Fans of Adam Schlesinger, the Fountains of Wayne musician who died of coronavirus aged 52, are paying tribute to the musician, highlighting the wide range of renowned songs he wrote.
As well as co-writing the rock band’s hits, including “Radiation Vibe” and the Grammy-nominated “Stacy’s Mom”, Schlesinger was hired to write songs for numerous films and TV shows.
One such film where fans can hear his work is in Music & Lyrics, the romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore.
Released in 2007, the film follows Grant’s 1980s pop idol and Barrymore’s struggling songwriter who team up to compose a song for a young superstar named Cora Corman (Haley Bennett).
Schlesinger wrote the song that’s introduced as the winning choice, which proves a hit for Cora – it’s called “Way Back Into Love” and has been branded “criminally underrated” by his fans.
He also wrote and played piano for “Don’t Write Me Off”, which is performed in the film by Grant, and penned the lyrics for “Work to Do”, the song performed by America that’s played over the end credits.
Grant paid tribute to the musician, writing on Twitter: “Bleak, bleak news. Adam Schlesinger. Bona fide genius and lovely person. Gold and silver.”
In the previous decade, Schlesinger wrote the title track of That Thing You Do! (1996), the film directed by and starring Tom Hanks.
The song – serving as the hit song of fictional 1960s band The Wonders – was nominated for Best Original Song at the Oscars, but lost out to Madonna’s “You Must Love Me” from Evita.
Following the news of Schlesinger’s death, Hanks paid tribute to the multi-talented musician on Twitter and attributed him with the launch of his film and television production company.
Most recently, Schlesinger wrote songs for and served as executive music producer of TV series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
