Fountains of Wayne
  f. 1996, Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA

 

 

This idiosynatic pop duo of Adam Schlesinger (b. New Jersey, USA) and Chris Collingwood (b. c.1967, Pennsylvania, USA) first met on the roof of their college dorm in Williamstown, Massachusetts, in the mid-80s. The idea to colloborate came after Collingwood showed Sclesinger the chords on an R.E.M. song. They were members of a succession of college bands, including Wooly Mammoth, Are You My Mother? and the esoterically named Three Men When Stood Side By Side Have A Wingspan Of Over 12 Feet. However, when college ended Collingwood concentrated on writing one-act plays, while his partner took a number of temporary positions. They eventually reunited in Boston, but after signing a recording contract as The Wallflowers they abandoned their clame to that name (they actually sold their rights to the name to another Wallflowers, featuring Bob Dylan's son Jakob). The proposed record never appeared. Despite problems over freedom of contract that dogged them for three years, and their geographical seperation (Collingwood was now living in New York), they continued to play the occasional gig under the name Pinwheel, when worked together as Ivy. By the time the pair finally found the time to record new songs together, Schlesinger had become co-owner of Scratchie Records with D'Arcy Wretzky and James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins (they are also now managed by Metallica/Smashing Pumpkins manager Peter Mensch). The result was a self-titled collection of 12 brittle songs that were occasionally arch about pop music history, but still affectionate towards it: 'When we came across some total cliché, we'd immediately leap right into it. If there was a bit of a melody that sounded like the Beach Boys or Cheap Trick, or a guitar riff that sounded like Blue Öyster Cult, we immediately put it in.' Little wonder the duo had adopted the mocking self-description 'The Grunge Everly Brothers'. The first single to be extracted from the album, "Radiation Vibe", reached UK number 32. The band also achieved a furry of publicity when their song "That Thing You Do!" was included in the Tom Hanks film of the same name, and led to them being nominated for an Oscar. By the time Fountains of Wayne began their European tour of 1997 they had expanded their line-up to include Brian Young of the Posies on drums and former Belltower guitarist Jody Porter. Their sophomore effort, Utopia Parkway, followed in 1999.