Sexual fantasies about your friends’ hot moms peaked in 2003.
“Stacy’s Mom” by Fountains of Wayne lasted 17 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached its climax during the week of November 21, 2003, at number 21. The song also made a lasting impression on the early days of digital music sales as one of the first to reach the number one spot on iTunes’ “Most Downloaded Songs” list, which launched on April 28, 2003.
Released on Monday, May 19, 2003, “Stacy’s Mom” was the lead single from the band’s third studio album Welcome Interstate Managers by S-Curve Records. The song went mainstream and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards. The band was also nominated for Best New Artist that year, though didn’t capture either award.
Fountains of Wayne formed in the summer of 1995 with Chris Collingwood (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Adam Schlesinger (bass, backing vocals), Jody Porter (lead guitar), and Brian Young (drums).
“We didn’t even have a record deal. I remember Adam put up the money to do the recording, we converged in a studio in upstate New York, and we didn’t know what to expect,” Young recalled. “We all showed up with basically nothing. I had a stick bag, and the engineer mentioned to me, “You know, it would’ve been a lot cooler if you showed up with nothing at all.” We were kind of going through the studio basement, looking for gear and taping stands together. It was funny.”
Written by Collingwood and Schlesinger, “Stacy’s Mom” was, according to Schlesinger, “sort of about that period when you’re first hitting puberty and suddenly everybody of the opposite sex is strangely attractive. It’s a combination of sexual awakening and limited contact with a large number of people. It’s the kids at school and whoever else happens to be in your life.”
“One of my best friends, when we were maybe 11 or 12, came to me and announced that he thought my grandmother was hot. And I said, ‘Hey, you’re stepping over the line,’ but at that point in life, I wouldn’t put it past anyone.”
The music video for “Stacy’s Mom” played a pivotal role in its success, with model Rachel Hunter cast as the titular character.
“It doesn’t hurt that Rachel Hunter is gyrating around in the S&M outfit,” Collingwood and Schlesinger said. “We’re going to do that in our next video too, and all future videos, and album covers.”
Directed by Chris Applebaum in Los Angeles in late May 2003 and released in June, the video features scenes of a teenager doing whatever it takes to be in the presence of Stacy’s mom and catch any glimpse of her. “Yeah, we didn’t really hold back at all. We looked at a lot of treatments and some directors were trying to be kind of arty and subtle with it, but Chris Applebaum went completely for the jugular,” Schlesinger said.
“It was 7 a.m., and there was Rachel Hunter doing a striptease on the kitchen counter,” Schlesinger recalled. “She was a fan, she liked the song and the band, and she thought it was a good idea, and who are we to say no? She was absolutely perfect for it, she totally got the song and did the video in the right spirit.”
“I worked for Cover Girl for many years and always had that kind of clean, fresh look, and then when I got the treatment for the video I was like, why not?” Hunter said.
“We’ve always sought to strike some kind of balance between humor and personality,” Schlesinger said. “But the main difference in that song and the others is that the narrator is not us. We’re not pretending to be a teenage kid when we sing the song. We take the storytelling perspective.”
Lyrically: Stacy’s Mom
“Stacy’s Mom was definitely conceived as sort of a cross between The Cars and Rick Springfield or something, you know. I mean, it was definitely kind of a period piece, almost intended to refer really specifically to a certain era in music, and so was the video, you know. By the same token, I mean, it was all supposed to be really obviously ripping off stuff from the ’80s,” Schlesinger said.
“Stacy’s Mom” is a coming-of-age song for a new generation, following in the footsteps of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson” and Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl,” while also giving a fantastic nod to The Cars’ “Just What I Needed.”
The song opens with the words “Stacy’s mom has got it goin’ on,” which takes you into a conversation where Stacy’s friend is telling his buddies this realization—more of a declaration—four times in a row. These lyrics were embedded into many minds.
Stacy, can I come over after school?
We can hang around by the pool
Did your mom get back from her business trip?
Is she there, or is she trying to give me the slip?
You know, I’m not the little boy that I used to be
I’m all grown up now, baby, can’t you see?
These lyrics blend worlds as he asks Stacy to hang out after school, suggesting they spend time by the pool, but his true intentions surface when he asks about her mother’s whereabouts. The line “You know, I’m not the little boy that I used to be / I’m all grown up now, baby, can’t you see?” reveals a conversation with himself where he believes he’s mature enough to win her mom over.
The chorus remains pure gold in songwriting and the art of storytelling:
Stacy’s mom has got it going on
She’s all I want and I’ve waited for so long
Stacy, can’t you see?
You’re just not the girl for me
I know it might be wrong, but I’m in love with Stacy’s mom
The lyrics express conflicted teenage emotions, telling Stacy directly that she’s “just not the girl for me” and that it’s her mom he’s really wanted “for so long.” This blunt confession is awkward yet courageous, confident yet utterly impulsive and not well thought out.
Stacy, do you remember when I mowed your lawn?(Mowed your lawn)Your mom came out with just a towel on(Towel on)I could tell she liked me from the way she stared(The way she stared)And the way she said“You missed a spot over there”(A spot over there)
And I know that you think it’s just a fantasyBut since your dad walked outYour mom could use a guy like me
Now we’re drawn into the conversation with Stacy as if we’re there at the pool, watching this unfold. He recalls mowing the lawn and her mother coming out with just a towel on, thinking he is the man she “needs” since her “dad walked out.”
As the song ends, the chorus repeats itself, and his professing of love for Stacy’s mom continues, declaring he “knows it might be wrong,” but he’s “in love with Stacy’s mom.”
It would be fascinating to see what happened next in the story, but until then, we’ll wait for the new song that defines fantasy for a new generation.
“Being a one-hit wonder is a good thing. That one song gets heard by everyone. But then it allows you to have an artistic life for the people who are paying attention to all of your music,” said Schlesinger.
“We’re not really rock stars. I don’t know. Playing in a rock band is, in general, a silly thing to be doing. But we really love it. It’s one of those paradoxes. If you take it seriously, you look like a jerk. But you have to take it seriously to do it well enough to keep doing it,” said Schlesinger. At this point we just feel lucky that anything we have done is getting airplay and video play.”
It would be fascinating to see what happened next in the story, but until then, we’ll wait for the new song that defines a fantasy for a new generation.
“Being a one-hit wonder is a good thing. That one song gets heard by everyone. But then it allows you to have an artistic life for the people who are paying attention to all of your music,” Schlesinger said.
“We’re not really rock stars. I don’t know. Playing in a rock band is, in general, a silly thing to be doing. But we really love it. It’s one of those paradoxes. If you take it seriously, you look like a jerk. But you have to take it seriously to do it well enough to keep doing it,” Schlesinger said. “At this point we just feel lucky that anything we have done is getting airplay and video play.”
