Role Songwriter | Name Adam Schlesinger Years active 1990–2020 | |
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Born October 31, 1967 ( 1967-10-31 ) Origin New York, NY,United States Occupation(s) Bassist, songwriter, producer Instruments Bass guitar, guitar, keyboard, vocals Albums Welcome Interstate Managers, Utopia Parkway, Out‑of‑State Plates, Sky Full of Holes, In the Clear Died April 1, 2020 (aged 52) Poughkeepsie, New York, U.S. | ||
The song writing process with adam schlesinger
Adam Schlesinger (born 1967) was an American songwriter, composer and record producer. He has won Emmy and Grammy Awards, and has also been nominated for Oscar, Tony, and Golden Globe Awards. He was also a winner of the ASCAP Pop Music Award.
Contents
- The song writing process with adam schlesinger
- Patcast by pat monahan episode 6 adam schlesinger of fountains of wayne
- Awards and nominations
- In films
- Songs performed by other artists
- In theatre
- In television
- Production work
- Side projects
- Personal life
- Death
- References
He was the bassist for the bands Fountains of Wayne, Ivy and Tinted Windows. He was also a key songwriting contributor and producer for Brooklyn-based synth-pop duo Fever High. Schlesinger grew up in Manhattan and Montclair, New Jersey.
Patcast by pat monahan episode 6 adam schlesinger of fountains of wayne
Awards and nominations
Schlesinger was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award in 1997 for writing the title track of the Tom Hanks-directed film That Thing You Do! 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".
Schlesinger and David Javerbaum received two Tony nominations in 2008 Best Musical and Best Original Score for the musical Cry-Baby,. They 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 received a 2013 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Original Song for his "Elmo The Musical" theme for Sesame Street. He and Molly Boylan received a 2011 Daytime Emmy nomination for the song "I Wonder" from Sesame Street.
Schlesinger and Javerbaum received a 2012 Emmy Award for Outstanding Music And Lyrics for their song "It's Not Just For Gays Anymore", performed by Neil Patrick Harris as the opening number of the 65th Tony Awards telecast; and a 2013 Emmy Award for Outstanding Music And Lyrics for their song "If I Had Time", performed by Neil Patrick Harris as the closing number of the 66th Tony Awards telecast.
Schlesinger received two 2016 Emmy nominations for his work on the CW series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for "Settle For Me" (co-written with Rachel Bloom and Jack Dolgen), and Outstanding Main Title Theme (co-written with Rachel Bloom).
He received a 2017 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for "We Tapped That Ass" (co-written with Rachel Bloom and Jack Dolgen) from the CW series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend".
In films
In addition to writing and co-producing the title song to That Thing You Do!, he composed "Master Of The Seas" for Ice Age: Continental Drift performed by Jennifer Lopez, Peter Dinklage and others. He wrote and produced three songs for Music and Lyrics.,. His music has also been featured in films such as Shallow Hal (which he scored with Ivy); Robots; There's Something About Mary; Me, Myself & Irene; Josie and the Pussycats; Scary Movie; Art School Confidential; Fever Pitch; The Manchurian Candidate; Because of Winn-Dixie; Orange County; Two Weeks Notice, 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. Cry-Baby debuted at the La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla, California, in November 2007. Previews for the Broadway run began at the Marquis Theatre on March 15, 2008. Its official opening night was April 24, 2008.
Schlesinger and Javerbaum co-wrote the closing song "I Have Faith In You" for Javerbaum's play An Act of God which opened on Broadway on May 28, 2015. The song is performed by Jim Parsons, Chris Fitzgerald, and Tim Kazurinsky.
Schlesinger and Sarah Silverman also worked on a musical entitled The Bedwetter, based on her book of the same name.
In television
Schlesinger and Javerbaum co-wrote the opening number of the 2011 Tony Awards ceremony, "It's Not Just For Gays Anymore", as well as the opening and closing numbers of the 2012 Tony Awards, "What If Life Were More Like Theater" and "If I Had Time", all performed by Neil Patrick Harris. They also wrote the opening number of the 2011 Emmy Awards, "TV Is A Vast Wonderland", performed by Jane Lynch; and "The Number In The Middle Of The Show", performed at the 2013 Emmy Awards by Neil Patrick Harris, Sarah Silverman, and Nathan Fillion.
Schlesinger's television composing work includes theme music, songs, and/or score for The Maya Rudolph Show (NBC), A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!, the 2011 and 2012 Tony Awards, the 2011 and 2013 Emmy Awards, Big Time Rush, T.U.F.F. Puppy (Nickelodeon), Good Luck Charlie (Disney Channel), Fresh Beat Band (Nickelodeon), Kathy (Bravo), Crank Yankers, "Wedding Band" (TBS), 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 Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade with Neil Patrick Harris, the Comedy Awards (Comedy Central), American Dreams, Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital, The In-Laws, The Man Show, Too Late with Adam Carolla, 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 series including Scrubs, The Hills, Gossip Girl, Melrose Place, Felicity, Roswell, and others.
He wrote songs for, and was Executive Music Producer of, the scripted comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend on The CW Network.
Production work
As a record producer and mixer, he has worked with the Monkees, Fever High, Dashboard Confessional, Swirl 360, Tahiti 80, Motion City Soundtrack, Verve Pipe, Robert Plant, America, the Sounds, They Might Be Giants, Fastball, and many other artists, as well as producing or co-producing five Fountains of Wayne and five Ivy albums.
Side projects
Schlesinger was 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 . He also contributed to Iha's second solo album, Look to the Sky (2012).
He was the main composer & producer for Brooklyn-based synth-pop duo Fever High.
Personal life
Schlesinger was a cousin of Jon Bernthal, an actor who is best known for his roles as Shane Walsh on the AMC television series The Walking Dead and The Punisher/Frank Castle in Netflix's Daredevil and The Punisher. He was also the grandson of Murray Bernthal (1911–2010), a musician and producer, long active in Syracuse, New York.
Death
On April 1, 2020, Schlesinger died of COVID-19 complications at a hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York, he was 52.
He had been hospitalized and placed on a ventilator for over a week prior to his death.