Fountains of Wayne

Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood met as freshmen at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts but initially performed in different bands - with Collingwood forming Mercy Buckets in Boston and Schlesinger launching Ivy in New York. However, they met up again in New York and the result iwas the power pop band Fountains Of Wayne, taking their name from a lawn ornament store in Wayne, New Jersey. In 1996 the band was signed by Atlantic Record, released their self-titled debut album and had their first hit with That Thing You Do - the theme tune to the movie of the same name which won Schlesinger an Academy Award nomination. With the addition of guitarist Jody Porter and drummer Brian Young, the group toured constantly and released a concept album about suburban life, Utopia Parkway. They dropped beneath the radar, however, after splitting with Atlantic Records, but returned with the album Welcome Interstate Managers in 2003; which produced their biggest hit Stacy's Mom, promoted by a memorable video starring Rachel Hunter. In 2007 they released the Traffic & Weather album, but sales were relatively poor.