Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Remembering Adam Schlesinger ~ Just The Music Stuff 09Jul25

RIP Adam ~ died April Fools Day 2020 (Covid 19). I've long been a fan. First for me was the super humorous Fountains of Wayne with Chris. Off of the popular 'Stacy's Mom' originality, I was "in." I am a NYC pop fan so his offers are accessible to me, and with Chris, hysterical. FoW laid down some of the best Power Pop ever. He's a bassist and backup but a songwriter and producer more so.

I next encountered him, after many movies and awards behind the scenes on animations and otherwise, on 'Crazy Ex Girlfriend;' this was a breakthrough musical serial show with funny folks and great songs, on which Adam was a heavy contributor. If you have not seen it, do, as it is must-watch TV. His collab with Rachel is brilliant ~ two minds of one sense. Here is a great song (don't be offended ~ be aware it's irreverent, at best). "Tapped That Ass"

I didn't chase Ivy in the 90's; now I have. I'm down with some Alt & Dream Pop too so sure, include Ivy. He's won too many awards to repeat; go to Wikipedia. I became most aware of Ivy on their more recent sampling of Adam for future releases... dunno who the royalties go to for 'Traces...' but 'Apartment Life' and others of Ivy are the real deal for dream pop.

There's also Fever High about the same time, when he was producing and on keys. These guys were more synth-pop, and Adam was ever present.

While Tinted Windows wasn't his finest hour IMO, he did attract a super-group for that experiment.

This all came back to my mind as I sampled a collab from Cerebral with Finback of NYC. DDHs are always my jam. 'Welcome Interstate Managers' from Fountains of Wayne, and many from Crazy Ex are the best IMO. 

Update ~ Late August 2025... I attended the Ivy listening party on Bandcamp for the "Traces of You" album. Adam's Ivy bandmates had bass riffs and more recordings of Adam and dropped an album they recorded over his old tapes. Pretty cool... pretty good too.


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