Polaris is an American independent

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band that was formed as a one-off musical project in the early 1990s, involving members of the

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

Miracle Legion Miracle Legion was an American college rock band formed in 1983 in New Haven, Connecticut. They earned modest renown, especially in their native New England region, but also in the UK, where they were feted by music media such as ''NME'' and ''M ...

. They were commissioned specifically to produce music for the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

television show ''

The Adventures of Pete & Pete ''The Adventures of Pete & Pete'' is an American television sitcom created by Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi for Nickelodeon. It focuses on two brothers, both named Pete Wrigley, and their humorous and surreal humour, surreal adventures in subur ...

'', which was later compiled into the group's first and only album. Nearly twenty years after the show was cancelled, Polaris reemerged with its first tour and a

cassingle A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was introduced in 1980. History The debut singl ...

of two new songs.

History

Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi are a team of American show-creators, writers and producers of television and screenwriters. They are best known as the co-creators of the award-winning and critically acclaimed Nickelodeon television series ''The ...

, the show-runners of ''

'', were fans of

and approached the band to write original music for the series. Miracle Legion was at the time suffering from long-running legal issues with their label, Morgan Creek Records, and lead guitarist Ray Neal, disillusioned by the experience and recently married, opted out of the television project. The remainder of the band - frontman

Mark Mulcahy Mark Mulcahy is an American musician. He was the front-man for the New Haven, Connecticut-based band Miracle Legion. The band earned modest renown, especially in their native New England region. Mulcahy soon formed Polaris, a house band for th ...

, bassist Dave McCaffrey and drummer Scott Boutier - moved forward with the project under the name Polaris. As the show's "house band", Polaris produced twelve songs over ''Pete & Petes three seasons including the theme song, "

Hey Sandy "Hey Sandy" is a song by the American indie rock band Polaris which serves as the theme song for the Nickelodeon television show ''The Adventures of Pete & Pete''. It's well-known by fans of the show and the band alike that the song's lyrics, nearl ...

." These tracks included occasional guest contributors such as Joyce Raskin, Dennis Kelly, and Buell Thomas. Describing itself as "that band that lives in your TV," the members of Polaris took on "TV names": Mulcahy was "Muggy", Boutier was "Jersey", and McCaffrey was "Harris Polaris." In addition to appearing in the opening credits of each show, the band featured prominently in the episode "A Hard Day's Pete", in which Little Pete (

Danny Tamberelli Danny Tamberelli (born February 8, 1982) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his portrayal of Little Pete Wrigley in '' The Adventures of Pete & Pete'' from 1989 to 1995 and for his work as a cast member of the Nickelodeon sketch co ...

) is mesmerized by a garage band's song (Polaris' "Summerbaby") and forms his own band to keep the tune in his memory. The group's first release was a 1995 cassette mini-album titled "Happily Deranged" that contained three songs from the television show, including the television show's title song, "Hey Sandy". The other two songs were "Staggering" and "Coronado II". The versions of these songs differed in both running time and mix from the versions later released on their full album. The cassette also contained two additional rare tracks, an introduction and closing comments by the older of the two Petes from the television show. This cassette was released by Nickelodeon/ Sony Wonder and only available by mail as a promotional tie-in with Frosted Mini Wheats cereal. The offer was heavily promoted during Nickelodeon's SNICK (Saturday Night Nickelodeon) anthology series. After the show was cancelled in 1996, Miracle Legion produced a final album released by Mulcahy's own label, Mezzotint Records. In 1999, the label released '' Music from The Adventures of Pete & Pete'', containing all twelve of the Polaris tracks and serving as the group's only album. Following the disbandment of both bands, Mulcahy focused on a solo career. From 1997 to 2003, Scott Boutier and Dave McCaffrey played drums & bass for

Frank Black Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV (born April 6, 1965), better known by the stage name Black Francis, is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies. Following the band's break ...

. On August 28, 2012, Polaris reunited for a concert at Cinefamily's Everything Is Festival II as part of a ''Pete & Pete'' reunion event, adding Henning Ohlenbusch (dubbed "Penny Polaris") to their roster on guitar, keyboard, and backing vocals. The band claimed it was their first live performance ever. For one song at this concert, the group was joined by

Rain Phoenix Rain Joan of Arc Phoenix ( Bottom; born November 21, 1972) is an American actress, musician, and singer. She is the older sister of Joaquin, Liberty and Summer Phoenix and younger sister of River Phoenix. Early life Phoenix was born Rain Joan ...

on vocals. On August 26, 2014, Polaris announced their first tour, ''Waiting for October'', with nine shows in cities such as

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. In October 2014, the band released their first new material since the Nickelodeon show in the form of a digital and

cassette single A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single (music), single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was introduced in 1980 in music, 1 ...

, thus ending their status as a "one-off project". The cassingle, consisting of "Great Big Happy Green Moonface" (also its title) and "Baby Tae Kwon Do" was made available through the Mezzotint website. It was produced by new member Ohlenbusch. In addition, an animated music video was produced for "Great Big Happy Green Moonface". Polaris continued touring into 2015, their sets including all fourteen Polaris songs and selections from the

discography. On April 18, 2015, Polaris released both a vinyl edition of ''Music from The Adventures of Pete & Pete'' and the double-CD album, ''Live at Lincoln Hall'', a recording of their concert of October 26, 2014 at the Chicago venue. In 2016, the Miracle Legion discography received a digital re-release and the band planned a brief reunion tour of their own. In 2020, Mezzotint released a ''Music from the Adventures of Pete & Pete 21st Century Edition'' on vinyl with a bonus CD of demos for many of the songs.

Discography

* ''Happily Deranged'' (cassette, Nickelodeon/Sony Wonder, LAT-6688, 1995) * '' Music from The Adventures of Pete & Pete'' (CD, 1999; vinyl, 2015) * "Great Big Happy Green Moonface"/"Baby Tae Kwon Do" (cassette; digital, 2014) * ''Live at Lincoln Hall'' (CD; digital, 2015)

References

External links

The Mezzotint Label
-

Record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

for Polaris, Miracle Legion, and Mark Mulcahy {{DEFAULTSORT:Polaris Rock music groups from Connecticut American jangle pop groups Musicians from New Haven, Connecticut