Ep571: Fountains of Wayne Returns! with Chris Collingwood

By:
On:
In: Uncategorized
With: 0 Comments

Fountains of Wayne’s Chris Collingwood talks about bringing the band back after Adam Schlesinger’s death, pros and cons of “Stacy’s Mom,” songwriting memories and what’s next for the band.

Topics Include:

  • Fountainheads, Elle Macpherson and kangaroos: Chris’s surreal first Australian visit.
  • Late bandmate Adam’s presence, and how punk-bred Max reshapes the sound.
  • Beatles, boarding-school hand-me-downs, Moody Blues and UK post-punk: formative records.
  • Rickie Lee Jones obsession, and why Chris refuses the nostalgia circuit.
  • “Stacy’s Mom”: Chris argued against recording it, fearing novelty-act status.
  • Welcome Interstate Managers’ anything-goes plan; Sky Full of Holes’ unresolved fights.
  • Debut written in one afternoon; Adam built thirty years on it.
  • Napkin song titles at the Radio Bar launched the band.
  • Drunk sessions, the “dumbest” co-writes, and Adam’s resistance to criticism.
  • Breath-friendly rewrites, “gerbil” over “hamster,” and finishing Adam’s half-written “Sick Day.”
  • How Chris darkened “Sick Day,” and learning to edit after Utopia Parkway.
  • A Gordon Lightfoot tangent, and Adam A/B-ing mixes against “Jessie’s Girl.”
  • Title-first Adam versus structure-breaking Chris on “Someone’s Gonna Break Your Heart.”
  • Proudest songs: “Cemetery Guns” played at a real military funeral.
  • “Senator’s Daughter” began as “Tape Recorder”; “Mexican Wine” imitates Chris.
  • Why Chris prefers Bowie-style ambiguity, and twenty years sober.
  • The narrator isn’t the singer, plus a provocative take on Pearl Jam.
  • Adam’s cynicism: the Stones and Clash as cons, songwriting as craft.
  • “Richie and Ruben,” Adam’s failed-business obsession, and a name-dropping critique.
  • Unreleased outtakes, and why re-recording “Stacy’s Mom” hit a snag.
  • New Fountains of Wayne music is underway, and it might be jazzy.
  • Fans thinking the singer died, a Yokohama arena, and Bowling for Soup.
  • A late roadie’s haunting “Survival Car,” and the magic of fan covers.
  • Weezer’s TikTok revival, music outliving its makers, and a health crisis.
  • Antidepressants, losing 35 pounds, and back pain at Milwaukee’s Summerfest.
  • Eight months of yoga straightened his spine, restoring his 1998 range.
  • Songs return to original keys; “Hey Julie” remains a tough one.
  • Reviving “Maureen,” skipping “Amity Gardens,” and the story behind “Cemetery Guns.”
  • Writing “Places” on tour, and an unauthorized reissue mastered from CD.
  • Reissue typos, bad timing after Adam’s death, and B-sides for seven-inches.
  • Stacy’s Mom’s first-ever gold download, plus a Sky Full of Holes reissue.

Extended and high resolution version of this podcast is available at: www.Patreon.com/VinylGuide

Source

Leave a Reply