Musical Montage: The Wonders “That Thing You Do”
The directorial debut of Tom Hanks (who also co-starred), That Thing You Do! was a 1996 movie following the rise and fall of a 1960s one-hit wonder band, The Wonders. Starring Steve Zahn, Tom Everett Scott, Johnathon Schaech and Ethan Embry, the quartet are originally called The Oneders, who are discovered when their song “That Thing You Do” gains some local airplay and they sign with Mr. White (Hanks), an executive at Play Tone Records. The typical band drama ensues with members leaving and Tom Everett Scott’s Guy believing he’s the most talented and should pursue a solo career. The song “That Thing You Do” was actually written by Fountains of Wayne’s bassist, Adam Schlesinger, who provided back-up vocals to Mike Viola, who later would write most of the music for the underrated classic Walk Hard. In the movie, the song hit #2 on the Billboard charts in 1964 but when the single was released in 1996, it did well but not that well, hitting #41 on the Hot 100 but also #22 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #18 on the Adult Top 40 chart. The song was also nominated for a Best Original Song Oscar but lost to Madonna’s “You Must Love Me” from Evita. Check out the music video for the song below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPMLG8mnCRM
