Fountains of Wayne

Fountains of Wayne is an American indie rock band, formed in 1995.

The band name is also the name of a lawn-ornament store in Wayne, New Jersey, not far from Montclair, New Jersey, the hometown of the band's bassist and cofounder Adam Schlesinger.

The band was formed by Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood. The two first met as freshmen at Williams College and began playing music together in various bands. The two 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 90's and formed Fountains of Wayne. A demo eventually landed the two a deal with Atlantic Records and in 1996 they released their self titled debut. The album spawned the singles "Radiation Vibe" and "Sink To The Bottom" which received airplay, but it was Schlesinger's song entitled "That Thing You Do!" which became a hit being used as the lead track for the Tom Hanks film of the same name. "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 drummer Brian Young, the band toured the world extensively behind the album playing alongside bands such as The Smashing Pumpkins and The Lemonheads. However the album was considered a disappointment commercially, selling only 125,000 copies in the US.

1999 brought about a new album entitled Utopia Parkway named after a road in Long Island New York. The album was something of 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. Like its predecessor however, the album sold poorly and failed to spawn a hit single. The group toured extensively once again behind the album but frustrations grew between the band and the label when they failed to promote a proper third single entitled "Troubled Times" remixed by Tom Lord-Alge. The band was later dropped by Atlantic in late 1999.

The band disbanded for the time being and their future seemed rather uncertain. Schlesinger found work as a writer and producer and co-wrote many of the songs for the Josie and the Pussycats film and soundtrack respectively. He also produced albums for the Verve Pipe, David Meade, and They Might Be Giants. He released a third record with his band Ivy on Nettwerk records which produced somewhat of a hit with "Edge Of The Ocean" being licensed to various commercials and films. The band also did the score for the Farrelly brothers film Shallow Hal starring Jack Black.

During the groups hiatus Collingwood formed and fronted a pop country band entitled Gay Potatoes based in the Northampton, Massachusetts area. He also played a string of solo shows in the Boston and Los Angeles area. Guitarist Jody Porter worked with his band The Astrojet alongside famed producer Gordon Raphael in the New York City area. Drummer Brian Young played with Ivy and found session work for various artists.

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 as well as songs for the VH1 cartoon show Hey Joel! with columnist Joel Stein. 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 the band signed with S-Curve Records a subsidiary of Virgin Records and released another acclaimed album entitled Welcome Interstate Managers. The album was a surprise hit and sold considerably well. It also spawned the hit single "Stacy's Mom" which was certified gold by the RIAA. The follow up single "Mexican Wine" fared less well with a controversial music 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 women laying on a beach. The third single "Hey Julie" received some airplay however. Their song "All Kinds Of Time" which depicts a young football player in a zen like state of mind during a crucial game winning pass was used extensively for NFL commercial promotions during the 2005 season.

In late June 2005 Fountains of Wayne will release a collection of b-sides as well as two new songs for the album Out Of State Plates via Virgin. The album will be supported by the single "Maureen" and a US tour.

Discography

• Fountains Of Wayne (1996)
• Utopia Parkway (1999)
• Welcome Interstate Managers (2003)

Group Members

• Chris Collingwood - Guitar, Vocals
• Adam Schlesinger - Bass
• Jody Porter - Guitar
• Brian Young - Drums