Artist:The Wonders
Song:That Thing You Do
Album:That Thing You Do!: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
The Wonders were a fictional band created by Tom Hanks for the 1996 film That Thing You Do!. It told the story of a 60s one hit wonder. He hired actors to play the band members. Real musicians wrote and performed the music. The film was not a commercial success but it has become a cult film. And the title song charted on the Billboard Hot 100. As I said, Hanks wrote and directed the film and produced with Playtone partner Gary Goetzman. He also appears in the film as the band's manager. The members of The Wonders were played by Jonathan Schaech (lead singer), Steve Zahn (lead guitarist), Ethan Embry (bassist) and Tom Everett Scott (drums). Liv Tyler makes their costumes. So the four actors playing the band were not stars. And they also aren't musicians. So they were taught to mime the music. Canadian Howard Shore was hired to compose the score. He is best known for The Lord of the Rings scores. The two main guys brought in to write and produce the songs were Rick Elias and Adam Schlesinger. Elias was a member of CCM singer Rich Mullins' band. He also wrote songs for the TV series Dawsons Creek. He died in 2019. Schlesinger was the leader of the popular band Fountains of Wayne. He had become a prolific songwriter for films and TV when he died from COVID in 2020. Schlesinger wrote the song That Thing You Do! and it reached #41 on the Billboard Hot 100. The soundtrack album was certified Platinum and is available on CD. So who actually performed the music? It was mostly guys who are pals with Schlesinger and Elias. The lead singer on That Thing You! was Mike Viola of the band Dawes. Schlesinger did the backup vocals. We can assume that the music was performed by friends of Schlesinger. The musician names have never been revealed. Though That Thing You Do! was favorably reviewed, it was not a theatrical success and it became a cult movie through home video and cable. I doubt the film is made without Hanks. Here's the video for That Thing You Do! by The Wonders.
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