That Thing You Buy
Tom Hanks‘ wonderful and woefully overlooked film That Thing You Do is one of my all-time favorites. Bought the VHS. Bought the DVD. Then bought the director’s-cut DVD. (Don’t talk to me about Blu-Ray.)
One of the great charms of the film is the soundtrack, which manages to evoke the bygone Top-40 era and be legitimately catchy at the same time. Especially the title tune, written by the great Adam Schlesinger of the also woefully overlooked Fountains of Wayne. Not surprisingly, the tune was nominated for an Oscar. Very surprisingly, it did not win. Tragically, it lost to Madonna.
Though the song sounds like it would have been a big radio hit in the early ’60s, it was not a hit, then or now. There was a bit of airplay, but mostly by winking DJs being cute. Merseybeat-inspired melodies were not in favor with radio programmers in the late-’90s.
So, what was the tune doing in the Muzak rotation at the Giant Food off Flower Ave. in Silver Spring last week? It certainly made my shopping experience brighter, but what’s next — Lord of the Rings overture at the salad bar?
Listen closely to Mike Viola and the rest of the studio Wonders rocking that thing they did from the ceiling speakers near the meat section:
