Try Not to Love This Gay Remake of ‘Stacy’s Mom’
Singer-songwriter Mad Tsai recently released his latest single 'Stacy's Brother,' which puts a queer spin on the Fountains of Wayne classic.
It’s been almost two decades since Fountains of Wayne blasted onto the pop/pop-punk scene with their catchy-but-silly hit single “Stacy’s Mom,” and in the years since, it has remained a favorite among those who were around to experience it when it was a brand new cultural phenomenon.
Now, the tune has been covered by an up-and-coming artist, one who has put a delightful and surprising twist on the smash.
Singer-songwriter Mad Tsai recently released his latest single “Stacy’s Brother,” which changes the focus from a mother to someone’s son. The updated cut isn’t an actual cover, as it doesn’t use the original music or lyrics, but rather it takes the idea and queers it up.
In the tune, Tsai sings about how Stacy is swooning over him, but he has a bit of a secret.
Instead of falling for the cheerleader, he’s all about her brother, the hunky football player. The cut goes from funny and tongue-in-cheek with lyrics like, “She’s coming back from her cheer meet / Told me to study for biology / Cause’ she wants to show me how to get an A” to downright sexy — “But I got a secret I must admit / It’s not her lips I want to kiss / She’s not the reason for the bruises round’ my neck.”
“Stacy’s Brother” comes with a must-see music video, one which has already racked up nearly 1.5 million views in only about a week.
The clip stars Tsai as a football player and love interest of the stunning Stacy, as well as her sibling who is equally as gorgeous. And, of course, there are plenty of other shirtless dudes walking around in the locker room to enjoy.
Tsai himself is the hero of the video and a heartthrob as well, spending much of the visual sans shirt. By the end of the story, he and Stacy’s brother are no longer keeping their affair a secret, despite the scandal it appears to cause at school.
The original “Stacy’s Mom” was part of the wave of radio-ready pop-punk that took over MTV and the airwaves in the early aughts. Sadly, it was Fountains of Wayne’s only real hit, and it peaked at No. 21 on the Hot 100.
The single was nominated for the Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals Grammy in 2004, losing to No Doubt’s “Underneath It All.” The band also earned a nod in the Best New Artist category, competing with the likes of 50 Cent and Sean Paul, and eventually the trophy went to Evanescence.
Fountains of Wayne split up unofficially a little more than a decade after “Stacy’s Mom,” with the members pursuing other endeavors. Lead songwriter and bass player Adam Schlesinger would go on to be nominated for all of the four major entertainment awards – known in acronym form as an EGOT – only ever winning Emmys as a songwriter before his passing in 2020 due to COVID-19.
Tsai has been steadily churning out poppy singles that appeal to his largely LGBTQ audience for years now, and “Stacy’s Brother” may be the cut that finally makes him a star.
A quick look at his YouTube page shows that songs like “Killer Queen,” “Heartbreak Honeymoon,” and “That Friend” have all collectively racked up millions of views, and Tsai counts hundreds of thousands of subscribers.
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