Why do people have a hard time taking funny music seriously? If a song makes us laugh, it's dismissed as a novelty, like Randy Newman's "Short People" or Loudon Wainwright's "One Man Guy." Never mind that these songwriters can also compose a love song as well as anyone else. As soon as they get a chuckle out of us, we assume they're lightweights, just out for a laugh. We don't have the same problem accepting a blend of drama and humor when we go to the movies. They're called dramedies, and James L. Brooks has won a few Oscars making them. So why the aversion to humor in popular music?
I don't know, but it's hurt Fountains of Wayne. Led by the songwriting team of Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger, they're known for their 2003 hit "Stacy's Mom," and that's about it. Due to the success of that single, they've been relegated to the joke bin with Ray Stevens and "Pac Man Fever," but they deserve more. Personally, I think "Stacy's Mom" is brilliant, and not such a bad legacy, but there's a lot more to Fountains of Wayne.
Their second album, Utopia Parkway, was such a flop Atlantic Records dropped them afterwards. Why more people didn't buy it, I don't understand. Why radio wouldn't play it, well, it keeps me up nights. Like all the band's music, it walks a tightrope between being riotously funny and painfully true. Nobody has written about youthful angst with this much insight and wit since John Hughes, but you can't sing along to John Hughes, unless you count that really cheesy "Twist and Shout" scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and I don't.
Fountains of Wayne's songs feature fully developed characters in familiar situations. "Utopia Parkway" introduces us to a narrator plotting his deserved rock stardom. "Laser Show" takes us on a (stoned?) trip to the local planetarium. "Prom Theme" is the story of a magical night as told by Electric Light Orchestra. Each one of these songs is hilarious, but also crafted with great care, and the melodies linger after the laughter fades.
The key song is "Red Dragon Tattoo." In it, our young hero gets inked so his crush will notice him. "Will you stop pretending I've never been born/Now I look a little more like that guy from Korn?" he pleads. Sure, it's funny, but we've all kind of been there, and the song rocks like a great old Cars track.
But the important thing is that when Fountains of Wayne aren't being funny, they're still a great band. "Troubled Times" deserves to be a classic, with its hummable chorus and lyrics about a lost love. The finest writers are the ones who best observe details and find creative, surprising ways to incorporate them. Schlesinger and Collingwood are great writers, populating their world with cover bands and custom vans and driving home on the L.I.E. Here's a test: listen to one Fountains of Wayne song, just one, and try and tell me you haven't met somebody just like one of their characters. It might even be you.
TODAY'S RECOMMENDATION: "Red Dragon Tattoo" by Fountains of Wayne
AVAILABLE ON: Utopia Parkway; iTunes
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1 comment:
I guess my problem after "Sink to the Bottom" was that I didn't like the music bit of the band :P
I'd be willing to give some of their other stuff a shot though, even if "Stacy's Mom" (besides the lyrics) has a melody I've heard a zillion times before.
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