| Fountains of Wayne | |
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Fountains of Wayne live in 2007 |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | New York, New York |
| Genres | Power pop,[1] alternative rock,[1] pop punk[2] |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Website | fountainsofwayne.com |
| Members | |
| Chris Collingwood Adam Schlesinger Jody Porter Brian Young |
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Fountains of Wayne is an American power pop band that formed in New York City in 1996. The band consists of members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter and Brian Young.
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The group was formed by songwriters Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood. The two first met as freshmen at Williams College and began playing music together in various bands. They eventually went their separate ways, with Collingwood forming the Mercy Buckets in Boston and Schlesinger forming Ivy in New York City. The two met up once again during the mid-1990s and formed Fountains of Wayne.
Initially the band went by other names, including Are You My Mother? and Woolly Mammoth, before settling on Fountains of Wayne, taken from a lawn ornament store in Wayne, New Jersey. The store was located at the intersection of U.S. Route 46 and New Jersey Route 23,[3] not far from Montclair, New Jersey, the hometown of the band's bassist and co-founder Adam Schlesinger. The store can be seen in The Sopranos episode "Another Toothpick" as well.
The store went out of business in 2009.
A demo eventually landed the two a deal with Atlantic Records, and in 1996 the band released its self-titled debut. The album spawned the singles "Radiation Vibe" and "Sink to the Bottom", which both received airplay. Coincidentally, at around the same time the title song for the film That Thing You Do!, which Schlesinger wrote, became a hit. That Thing You Do! also brought Schlesinger an Oscar nomination and an RIAA gold certification for the hit soundtrack.
Along with guitarist Jody Porter and still active Posies drummer Brian Young, the band toured the world extensively behind the album, playing alongside bands such as The Smashing Pumpkins, Sloan and The Lemonheads.
In 1999 the band released its second album, Utopia Parkway, named after a road in Queens, New York. The album was a concept record that dealt with life in modern suburbia. Utopia Parkway was received well by critics, garnering many favorable reviews, and was album of the week in People magazine. The group once again toured extensively behind the album, but frustrations grew between the band and the label. The band was later dropped by Atlantic in late 1999.
The band was inactive for a period of time. Schlesinger found work as a writer and producer and co-wrote many of the songs for the Josie and the Pussycats film and soundtrack. He also produced albums for the Verve Pipe and David Mead, as well as several tracks by They Might Be Giants. He released a third record with his other band Ivy on Nettwerk records.
During the group's hiatus, Collingwood formed and fronted a pop-country band entitled the Gay Potatoes based in the Northampton, Massachusetts area. He also played a string of solo shows in the Boston and Los Angeles areas. Guitarist Jody Porter worked with his band The Astrojet alongside famed producer Gordon Raphael and keyboardist David Zhang in the New York City area. Percussionist Brian Young moved to Los Angeles and did session work for various artists such as producer Steve Fisk, Ivy, Heather Duby and Greg Dulli.
Sometime in 2001 the band slowly came back together, recording a cover of The Kinks' "Better Things" for the tribute album This Is Where I Belong: Songs of Ray Davies and the Kinks. The group also recorded the theme song for the Comedy Central show Crank Yankers, and wrote songs for, and appeared as animated characters in, the VH1 cartoon series Hey Joel with columnist Joel Stein. The show aired briefly on VH1 in 2003, but was later picked up by Teletoon in Canada. The band members appeared performing original songs that typically reviewed the plot developments immediately preceding their performance, in addition to the show's theme song.
The band used the money made from these projects to fund the recording of a new album, working in upstate New York, New York City, and Boston.
In 2003, former Atlantic A&R man Steve Yegewel signed the band as new A&R man at S-Curve Records, and the band released Welcome Interstate Managers. It spawned the hit single "Stacy's Mom", which Adam Schlesinger says was a tribute to The Cars and was certified gold by the RIAA.
Initially, "Stacy's Mom" stalled at commercial alternative radio in the US; the single, LP, and band seemed doomed to obscurity. However, MTV rescued the band from likely failure as MTV President Judy McGrath championed the music video for "Stacy's Mom", rapidly increasing the song's exposure and success. The video features Rachel Hunter as the object of the fantasies of the song's narrator. The follow-up single, "Mexican Wine", fared less well, with a controversial video that showed young children singing the lyrics "think I'll have another glass of Mexican wine" and guitarist Jody Porter catching a drink on the bare stomach of a woman lying on a beach. The single was ultimately pulled by the record label. The third single, "Hey Julie", an acoustic song, received some airplay. "All Kinds of Time", depicting a young football player in a Zen-like state of mind during a crucial potentially game-winning pass, was used for NFL commercial promotions during the 2005 season. The band also recorded a performance on Austin City Limits, which aired in December 2003.
The band received two 2003 Grammy nominations: Best New Artist and Best Vocal Performance By A Duo Or Group (for "Stacy's Mom").
In June 2005, Fountains of Wayne released Out-of-State Plates, a collection of B-sides which included two new songs. The album was supported by the single "Maureen" and a limited US tour that included some acoustic-only sets, a set on PBS Soundstage, and American Songbook. Also included on the album is a cover of the Britney Spears hit "...Baby One More Time", recorded as a b-side in 1999.
Traffic and Weather was released on April 3, 2007. Blender magazine named the band one of the reasons to love 2007 because of the release of its latest album.[4] The song "I-95" from this album was named one of the year's Top 50 Songs by Rolling Stone.
In 2009, the band played a short run of full-band acoustic shows where they showcased songs from their forthcoming album.[5] In an interview with Chris Collingwood in September 2010, it was revealed that the new album had been completed.[6]
On October 2, 2010, the band was one of the headliners at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, an annual free concert in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.
In July 2011, they began an extensive tour in the U.S. and performed at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan. Sky Full of Holes was released on July 20 in Japan by Warner Music Japan, August 1 in Europe by Lojinx, and August 2 in North America by Yep Roc Records. The album features 13 songs, with two bonus tracks on the Japanese version. The first two singles released were "Richie and Ruben" and "Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart."
Fountains of Wayne released their first live DVD, No Better Place: Live In Chicago, on March 3, 2009 via Shout! Factory. The concert was filmed in 2005. The DVD includes newly recorded acoustic songs.
Studio albums
Fountains of Wayne songs have been featured in many films and TV shows:
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