Fountains of Wayne

Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood met as freshmen at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts but initially performed in different bands - with Chris Collingwood forming Mercy Buckets in Boston and Adam Schlesinger launching Ivy in New York. However, they met up again in New York and the result iwas the power pop band Fountains of Wayne, taking their name from a lawn ornament store in Wayne, New Jersey. In 1996 the band was signed by Atlantic Records, released their self-titled debut album and had their first hit with "That Thing You Do" - the theme tune to the movie of the same name which won Adam Schlesinger an Academy Award nomination. With the addition of guitarist Jody Porter and drummer Brian Young, the group toured constantly and released a concept album about suburban life, Utopia Parkway (1999). They dropped beneath the radar, however, after splitting with Atlantic Records, but returned with the album Welcome Interstate Managers in 2003; which produced their biggest hit "Stacy's Mom", promoted by a memorable video starring Rachel Hunter. In 2007 they released the Traffic & Weather album, but sales were relatively poor. The band followed up with Sky Full of Holes (2011), before breaking up in 2013. On April 1, 2020, Adam Schlesinger died of complications from COVID-19 at the age of 52. The surviving members performed together as part of a charity livestream event with Sharon Van Etten on bass. In 2025, Fountains of Wayne were reformed by Chris Collingwood and Brian Young for a series of concerts with Steven M. Gold, Max Collins, and Joe Guese.

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