Hit songwriter samiamhollander remembers Adam Schlesinger as a friend, peer and 'living, breathing, victory lap' who 'wanted everyone to win.'
I first met Adam 14 years ago outside the Juice Bar in Nantucket. I quickly introduced myself because my awkward gawking would’ve made any ordinary person uncomfortable. I’d been a fan for years.
Like most songwriters, I was completely in awe of his power pop songbook. From “That Thing You Do” and “Stacy’s Mom” to Tinted Windows’ “Kind of a Girl” and Click Five’s “Just The Girl” — it was all brilliantly crafted. But on a slightly subversive note, I equally dug the fact that he scribed both The Crank Yankers and Howard Stern themes. Those are some Adam deep cuts, but classics nonetheless. You see, Adam straddled musical worlds like a champion.
It’s also worth noting that wherever he roamed, Adam was indeed the epicenter of fun. He loved holding court in every locale. Though his inner circle was tight, he was also a tremendous people collector — not in a showy way, more in in an “I enjoy every single person in this room” way. Every group dinner we ever had, he usually added a few new folks into the mix and they were always stellar grabs.
The subculture of Adam was truly a thing and I loved every bit of it. I have stacks of memories of nights running around together. Japanese wings and Sapporo in the East Village. Piano karaoke madness on both coasts. Our Stephen Bishop fanboying that we embraced like Deadheads singing along to Bob Weir. I learned so much about life from this man. His mantra was “No spec work!” God I loved that. He hipped me to the one spectacular bagel in Los Angeles . He was obsessed with his Zillow app.
Years ago, when I was hiding in my Manhattan hotel room dealing with the impending loss of my hospice-bound pops, it was Adam who took me out every night to clear my head. Honestly, he was just the funniest, sweetest, most generous and upbeat guy out there.
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