# I just hear of a great new band...Fountains of Wayne! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 9, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-hear-of-a-great-new-band-fountains-of-wayne/228309 "2004-02-09T19:25:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-hear-of-a-great-new-band-fountains-of-wayne/228309/1 "2004-02-09T19:25:42Z")
There’s this fresh, new, happening band out there that I hadn’t heard of before yesterday’s Grammies! It’s called [Fountains](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000002JX0/qid=1076354457/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/104-6317796-6429549?v=glance&s=music) of [Wayne](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00000IFW1/qid=1076354457/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/104-6317796-6429549?v=glance&s=music). Now, considering this is Fountains of Wayne, if I were artistic I’d borrow **Ilsa’s** Fountain of Rolleyes :rolleyes::rolleyes:. What the fuck is up with that? Now, this rant is not some bitter indie-head casting sour grapes because his toy band made it big with the _hoi polloi_\*. No this is a music lover agape at the forehead-smacking, jaw-dropping stupidity of their nomination. Fountains of Wayne is an established band with plenty of fans, who even achieved widespread airplay with “Leave the Biker.” Now, if, say, a near-unknown such as Schascle, or even a sub-popular band such as Promise Ring (R.I.P.) made it big, I could understand being nominated. But what went through the music industry’s fat-addled, thrombosis-veined helium-heads? FUCK! \*I COULD make it sour grapes by mentioning that “Stacey’s Mom” is the second worst song on the album, yet that was the one they chose to release. But I won’t mention that 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-hear-of-a-great-new-band-fountains-of-wayne/228309/2 "2004-02-09T19:35:48Z")
OMG I’ll have 2 check them out~! I was dumbfounded when I saw that they were nominated as best new artist. Then again, the Grammy’s have always been a joke to me, so I didn’t give it too many brain cells. And incidentally, FoW had a far bigger hit in _Radiation Vibe_ than with _Leave the Biker_. _Sink to the Bottom_ from their second album got a fair bit of airplay as well. Hopefully, at least a few new listeners are noticing that they’ve been around a while and are checking out their old stuff. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-hear-of-a-great-new-band-fountains-of-wayne/228309/3 "2004-02-09T19:39:13Z")
You make a good point – just what DOES qualify an artist as a candidate for “Best New Artist”? Is there a definite criteria? Like first gold album? First Hot 100 appearance? What else might it be? ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-hear-of-a-great-new-band-fountains-of-wayne/228309/4 "2004-02-09T20:24:51Z")
> [@Slacker](#): > > _Sink to the Bottom_ from their second album got a fair bit of airplay as well. Nit-pick: “Sink to the Bottom” was also from their first album. Let’s face it, though. The Grammies are a celebration by and for the major labels. If you don’t release your stuff on a major label, you might as well not exist to the Grammies. I guess the RIAA just didn’t consider Atlantic Records (also RIP, I believe), which FoW released their first two albums on, to be “major label” material. ---
**Author:** ![pezboy2u](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@pezboy2u](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pezboy2u)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-hear-of-a-great-new-band-fountains-of-wayne/228309/5 "2004-02-10T14:56:19Z")
I was dumbfounded by their Best New Artist nom as well, but then, I hardly look to the Grammys for logic. FOW are excellent- I play their 3 cds and sing my fool head off constantly, and if it brings them some new fans, all the better. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-hear-of-a-great-new-band-fountains-of-wayne/228309/6 "2004-02-11T04:07:50Z")
I love FoW. Great band. The ‘Best New Artist’ award is a bit perplexing, but less so if you actually read the requirement for it. The Grammy people say it’s an award for artists who, in the past year, “break through into widespread recognition”, or something like that. That gives them a lot of leeway in choosing bands for this award. Since it’s their award, and they can set the criterion anyway they want, who cares? Why not just be happy that the band finally gets some well-deserved recognition? And “Stacy’s Mom” is NOT the second-worst song on the album. It’s not my favorite (“Hackensack”, “Valley Winter Song”, “Hey Julie”, and “Mexican Wine” are better, IMO), but it’s a fine song. On any other album it’d be the standout, which just tells you how truly excellent “Welcome Interstate Managers” is. If you really want to rant about the Grammys, how about ranting that this spectacular album wasn’t even nominated for album of the year. Or even worse, that the fantastic “Rainy Day Music” by the Jayhawks never got a single nomination. But the truly damning fact about the Grammy awards is that until this year Warren Zevon had never even been nominated. He should have had an entire wall of the damned things by now. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-hear-of-a-great-new-band-fountains-of-wayne/228309/7 "2004-02-11T15:00:08Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > But the truly damning fact about the Grammy awards is that until this year Warren Zevon had never even been nominated. He should have had an entire wall of the damned things by now. Heh. The Grammys have a longstanding tradition of being the un-hip Awards, aimed squarely at reqarding mainstream commercial success. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-hear-of-a-great-new-band-fountains-of-wayne/228309/8 "2004-02-11T16:11:10Z")
I just like the idea of bands named after businesses (Fountains of Wayne is an actual store in Wayne, New Jersey).