Fountains of Wayne

by Fiona McQuarrie

Fountains of Wayne, the first full-length biography of the beloved band, goes beyond their huge hit "Stacy's Mom" to explore the group's entire history and the lasting legacy of the group's music. With their brilliantly written songs, which combine smart pop melodies with keenly observed lyrical portraits of ordinary life, Fountains of Wayne have acquired devoted fans all around the world. Fountains of Wayne chronicles the highs and lows of the group's career, demonstrating why the band continues to be admired, listened to, and celebrated.

Genres: Nonfiction, Music

180 pages, Paperback

Published March 13, 2025

Reviews

[Bruce Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fiona McQuarrie’s 2025 book on Fountains of Wayne evinces the admiration of a fan and the research diligence of an academic. This is a fine combination as readers are likely to already be fellow fans and will recognise a kindred spirit, while the writer’s rigorous approach both builds confidence and constantly throws up surprising tidbits. Who knew, for example, that Adam Schlesinger wrote a song for a Stephen Colbert Christmas Special that was performed by Willie Nelson?
In fact, Adam S’s side projects were abundant in number and astonishingly diverse. Here are a few.
- The title song for the Tom Hanks film That Thing You Do
- A stage (music theatre) adaptation of John Waters film Cry-Baby
- Schlesinger’s other band, Ivy, were very active and productive
- Writing a Top 20 hit for The Click Five
- Songs for Sesame Street

A sense that the band was short on lucky breaks drifts through the narrative. Fiona McQuarrie reports, for instance, how an important Boston gig fell on the same night as the last ever episode of the much-loved TV series Friends, leading to an underwhelming turnout. Or consider how, after the band broke up, Chris Collingwood became an Uber driver. “It’s a good way to meet people,” he explained. The songwriter continued the gig until, we are told, “his car got too old to meet Uber’s vehicle requirements.” Ah, the glamour of the rock lifestyle.

Although written with warmth and affection, Fiona does not shy away from some of the hard edges of the music biz. She doesn’t blink when reporting how critical responses to 2007’s Traffic and Weather were “lukewarm”. A recurrent theme is the struggle for success amidst record company expectations (and often pressure). You cannot help but grin ruefully at this incisive quote from a Capitol Records Senior Marketing VP. “The consumer is a very fickle person. There are no guarantees.” Thanks for that, VP in charge of the Bleedin’ Obvious.

I enjoyed how the author, using only secondary sources, manages to convey the almost spooky way in which the bitter sweet undertone of many Fountains of Wayne songs permeates their own story. Here’s a fabulous quote from journalist Les Gehrett.
“Fountains of Wayne,” he wrote, “Isn’t a party band. It is a band for people who didn’t get invited to the party, or who got stuck in traffic on the way to the party, or for those who managed to make it to the party but then spent the whole night sitting in a corner.”
If you identify with any of that, you really should be a Fountains of Wayne fan. If you are, you’ll devour this book.

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Sink to the Bottom” off FoW’s first record is IMO a perfect song, but I haven’t really explored much of their catalogue past that first album. That said, I was still very excited to read this and devoured it quickly. It suffers a little from relying on secondhand sources (no members of the band were interviewed by the author, unfortunately), but still very much worth the read. Really enjoyed it and definitely looking forward to digging into more of FoW’s discography after reading it.

[Carola · Rating 2 out of 5]

You've got to be a huge FoW fan to think this is a great book. The author tells you at the end of the book that she did not have the input of any of the band members when writing it, so it is basically a compilation of information from all of the material about the band that is available in magazines, newspapers, CD inserts, and the internet.

[JW Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Without first-person accounts of the band's history, this book does a nice job describing the career and importance of Fountains of Wayne. The only real criticism is the apparent lack of editing - sentences that don't end, odd hyphen breaks, etc. It slightly takes away from an otherwise enjoyable book.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Fountains are one of my favorite bands and I learned a lot about them from this terrific book. There's a ton of research here, from their early days right up to the eve of their current mini-tour. A great read.

[Ray George · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a talented group and Adam taken from us too soon. A great read full of interesting details.