Remembering the Pop-Genius of Adam Schlesinger with ‘That Thing You Do!’
“That Thing You Do!” is about perfect pop and the emptiness of the American Dream.
It seemed as though the novel coronavirus finally seemed real when someone we knew had tested positive for it. For many, that someone was Tom Hanks. It was suddenly scary. Shortly after, life started changing really fast and it feels like it might not change back even “when all of this is over.” That certainly felt true yesterday when the news of Adam Schlesinger’s death to COVID-19 complications nearly broke Twitter.
It’s a fucking bummer to kick off this newsletter that my buddy and I have been talking about for some time now with coronavirus-related sadness, but the news of Adam’s death hit many creatives so hard and the world lost such a unique voice that it would feel like bullshit to just ignore it and maybe you haven’t heard yet but we’re anti-bullshit.
So mourn and heal by remembering that the title song Adam wrote for That Thing You Do! is perfect pop.
That Thing You Do! is about a couple of kids in 1964 who stumble into writing said perfect pop song, and go on to become the American version of the Beatles before ultimately becoming disillusioned one-hit wonders. It is an utterly charming movie written and directed by Hanks with endearing performances from Tom Everett Scott and Liv Tyler.
I loved this movie as a kid. I used to sing the song to myself all the time. I remember a band came to my middle school and played a concert in the middle of the day for some reason and everyone would yell songs for them to cover and one kid in the very front would scream his head off “PLAY ‘THAT THING YOU DO’” in-between every song and they never did and I think he started crying when the concert was over. Anyway, I feel like that kid right now.
I remember being a little boy and seeing Liv Tyler and thinking she was so pretty and kind and being so sad that her asshole boyfriend was such a huge asshole to her for basically just being in love with him. The scene where she dumps him is probably my first heartbreak.
I watched That Thing You Do! with my partner last night, and it’s still a funny, seductive watch today. And at the center is Adam’s perfect pop song, played over and over throughout. If the song had been anything less than perfect, the movie doesn’t work. As Rachel Wenistky tweeted, you have to believe it could have been the most famous song in 1964.
