Songs You May Have Missed #443

07 Jul 2013 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ,

Fountains of Wayne: “Maureen” (2005)

Who releases a “career-spanning”, two-disc rarities compilation when their career has only spanned three albums?

Who follows up their big breakthrough hit with a sprawling, untidy musical curio cabinet of B-sides, soundtrack contributions, live tracks, covers, out and out jokes…and little nuggets of pure pop gold?

For that matter, who is nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy award for their third album?

Fountains of Wayne had a career as strange as their name–taken from a lawn ornament store in New Jersey. Alas, both the store and the band are no more.

But power pop burners like “Maureen” are testament to the songcraft of founding members Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger, perhaps the best songwriting pair in the genre.

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2012/04/12/songs-you-may-have-missed-75/

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/04/04/songs-you-may-have-missed-384/

Songs You May Have Missed #384

04 Apr 2013 1 Comment

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ,

fountains of wayne

Fountains of Wayne: “Better Things” (2002)

The 2002 Rykodisc Kinks tribute This is Where I Belong focused not on the “tired and true” Ray Davies-penned material; there’s nary a “Lola” or “You Really Got Me” or “Come Dancing” in the bunch. Instead, a collection of well-qualified, well-respected men and women such as Jonathan Richman, Bebel Gilberto, Steve Forbert, Ron Sexsmith and Matthew Sweet knock around some of the more interesting second-tier Davies material–the deep cuts.

So tunes like “Starstruck”, “Victoria”, “Picture Book” and “Muswell Hillbilly” get a fresh look-in. And power poppers Fountains of Wayne turn up the volume on “Better Things”, an anthem for graduates if I ever heard one.

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2012/04/12/songs-you-may-have-missed-75/

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/07/07/songs-you-may-have-missed-443/

Songs You May Have Missed #75

12 Apr 2012 2 Comments

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ,

plates

Fountains of Wayne: “The Girl I Can’t Forget” (2005)

Great power pop story song from the genre’s cleverest lyricists. The intelligence and wit of Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger is unmatched among bands making this type of music.

Pigeonholed by their 2003 hit “Stacy’s Mom”, the band made a lot of fake fans, many of whom flaked away as soon as they realized FOW’s other songs weren’t similarly written for single-celled organisms. “Stacy’s Mom Syndrome” should be the name for that phenomenon of a band having one massive hit that is totally unrepresentative of their catalog. (Sounds better than “Tubthumping Syndrome”, right?)

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/04/04/songs-you-may-have-missed-384/

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/07/07/songs-you-may-have-missed-443/