The Fountains of Wayne song writer passed away from Coronavirus.
The band gained acclaim with their infectious single “Stacey’s Mom” was released in 2003 and captured national attention for the band. He was fifty two years old. Fountains of Wayne formed in 1995 in New York, NY.
He was considered by some to be a pop genius and was an incredible pop songwriter. He wrote the song “That Thing You Do” from the movie of the same name produced by Tom Hanks, which followed the rise of a fictional pop band in the 1960s. The song earned Schleshinger an Oscar Nomination. This accolade was not solitary as ‘Stacy’s Mom’ earned Fountains of Wayne two Grammy nominations.
More recently Schlesinger formed a band called Fever High with Anna Nordeen and Reni Lane out of Brooklyn NY. They released their full length album FHNY which featured a cut with Jeff Goldblum in 2017. Their new EP is out more recently and is titled “Avec You.”
This band features the same type of pop sensibility, snappy creativity, and love of the history of pop and rock music as Fountains of Wayne.
Schleshinger has a diverse list of accomplishments. Aside from being a songwriter for Fountains of Wayne, he also wrote the music for the movie soundtrack of Josie and the Pussycats. He also was in and wrote for other bands including Ivy and Tinted Windows (an all star band with members of Hanson, Smashing Pumpkins and Cheap Trick).
Schleshinger’s TV and film credits are equally interesting including on TV: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and of all things, Sesame Street (which resulted in two Emmy nominations). For film: Cry Baby: the Musical and the Hugh Grant movie Music and Lyrics. The stage version of Cry Baby earned Tony Award nominations.
All of these nominations were not for naught: Schleshinger won an Emmy award for his work on “A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All” in 2009. Two Emmy awards were earned for songs written for the Tony Award broadcasts and were performed by Neil Patrick Harris.
Schlesinger joins many notable musicians and entertainers who are succumbing to the Coronavirus including just recently Ellis Marsalis, Joe Diffie and others. John Prine was reported as suffering severely over the weekend is now improving in the hospital.
Stay safe everyone. Our thoughts go out to all who are suffering: family, friends, and fans.
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