Adam Schlesinger (1967-2020)

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DarkImbecile
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Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
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Adam Schlesinger (1967-2020)

#1 Post by DarkImbecile » Wed Apr 01, 2020 6:37 pm

Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne, due to COVID-19 complications

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swo17
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Re: Passages

#2 Post by swo17 » Wed Apr 01, 2020 7:35 pm


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bearcuborg
Joined: Fri Sep 14, 2007 2:30 am
Location: Philadelphia via Chicago

Re: Passages

#3 Post by bearcuborg » Wed Apr 01, 2020 11:20 pm

DarkImbecile wrote:
Wed Apr 01, 2020 6:37 pm
Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne, due to COVID-19 complications
Wow, that’s awful and horrifying. I caught Governor Cuomo this morning saying that once your on the ventilator, you’re not likely to get off it-so hearing hearing Adam was sick and on one, I knew things weren’t looking good.

The first 3 Fountains of* Wayne albums were a lot of fun.
Last edited by bearcuborg on Thu Apr 02, 2020 11:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

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hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
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Re: Passages

#4 Post by hearthesilence » Thu Apr 02, 2020 12:36 am

bearcuborg wrote:
Wed Apr 01, 2020 11:20 pm
DarkImbecile wrote:
Wed Apr 01, 2020 6:37 pm
Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne, due to COVID-19 complications
Wow, that’s awful and horrifying. I caught Governor Cuomo this morning saying that once your on the ventilator, you’re not likely to get off it-so hearing hearing Adam was sick and on one, I knew things weren’t looking good.

The first 3 Fountains KD Wayne albums were a lot of fun.
I posted earlier about two documentary filmmakers, Gordon Quinn and Michelle Esrick, and they both managed to get off ventilators...but they're not exactly in great shape and are expecting long recoveries. So there is hope, but I don't want to oversell it either - one of the major concerns is that even if you survive an infection, your lungs could be heavily damaged with extensive scarring.

Very sad about Schlesigner. Those three albums are indeed a lot of fun, and I still get a shot of nostalgia when I hear them - the sunny power pop seems to lend itself to that. Schlesigner generally wrote the funnier songs, and he went on to do great work in the film and TV world. It's hard to believe he's gone, it's a brutal reminder how vulnerable we all are right now, regardless of age.

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hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: Passages

#5 Post by hearthesilence » Thu Apr 02, 2020 1:22 am

Good tribute from the A.V. Club, with a link to their 2001 interview with him.

Love this quote about his Oscar nominated song for That Thing You Do: “I was up against Andrew Lloyd Webber and Diane Warren. You know, all my peers, basically,” Schlesinger said in that 2001 interview of losing the 1997 Oscar to Lloyd Webber for Evita’s “You Must Love Me.” “It was funny, because Diane Warren was sitting right in front of me, and she writes these really sappy love ballads, but her personality does not fit her music. When he won, she was like, ‘That piece of shit won?’”

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bdsweeney
Joined: Mon Apr 07, 2008 7:09 pm

Re: Passages

#6 Post by bdsweeney » Thu Apr 02, 2020 9:31 am

Only just heard of Adam Schlesinger's death due to Covid. Awfully sad. Stunningly talented songwriter with the same quality as a Ray Davies-type: able to tell stories of fully dimensional personalities in a three-minute pop song. If there's one song that really sums up this, it's 'Sick Day' off the first Fountains of Wayne self-titled debut. So sad.

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hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: Passages

#7 Post by hearthesilence » Thu Apr 02, 2020 4:09 pm

Adam Schlesinger’s 30 Essential Songs by Rob Tannenbaum for the New York Times

This bit about Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is astounding: "Over the course of four seasons, Schlesinger wrote or co-wrote 157 songs for this groundbreaking music comedy, an astoundingly fecund pace, in a huge variety of styles."

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TraverseTown
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2014 4:38 am

Re: Adam Schlesinger (1967-2020)

#8 Post by TraverseTown » Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:51 pm

He passed in the Upstate NY hospital only a few minutes from my house, one of only ~5 COVID deaths in my county. Very sad news.

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