RIP Adam Schesinger

When the news came in on Tuesday that Adam Schlesinger, primary member of Fountains of Wayne and a helluva songwriter, had been hospitalized with COVID-19, I immediately started revisiting the 1996 debut FoW album. It had been years since I listened to it but it lived in heavy rotation when it was released (I was in high school). It was, and still is, the perfect blend of nerdy outsider pop songs mixed with big heavy guitars from time to time. When it came to light that Schlesinger also wrote the main song for That Thing You Do, I was smitten.

I fell out of favor with the band over the years - a combination of "Stacy's Mom" being a bridge too far and just discovering other music - but I never lost a single ounce of affection for that first record or Schlesinger's talent.

Hearing that he passed away on Wednesday was a total gut punch. Lots of people for Tom Hanks and John Prine - sentiments I empathize with - but Schlesinger hits closer to home for me. I'm sure this feeling will become more common over the coming months but this was the first real stinger for me.

• Radiation Vibe (Official Video) - this is the song that initially pulled me in. I'm sure nostalgia clouds my feelings on it but I swear it's still perfect.
• Sink to the Bottom (Official Video) - another one from the 1996 debut that I can't hear too often. Name a better slacker love song, you can't.
• That Thing You Do - Schlesinger wrote this and as Rachell Wenitsky points out - what a "Herculean task it must have been to write a song that sounded like it could be the most famous song in the world." And he DID IT.
• Radiation Vibe (Live on Conan)- just seeing this for the first time now and that drum head solidifies my good feelings.

RIP Schlesinger.