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.

  1. Apex Manor – Utopia Parkway
  2. Tanya Donelly and Gail Greenwood – Undertow
  3. Jeff Rosenstock – Please Don’t Rock Me Tonight
  4. Kay Hanley – Radiation Vibe
  5. Ben Lee and Sarah Silverman – Way Back Into Love
  6. Remember Sports – Just the Girl
  7. Rachel Bloom – Stacy’s Mom
  8. Christian Lee Hutson – Red Dragon Tattoo
  9. Sad13 – A Fine Day For a Parade
  10. Jack Dolgen – What’ll It Be
  11. Motion City Soundtrack – A Dip in the Ocean
  12. Field Mouse – Valley Winter Song
  13. Cheekface – That Thing You Do
  14. Lucy Stone – I’ve Got a Flair
  15. Nada Surf – Sick Day
  16. Jody Porter – Four in the Morning
  17. Suzy Shinn and Charlie Brand – All Kinds of Time
  18. Ted Leo – Everyday
  19. Potty Mouth – I’ve Got A Feeling
  20. Cocktails – Sink to the Bottom
  21. Bree McKenna – Our Twisted Fate
  22. Ethan Eubanks – Troubled Times
  23. Ali Koehler – Hackensack
  24. Charly Bliss – Pretend to Be Nice
  25. Julian Velard and Alex Dezen – Michael and Heather at the Baggage Claim
  26. HUNNY – Tess Don’t Tell
  27. Mikey Erg – Hey Julie
  28. Off Book and the Family Band – Come On
  29. Prince Daddy & The Hyena and Just Friends – Mexican Wine
  30. Lisa Prank – Little Red Light
  31. Joshua Stoddard – Survival Car