New Fountains of Wayne Tribute
A conversation with Mike Patton from The Radiant Radish/Vista Blue about Can’t Shake That Tune: A Tribute To Fountains Of Wayne.
Adam Schlesinger’s tragic death in April was terribly sad. What inspired you to celebrate him and Fountains of Wayne with a tribute compilation?
My band Vista Blue was already recording our fourth single/EP under quarantine when we got the news about Adam’s death. I was kind of shutting things down to let it all sink in when my brother Todd asked if I might want to record some Fountains of Wayne songs with him. He reached out to Wyatt Funderburk (they were in Second Saturday together, and the three of us were in the Loblaws). With just the three of us, I knew we could do something cool. But I also knew we had a bunch of talented friends who were also dealing with the situation, so I just threw it out on my Facebook page, inviting everyone to join us.
I started a Facebook group, and people started jumping in. It was amazing. Recording at home was normal for some of us, but it was going to be a challenge for others who had never done it, at least not on their own. So we just said anything goes, even solo acoustic phone recordings. It was more about the tribute and the exercise. I knew with the talent in that group that we were going to make something fun and sincere. So we set a one-month deadline to avoid dragging it out only needed an extension of like a week.
What’s your personal connection with FoW?
I had an uncle who fed me great music from the ’80s through the ’90s, and I discovered so many bands because of him. He had hundreds of cassettes, and whenever he bought one he thought I’d like, he’d dub me a copy. So every month or so he always had a handful of tapes for me. The Fountains of Wayne debut was one of those. I remember a funny story where I’d discovered this “new band” Third Eye Blind, and we went to see them at a small club right before their big MTV hit. After the show, he asked if I’d trade him my Third Eye Blind tape, and I said sure, for the FOW cassette! It was a great trade.
Utopia Parkway was a huge part of our college soundtrack for me and my wife and all our friends. We were at school in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and although I drove home to New Orleans for lots of shows during college, I remember I had a night class on the night that Smashing Pumpkins and Fountains of Wayne played in NOLA. I wasn’t the biggest Pumpkins fan and didn’t want to skip a class, so I just assumed I’d get to see FoW another time. But I never did. Luckily, they’re a band with a bunch of great live clips available on the internet, along with the live DVD of course.
Why did you and your band choose the song(s) you chose? Any special memories or connections you want share?
When Todd first asked me about it, I was pretty hesitant and told him I didn’t think I could do any of the songs justice. He suggested “Denise,” and I realized we could totally do that. He took the lead on that one, along with “Raise the River” (with Wyatt) and the Ivy song “Get Out of the City,” and I tried to think of one that I could do that would sound more like Vista Blue. “Senator’s Daughter” and “Troubled Times” were both awesome songs that would’ve been fun as power-pop-punk rockers, so I settled on “Senator’s Daughter.” (Christian from the Tattle Tales and the Feels did a great “Troubled Times.”)
My wife Donna wanted to do something from the self-titled album, so she picked “Sink to the Bottom,” and I think her arrangement is cool.
And while I love every single FoW release, I think it’s fitting that all the songs Todd, Wyatt, Donna, and I recorded ended up being ’90s tracks. That’s when we fell in love with this music, so I guess subconsciously, that’s where we went for inspiration.
Believe me, the later releases are well-represented here as well. The musicians on this comp did such a great job knocking that stuff out.
Watching things like the That Thing You Do reunion and reading all the articles and tribute pieces, we really got to see how much the music meant to a large number of people around the world. It’s certainly going to be one of the things I take away from this crazy period. Fountains of Wayne and its members have reached a lot of people.
You were already a lifelong FoW fan. Did this project bring you any closer to the band and their music?
I think it’d be hard to say I got any closer to the music through this, because this band has always meant so much to me. Whenever someone says they like the way I tell stories in my songs, I credit FoW. I was an English major in school, but I learned about storytelling from FoW and other songwriters.
That being said, the connection to the other musicians was something that was really cool. To have that Facebook group going these last few weeks was something very special, to me at least. A lot of the people in the group didn’t really know each other, but the support and conversation was very genuine. I think it helped us all cope with something that was truly difficult. And it was never really about the quality of the music we were going to produce. Again, it was more about the tribute itself and knowing we were all there because of our love for this band and their songs.
At the same time, watching things like the That Thing You Do reunion and reading all the articles and tribute pieces, we really got to see how much the music meant to a large number of people around the world. It’s certainly going to be one of the things I take away from this crazy period. Fountains of Wayne and its members have reached a lot of people.
Tell me about The Radiant Radish. Any plans for more FoW tributes?
The Radiant Radish is a group I started in New Orleans around 20 years ago. We booked shows for touring bands and tried to focus on things like show promo, feeding bands, lining up places to stay, etc. We’d do kickball games and picnics and stuff, trying to create something of a community, with the ultimate goal being that this collective group of people would support the music.
We did some basic CD-R releases for local bands back then, along with a few comps that we’d sell at shows to give touring bands extra money. Since moving to Nashville, I’ve used it as something of a label, mostly for digital stuff, but we’ve done a couple of 7-inches as well.
I guess in my mind it’s just me and whoever wants to join me in creating and supporting fun music. And there has definitely been lots of support over the years. Just look at the talent on this tribute comp. I’m blown away that these musicians took the time to do this and have their songs next to ours on this release. Again, I can’t thank these musicians and bands enough.
From here, nothing else is lined up. We kind of just take projects as they pop up. While I don’t know if I’d organize another FoW tribute, I’m pretty much open to anything fun that people want to do. That’s how this whole thing started 20 years ago, and I’ll keep finding new ways to have fun with it. And yeah, if that ends up meaning we do a Volume Two, sure. Why not?
What are your Top 5 FoW songs?
This is a crazy question, and like I’m sure anyone else would say, it would change daily. Trying to think back over 25 years, I’d say (in no order!):
1. Leave the Biker
2. It Must Be Summer
3. The Girl I Can’t Forget
4. All Kinds of Time
5. A Road Song
This question took the longest to answer.
Can’t Shake That Tune—Track Listing:
1. Sunset Odds—Raise The River
2. American Wood—Denise
3. The Wellingtons — Hey Julie
4. Jonathan Pretus — Hackensack
5. Sweet Diss and the Comebacks — I-95
6. The Easy Button — The Summer Place
7. Johnathan Pushkar — Stacy’s Mom
8. Home School High Jinks — Barbara H.
9. BJ Blue — All Kinds of Time
10. Vista Blue — The Senator’s Daughter
11. Christian Migliorese — Troubled Times
12. The Easy Button — Please Don’t Rock Me Tonight
13. The Soft Spots — Sink to the Bottom
14. Sunset Odds — Get Out of the City (Ivy)
