Fountains of Wayne – Nostalgia Central

Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood first met as freshmen at Williams College in Massachusetts, where they played in various college bands together. In 1995, they came together to form Fountains of Wayne – named after a lawn-ornament store in Wayne, New Jersey (that closed in 2009).

The duo signed with Atlantic Records and released their self-titled debut album in 1996, which spawned the singles Radiation Vibe and Sink to the Bottom. 

To perform the album live, they recruited guitarist Jody Porter and drummer Brian Young, forming a four-piece lineup that would remain unchanged for the rest of the band’s career.

They toured extensively to promote the album, playing alongside bands including the Smashing Pumpkins, Sloan, and The Lemonheads.

That same year, Schlesinger wrote the Academy Award-nominated, RIAA gold-certified title song for the film That Thing You Do (he also cowrote many of the songs for the Josie and the Pussycats film and soundtrack).

In 1999, the band released Utopia Parkway (named after a road in Queens, New York), but – despite widespread praise from critics – the album did not sell well, and Atlantic dropped the band.

The group then took a break until they reconvened in 2003 with the album >Welcome Interstate Managers, which included the hit single Stacy’s Mom. Propelled by a wildly popular MTV music video starring supermodel Rachel Hunter, the track became a global top-40 hit and became the defining commercial peak of their career.

Out-of-State Plates (2005) was a collection of B-sides and two new songs, including the single Maureen.

The band continued releasing remarkably consistent, highly literate records, including Traffic and Weather (2007) and Sky Full of Holes (2011), with Chris Collingwood increasingly having less involvement due to his struggles with depression and alcoholism.

Creative tensions and shifting personal visions between Collingwood and Schlesinger made recording increasingly difficult, and the band quietly disbanded in 2013.

Adam Schlesinger continued a highly successful career writing music for film, television, and Broadway (notably winning Emmy awards for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend).

Tragically, Schlesinger (pictured below) died at a hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York, on 1 April 2020 from complications related to COVID-19. He was just 52.

Chris Collingwood
Vocals, guitar, keyboards
Adam Schlesinger
Vocals, bass, keyboards, guitar, drums
Jody Porter
Guitar, vocals
Brian Young
Drums

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