Mark Mulcahy has never been a household name by any means, but it is surprising how such a no-frills, simple songwriter has achieved the respect and recognition of some of our times' best musicians. Beginning his musical ventures with the New Haven, Connecticut college rock band Miracle Legion in 1984, Mulcahy gained little more than New England fame, but captured the admiration of many college-aged fans. Two of these fans were Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi, who went looking for Mulcahy years later when searching for a band to soundtrack their alternative children's show The Adventures of Pete and Pete. Mulcahy gladly accepted and formed Polaris, who wrote a handful of songs for the show including the popular theme song, "Hey Sandy," that are now available on the album Music From the Adventures of Pete and Pete. Since his work with the show, Mulcahy has remained rather quiet, but has kept up with music by performing on his own and co-writing a couple of musicals. While the music of the various Mulcahy projects has never been too elaborate, it has been extremely influential to artists of the same generation. Recently, tragedy stuck and Mulcahy's wife sadly passed away, leaving him to raise their twin 3-year old daughters. To support the musician, many of of his longtime fans including Thom Yorke, Frank Black, Dinosaur Jr., and Ben Kweller, contributed tracks to Caio My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy. The proceeds of this cover album will help to benefit Mulcahy and his family. In honor of this cult hero, I have a few videos to share with you this week.
The first video should be recognizable to any child who didn't grow up under a rock in the 90's. The Adventures of Pete and Pete was a genius show, but part of what made it so special was Polaris' spectacular soundtrack. Here are the opening credits of the show, featuring a chunk of the band's biggest hit, "Hey Sandy." Check out Mulcahy and his bandmates rocking out on the front lawn of the Wrigley household.
While the next video lacks a "video," it features the Miracle Legion tune "A Heart Disease Called Love." This tune, which was featured on the 1987 album Glad, is a slower love song, perhaps influencing later tunes such as "She is Staggering."
Up next is the video for Thom Yorke's take on "All for the Best." Yorke is an outspoken Mulcahy fan, not only contributing to the tribute album, but also dedicating a song to him at a Boston Radiohead show a few years ago. This is an interesting rearranging of a simple Mulcahy tune, definitely worth a listen.
Lastly, I deliver another Polaris track from Pete and Pete. "Summerbaby," is a ska influenced tune that actually turns out to be Little Pete's favorite song in one of the first season episodes. I'm sure Nickalodeon did a bit of censoring with some of the sexually driven lyrics of the chorus. While once again, the song is not overly complex, it is a great example of the versatility of Mulcahy's songwriting and playing.
www.markmulcahy.com/
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