About Saving for a Custom Van
Now shipping on exclusive pink triple LP from Vinyl Me Please: https://www.vinylmeplease.com/products/various-artists-saving-for-a-custom-van
Available digitally on Bandcamp: https://fatherdaughterrecords.bandcamp.com/album/saving-for-a-custom-van
Adam Schlesinger was a prodigious and prolific songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He died on April 1 at the age of 52 as the result of complications from COVID-19.
Not only was Schlesinger in multiple beloved bands—including the power-pop-leaning Fountains of Wayne and sophisticated electro-pop act Ivy—but he also collaborated on songs for movie soundtracks and the TV show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
On June 16, a wide array of artists touched by Schlesinger’s life will pay tribute to the many musical projects of which he was a part via a Bandcamp-exclusive benefit compilation, Saving for a Custom Van. The 31-song collection features collaborators, tourmates, friends, and fans putting their own spin on songs spanning his entire career.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend co-creator, executive producer and star Rachel Bloom turns Fountains of Wayne’s “Stacy’s Mom” into a jazzy cabaret moodpiece, while Schlesinger’s Fountains of Wayne bandmate Jody Porter contributes a melancholy, shimmering take on Ivy’s “Four in the Morning.” Sarah Silverman—who teamed up with Schlesinger on the upcoming musical The Bedwetter—joins with songwriter Ben Lee for a gorgeous, folk-leaning take on “Way Back Into Love,” a Schlesinger song central to the 2007 film Music and Lyrics.
Other musicians on the compilation tackle Fountains of Wayne songs (Letters to Cleo’s Kay Hanley, “Radiation Vibe”; Motion City Soundtrack, “Dip in the Ocean”; Nada Surf, “Sick Day”; Vivian Girls/Upset member Ali Koehler, “Hackensack”), while Ivy songs are also well-represented (Belly members Tanya Donelly and Gail Greenwood, “Undertow”; Ted Leo, “Everyday”; HUNNY, “Tess Don’t Tell.”) A full annotated tracklist is below.
Saving for a Custom Van, which takes its title from a lyric in Fountains of Wayne’s “Utopia Parkway,” is co-curated and co-released by Father/Daughter Records and Wax Nine, the label/journal run by Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis (who also contributes a FoW cover under her Sad13 moniker).
One-hundred percent of Saving for a Custom Van proceeds will be donated to MusiCares’ COVID-19 Relief Fund, which is dedicated to helping music industry and community members affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Apex Manor – Utopia Parkway
- Tanya Donelly and Gail Greenwood – Undertow
- Jeff Rosenstock – Please Don’t Rock Me Tonight
- Kay Hanley – Radiation Vibe
- Ben Lee and Sarah Silverman – Way Back Into Love
- Remember Sports – Just the Girl
- Rachel Bloom – Stacy’s Mom
- Christian Lee Hutson – Red Dragon Tattoo
- Sad13 – A Fine Day For a Parade
- Jack Dolgen – What’ll It Be
- Motion City Soundtrack – A Dip in the Ocean
- Field Mouse – Valley Winter Song
- Cheekface – That Thing You Do
- Lucy Stone – I’ve Got a Flair
- Nada Surf – Sick Day
- Jody Porter – Four in the Morning
- Suzy Shinn and Charlie Brand – All Kinds of Time
- Ted Leo – Everyday
- Potty Mouth – I’ve Got A Feeling
- Cocktails – Sink to the Bottom
- Bree McKenna – Our Twisted Fate
- Ethan Eubanks – Troubled Times
- Ali Koehler – Hackensack
- Charly Bliss – Pretend to Be Nice
- Julian Velard and Alex Dezen – Michael and Heather at the Baggage Claim
- HUNNY – Tess Don’t Tell
- Mikey Erg – Hey Julie
- Off Book and the Family Band – Come On
- Prince Daddy & The Hyena and Just Friends – Mexican Wine
- Lisa Prank – Little Red Light
- Joshua Stoddard – Survival Car
