Posted by Adam Schlesinger has many reasons to be remembered.
Founding member and bass player with The Fountains Of Wayne, he scored bona fide hits – ‘Stacey’s Mom’ for example – and won critical acclaim.
Also a key member of Tinted Windows and Ivy, his death overnight (April 1st) from coronavirus is a sore blow for music fans.
We’re taking this opportunity, then, to remember one of Adam Schlesinger’s greatest musical achievements, and one that often flies under the radar.
1996 film That Thing You Do! traced the rise and fall of The Wonders, a four-piece formed in early 60s America.
Transfixed by the British Invasion, they meet manager Tom Hanks, with single ‘That Thing You Do’ going scorching up the Billboard charts.
Learning that fame is a fickle mistress, it’s a perfectly watchable coming of age comedy-drama, with a neat jazz coda.
The central song ‘That Thing You Do’ was written and recorded by Adam Schlesinger, and it’s one of the most pitch perfect era pieces ever written.
When it’s initially heard in the fame ‘That Thing You Do’ is a ballad, before a stand-in drummer ramps up the tempo for a Beatles-esque rocker.
Although it cracked the charts in different territories around the globe, ‘That Thing You Do’ remains a wonderful love letter to bubblegum pop, and singular testimony to the talents of Adam Schlesinger.
Check it out now.
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