Musician, songwriter and producer Adam Schlesinger, who died at the age of 52 on March 31 of complications from the coronavirus, was honored in a special program on the April 6 edition of The Devo Rock Show.
Schlesinger was a founding member of both Ivy and Fountains of Wayne and worked in theater, television and film as a musician and producer. He appeared on WRTC a number of times in the past.
Born in New York City, he grew up in Montclair, N.J., and graduated from Williams College where he met future bandmate Chris Collingwood who he later co-founded the power-pop band Fountains Of Wayne in 1995.
Schlesinger’s first band, Ivy, formed in 1994 in New York City with Andy Chase and Domique Durand. Ivy’s first single, “Get Enough” (Seed Records), was named single of the week by Melody Maker in 1994.
Chase would later help him compose the theme song to the 1996 film That Thing You Do, starring Tom Hanks and Liv Tyler.
Fountains Of Wayne released their debut single “Radiation Vibe” in 1996 and it became an alternative rock hit. Their biggest hit, “Stacey’s Mom,” came in 2003 following the release of the album Welcome Interstate Managers.
In an interview included in the program — recorded by Devo on the day the single was released — Schlesinger revealed that the characters in the song were made up. The secret to the song’s success is described as being the result of the video which includes Rachel Hunter wearing only a towel.
In another interview recorded prior to the release of their album Sky Full Of Holes, which will also be included in the program, Schlesinger describes how he gets the ideas for songs and some of his production techniques.
In addition to Fountains of Wayne and Ivy, Schlesinger was part of the bands Tinted Windows — which featured James Iha of The Smashing Pumpkins and Taylor Hanson — and Fever High. He wrote songs and produced music for the television program Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and wrote music for the Tony Awards.
He won a Grammy Award in 2009 for best comedy album — A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! — and was a producer for bands such as Fastball, They Might Be Giants, Verve Pipe and The Monkees.