Fountains of Wayne are an American power pop/alternative rock band that formed in 1996 in New York City.
The band's music is known for having quirky, ironic, and witty lyrics that often focus on minute events in modern American suburban life.[3][1][4] The Village Voice has stated that "the left-bent, middle-class everymen in these songs are consistently disarming", with lyrics "exacting in their detail".[2] Rolling Stone has labeled them "the voice" of Generation X upon the collapse of Nirvana
The band was formed by songwriters Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood. The two first met as freshmen at Williams College and began playing music together in various bands. They eventually went their separate ways, with Collingwood forming the Mercy Buckets in Boston and Schlesinger forming Ivy in New York City. The two met up once again during the mid-1990s and formed Fountains of Wayne.
The band name was taken from a lawn ornament store in Wayne, New Jersey called "Fountains of Wayne", which subsequently went out of business in 2009. The store was located at the intersection of U.S. Route 46 and New Jersey Route 23,[6] not far from Montclair, New Jersey, the hometown of the band's bassist and co-founder Adam Schlesinger. The store can be seen in The Sopranos episode "Another Toothpick". Initially the band went by other names, including Are You My Mother? and Woolly Mammoth.
A demo eventually landed the two a deal with Atlantic Records, and in 1996 the band released its self-titled debut. The album spawned the singles "Radiation Vibe" and "Sink to the Bottom", which both received airplay. Coincidentally, at around the same time the title song for the film That Thing You Do!, which Schlesinger wrote, became a hit. That Thing You Do! also brought Schlesinger an Oscar nomination and an RIAA gold certification for the hit soundtrack.
Along with guitarist Jody Porter and drummer Brian Young, the band toured the world extensively behind the album, playing alongside bands such as The Smashing Pumpkins and The Lemonheads.
In 1999 the band released its second album, Utopia Parkway, named after a road in Queens, New York. The album was something of a concept record that dealt with life in modern suburbia. Utopia Parkway was received well by critics, garnering many favorable reviews, and was album of the week in People magazine. The group once again toured extensively behind the album, but frustrations grew between the band and the label. The band was later dropped by Atlantic in late 1999.
The band was inactive for a period of time. Schlesinger found work as a writer and producer and co-wrote many of the songs for the Josie and the Pussycats film and soundtrack. He also produced albums for the Verve Pipe and David Mead, as well as several tracks by They Might Be Giants. He released a third record with his other band Ivy on Nettwerk records.
During the group's hiatus, Collingwood formed and fronted a pop-country band entitled the Gay Potatoes based in the Northampton, Massachusetts area. He also played a string of solo shows in the Boston and Los Angeles areas. Guitarist Jody Porter worked with his band The Astrojet alongside famed producer Gordon Raphael and keyboardist David Zhang in the New York City area. Drummer Brian Young played with Ivy and found session work for various artists.
Sometime in 2001 the band slowly came back together, recording a cover of The Kinks' "Better Things" for the tribute album This Is Where I Belong: Songs of Ray Davies and the Kinks. The group also recorded the theme song for the Comedy Central show Crank Yankers, and wrote songs for, and appeared as animated characters in, the VH1 cartoon series Hey Joel with columnist Joel Stein. The show aired briefly on VH1 in 2003, but was later picked up by Teletoon in Canada. The band members appeared performing original songs that typically reviewed the plot developments immediately preceding their performance, in addition to the show's theme song.