SOUNDTRACK: ADAM SCHLESINGER (October 31, 1967 – April 1, 2020).
Adam Schlesinger was best known as the co-founder of Fountains of Wayne. I always appreciated the band because I was familiar withe the store Fountains of Wayne (in Wayne, NJ). But I was never a big fan of the band.
They wrote indie pop songs, which were not really my thing in the late 90s (although I did really enjoy “Radiation Vibe”).
Ironically, Schlesinger was pretty much simultaneously involved with a band that I really did like called Ivy. I liked Ivy a lot primarily for the vocals of Dominique Durand and had no idea that Schlesinger was involved.
Since then I have really come to appreciate Schlesinger’s songwriting (he’s written amazingly catchy songs for just about everyone).
The Coronavirus is devastating the world and Schlesinger’s death from it just amplifies the unfairness of this deadly virus. That a man who made people happy with his melodies should be killed by it while people who are causing direct harm are not even infected by it just seems to show where we are in the world.
[READ: April 1, 2020] “Inside Tove Jansson’s Private Universe”
I’m a fan of the Moomin Universe and I know a bit about Tove Jansson. I also know that her brother Lars (she called him Lasse) took over doing the Moomins at some point because she had burnt out. She died in 2011 at age 86.
This essay is more or less a book review of a new collection of Jansson’s correspondence called Letters from Tove, which I might consider reading.
I did not know that Jansson wrote short stories. Her short story “Messages” is composed of snippets of letters she received: “Last time you didn’t make a happy ending. Why do you do this? We look forward to your valued reply soonest concerning Moomin motifs on toilet paper in pastel shades.”
It’s easy to see how forty years of these letters would be wearying. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 