Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard has been hosting live stream during this coronavirus pandemic, which began with daily streams, but has since transitioned into a weekly basis. Gibbard honored the late Fountains of Wayne frontman Adam Schlesinger on his latest stream, by performing a cover of the group’s “Barbara H.” which originally appeared on their debut album.
Schlesinger passed away at the age of 52 on April 1st, after suffering from complications caused by COVID-19. While Gibbard never met Schlesinger directly, he was highly influential on his work. His cover of the song comes in at 42:48.
“I owe him a huge debt of gratitude because he was integral in picking ‘Me & Magdalena’ for the Monkees to record four years ago,” Gibbard said. “I always thought, as one always does in life, that you’ll have plenty of time to say ‘thank you’ or ‘I love you’ or give somebody a compliment or what have you, but that day obviously did not come.”
Fountains of Wayne were a rock band based in New York City, which began in 1995. They’re best known for their hit “Stacy’s Mom” although Schlesinger was a prominent songwriter, penning tracks for various films and television shows.
Gibbard recently covered the Radiohead classic “Fake Plastic Trees” during one of his home studio live recordings. He also released new solo track titled “Life In Quarantine,” which discussed life during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Death Cab for Cutie recently debuted the psychedelic song “To The Ground” last August, which was featured on their Blue EP.
Photo Credit: Alyssa Fried
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