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Adam Schlesinger

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AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists:

Adam Schlesinger

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Biography

With an impressive list of credits to his name (including being a member of not just one, but two, eminent indie/power pop bands), Adam Schlesinger did much to establish himself as one of the busiest, hardest-working musicians of the '90s and beyond. Born on October 31, 1967, into a family with predominant musical backgrounds, Schlesinger began taking piano lessons at age five. After playing in bands throughout high school, he headed off to Williams College in Massachusetts, where he soon met guitarist/songwriter Chris Collingwood. The pair began writing and playing music together in a number of different bands while finishing their degrees, and they eventually recorded an unreleased album under the name of Pinnwheel. In 1991, Schlesinger left Massachusetts for New York (effectively dissolving his musical partnership with Collingwood), and by 1993, he was taken aboard as the bass player for the indie pop trio Ivy.

Ivy released their debut album, Realistic, in early 1995; in the meantime, Schlesinger stayed busy with a number of other projects, including composing tracks for television programs and commercials. He also penned the title track for the Tom Hanks film That Thing You Do!, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. In late 1995, Schlesinger became a principal in the newly formed Scratchie Records label, a business venture begun in part with D'Arcy and James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins. It was around this time that Chris Collingwood (now also living in New York) got back in touch with Schlesinger to play him a few new tracks he had written. Impressed with what he heard, Schlesinger reunited with Collingwood, and together they quickly proceeded to write a large batch of new songs that would become the basis for their new project, Fountains of Wayne. Fountains of Wayne released their self-titled debut album in late 1996; the follow-up, Utopia Parkway, appeared a couple years later in 1998. Meanwhile, Schlesinger remained a part of Ivy, who released Apartment Life in 1997 and Long Distance in 2001. Both bands continued to release material as the early 2000s progressed, and Schlesinger expanded his reach by also appearing on a number of recordings by other artists, in the various roles of producer, songwriter, and performer. ~ Steve Bekkala, Rovi
Wikipedia on Answers.com:

Adam Schlesinger

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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Adam Schlesinger
Background information
Origin New York, NY,
United States
Genres Power pop, rock
Occupations Bassist, songwriter, producer
Instruments Bass guitar, guitar, piano, drums
Associated acts Fountains of Wayne, Ivy, Tinted Windows

Adam Schlesinger is an American songwriter, composer and record producer. He has been nominated for Oscar, Tony, Emmy, Grammy (3 noms, 1 win), and Golden Globe Awards. He is also a winner of the ASCAP Pop Music Award.

He is the bassist for the bands Fountains of Wayne, Ivy and Tinted Windows. He is an owner of Scratchie Records[1] and Stratosphere Sound,[2] a recording studio in New York City. Schlesinger grew up in Manhattan and Montclair, New Jersey.[3]

Contents

Awards and nominations

Schlesinger was nominated for an Academy Award[4] and a Golden Globe Award[5] for writing the title track of the Tom Hanks-directed film That Thing You Do![6] as well as two other songs for the film. Fountains of Wayne was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2003 for Best New Artist and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Stacy's Mom".[7]

Schlesinger and David Javerbaum were nominated for a 2008 Tony Award for Best Original Score for his music for the musical Cry-Baby.[8]

Schlesinger and Javerbaum also received a 2009 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Music And Lyrics, for their song "Much Worse Things", performed by Elvis Costello and Stephen Colbert on the television special and album A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! The album, co-written by Schlesinger and Javerbaum, and co-produced by Schlesinger and Steven M. Gold, also won the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.

Schlesinger and Molly Boylan received a 2011 Daytime Emmy nomination for the song "I Wonder" from Sesame Street.

Songwriting

In films

Schlesinger wrote and co-produced the title song to Tom Hanks' directorial debut, That Thing You Do!. He composed and produced several original songs, including Way Back into Love, for the 2007 film Music and Lyrics, starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore.[9][10] He scored the 2012 Whit Stillman film "Damsels In Distress" along with Mark Suozzo. He wrote an original song for the summer 2012 film "Ice Age 4." His music has also been featured in films such as Shallow Hal (which he scored with Ivy);[11] Robots;[12] There's Something About Mary;[11] Me, Myself & Irene;[13] Josie and the Pussycats;[10] Scary Movie;[14] Art School Confidential;[15] Fever Pitch;[16] The Manchurian Candidate;[17] Because of Winn-Dixie;[18] Orange County;[19] Two Weeks Notice;,[13] and others.

Songs performed by other artists

In theatre

Schlesinger and The Daily Show Executive Producer David Javerbaum co-wrote the songs for the musical theater adaptation of the John Waters film Cry-Baby.[20] Cry-Baby debuted at the La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla, California, in November 2007.[20] Previews for the Broadway run began at the Marquis Theatre on March 15, 2008. Its official opening night was April 24, 2008.[21]

Schlesinger and Javerbaum also co-wrote the opening number of the 2011 Tony Awards ceremony, "It's Not Just For Gays Anymore", performed by Neil Patrick Harris, and the opening number of the 2011 Emmy Awards, "TV Is A Vast Wonderland", performed by Jane Lynch.

In television

Schlesinger's television composing work includes theme music, songs, and/or score for "A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!", "The 2011 Tony Awards", "The 2011 Emmy Awards", "Big Time Rush", "T.U.F.F. Puppy" (Nickelodeon), "Fresh Beat Band" (Nickelodeon), "Kathy" (Bravo), "Crank Yankers", "The Billboard Music Awards", "Bubble Guppies" (Nick Jr.), "The Howard Stern Show", "Sesame Street", Comedy Central's "Night Of Too Many Stars", Robert Smigel's cartoons for Saturday Night Live, The Comedy Awards (Comedy Central), "American Dreams", Stephen King's "Kingdom Hospital", "The In-Laws", "The Man Show", "Too Late With Adam Corolla", "The Dana Carvey Show", "John Leguizamo's House Of Buggin'", "My Kind Of Town", and others. His songs have also been licensed for use on numerous television shows including Scrubs, The Hills, Gossip Girl, Melrose Place, Felicity, Roswell, and others.

Production work

As a record producer and mixer, he has worked with Dashboard Confessional, Swirl 360, Tahiti 80, Motion City Soundtrack,[22] Verve Pipe,[14] Robert Plant, America,[23] The Sounds, They Might Be Giants,[24] Fastball, and many other artists, as well as producing or co-producing five Fountains of Wayne and five Ivy albums.

Side projects

Schlesinger is also in a side project band called Tinted Windows formed by guitarist James Iha, previously of The Smashing Pumpkins and A Perfect Circle, singer Taylor Hanson of Hanson, and Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick. This new project will run alongside all the artists' main bands.

Personal life

Schlesinger[25] is a cousin of Jon Bernthal, an off-Broadway and TV actor, best known for his role on the AMC television series The Walking Dead. Schlesinger is also the grandson of the late Murray Bernthal (1911–2010), an important musician and producer, long active in Syracuse, New York.[26]

References

  1. ^ McCormick, Moira (1999-12-04). "Scratchie Records Is Back In The Game With New Releases". Billboard. http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/miscellaneous-retail-retail-stores-not/4630524-1.html. 
  2. ^ Campion, James (2007-04-06). "Adam Schlesinger Interview". Aquarian Weekly. http://www.jamescampion.com/fow-dialogue.html. 
  3. ^ Wise, Brian (2004-02-08). "Eclectic Sounds of New Jersey, Echoing From Coast to Coast". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04E5DE163AF93BA35751C0A9629C8B63. Retrieved 2007-11-21. 
  4. ^ Drees, Rich. "That Tune You Do: Writing The Music For That Thing You Do". FilmBuffOnline. http://www.filmbuffonline.com/Features/ThatTuneYouDo.htm. 
  5. ^ Aswad, Jem. "Adam Schlesinger: Those Things He Do". The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. http://ascap.com/musicbiz/schlesinger.html. 
  6. ^ "KTVU.com Talks To Fountains Of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger". KTVU. 2007-06-22. http://www.ktvu.com/entertainment/13554930/detail.html. 
  7. ^ "OutKast leads Grammy nods". CNN. 2003-12-04. http://edition.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/12/04/grammy.nominations/index.html. [dead link]
  8. ^ "'In the Heights' heads list of Tony nominees". Associated Press (MSNBC). May 13, 2008. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24594561/wid/21370087/. 
  9. ^ Leopold, Todd (2007-04-03). "Creating some 'Music and Lyrics'". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/04/03/sidebar.schlesinger/index.html. 
  10. ^ a b Rabin, Nathan (2007-04-25). "Interview with Adam Schlesinger". A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/content/interview/adam_schlesinger. 
  11. ^ a b Daly, Sean (2005-04-03). "Songwriter Schlesinger: His Expertise Is Catchy". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18956-2005Apr1.html. 
  12. ^ "Robots". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on 23 February 2008. http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808512304/cast. Retrieved 2008-02-04. 
  13. ^ a b Kenny, Glenn. "The Music — and Lyrics — Man". Premiere.com (Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc.). http://www.premiere.com/features/3784/the-music-151-and-lyrics-151-man.html. Retrieved 2008-02-04. 
  14. ^ a b Cohen, Jonathan. "Andy Chase, Dominique Durand and Adam Schlesinger: No Distance Too Far". Nude as the News. http://www.nudeasthenews.com/interviews/30. 
  15. ^ "Art School Confidential". Yahoo! Movies. http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808628304/cast. Retrieved 2008-02-04. 
  16. ^ Vancheri, Barbara (2007-02-14). "Music and Lyrics: Comedy's catchy, but not classic". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07045/761829-120.stm. 
  17. ^ Harris, Will (2007-04-05). "A Chat With Adam Schlesinger". Bullz-Eye.com. http://www.bullz-eye.com/music/interviews/2007/adam_schlesinger.htm. 
  18. ^ Hay, Carla (2004-11-30). "Harris, Colvin, Finns Whistle 'Dixie'". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000728443. 
  19. ^ "Orange County". Yahoo! Movies. http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1807736420/cast. Retrieved 2008-02-04. 
  20. ^ a b "La Jolla Playhouse Presents Broadway-Bound Cry-Baby" (PDF) (Press release). 2007-09-27. http://www.lajollaplayhouse.org/PR/DownloadReleases/CryBabyRelease.pdf. 
  21. ^ Cry-Baby at the Internet Broadway Database
  22. ^ "Motion City Soundtrack: Full Biography". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/motion_city_soundtrack/artist.jhtml. 
  23. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (2006-01-17). "Schlesinger, Iha Producing New America Disc". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001847255. 
  24. ^ Di Perna, Alan. "Adam Schlesinger: Welcome Interstate Musicians". Harp (November/December 2004). https://www.harpmagazine.com/reviews/cd_reviews/detail.cfm?article_id=2415. 
  25. ^ Bekkala, Steve. "Adam Schlesinger Biography." AOL Music. Web. 6 Oct. 2011. <http://music.aol.com/artist/adam-schlesinger/biography>.
  26. ^ "Murray Bernthal dies at 99". BWW News Desk. December 11, 2010. http://centralnewyork.broadwayworld.com/article/Murray_Bernthal_Dies_at_99_20101210. . Adam graduated from Williams College in Williamstown, MA.

External links

Fountains of Wayne
Albums
Compilation
Singles
Discography

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

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Mentioned in

Realistic (1995 Album by Ivy)
Meg Hentges (Rock Artist, '90s)
Mike Viola (Rock Artist, '90s, 2000s)
Fountains of Wayne (1996 Album by Fountains of Wayne)
Ask Anybody (1998 Album by Swirl)
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