Last year was the 20th anniversary of Tom Hanks' film That Thing You Do. While the band may have been a one-hit wonder, it turns out that two decades later they've still got it. The majority of the band recently reunited and they played that one big hit that we all love. It sounds just as good as it did back in 1996. Check it out.
The reunion took place at The Roxy in Los Angeles as part of The Goddamn Comedy Jam. The video was posted to social media by the show's host, Josh Adam Meyers. Taking part in the performance were Tom Everett Scott, the band's drummer Guy Patterson, Jonathan Schaech, who played lead singer Jimmy Mattingly, and Ethan Embry as T.B. Player, the bass player. Unfortunately, lead guitarist Lenny Haise, aka Steve Zahn, was apparently unavailable for the gig.
While That Thing You Do was never a colossal hit when it was released in 1996, the film, which marked the feature film directing debut of co-star Tom Hanks, clearly has built quite a following. This is probably in large part due to the incredibly catchy song that was written to be the film's major plot device. The song had to be the sort of thing that would get stuck in your head and never leave in order to be believable as the band's big hit. Needless to say, I'll now be humming this for the rest of the day.
That Thing You Do followed four aspiring musicians from their beginning as a garage band all the way to their collapse on the verge of potential superstardom. They called their band the Oneiders, sorry, that's The Wonders. A name that was a set-up to eventually fail, considering the band only ever had the one hit.
Checking out the band today they've certainly gotten older but they could certainly take the stage in a follow-up sequel, right? Lots of bands go on reunion tours decades after their initial popularity. Can somebody please get Tom Hanks to writing this please?
Although, we have to wonder what happened to Jimmy Mattingly over the last couple of years. He used to be the most straight-laced member of the band. Now, he's the one who forgot ot wear a tie. It's what brings the look together, man.
The Comedy Jam actually airs on Comedy Central, so it's possible we might get to see this reunion for ourselves on a future episode. We'll certainly be tuning in if that happens. Seeing these guys together again is a lot like seeing a favorite band get back together. But seriously Steve Zahn, what was so damn important that you couldn't be there?
