of-State Plates in 2005. Schlesinger kept up his songwriting talents by penning four tracks for the soundtrack to the 2007 film Music & Lyrics, as well as helping to release a new FOW album, Traffic and Weather, that same year. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
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