“I tried to talk him out of it... He was too good a writer to have that be his calling card”: The band's guitarist felt the song was beneath its writer, but it became one of the biggest singalong guitar-pop hits of the 2000s

Fountains of Wayne perform on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on October 12, 2011.

For the first half-decade plus of their existence, Fountains of Wayne were a quintessential “if you know, you know” band – critically adored architects of wry power-pop gems who flew under the commercial radar; and were perfectly fine with it.

It was almost a side outlet for co-founder and bassist Adam Schlesinger, who was one of the industry's most sought-after songwriters for screen and stage. Within months of the release of the band's self-titled 1996 debut album, Schlesinger was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for That Thing You Do!, his razor-sharp salute to Beatles-indebted '60s pop that featured prominently in the movie of the same name.