Artist: Polaris
Album: Music From the Adventures of Pete & Pete
Song: Summerbaby

WHEN did my earliest joy for playing guitar occur? Let me take you back... My favorite show as a kid was the Adventures of Pete and Pete on Nickelodeon. That show had the best writing evah and no show has been able to match its unique and absurdly beautiful surrealism. And Artie will always be the world's strongest man, in my opinion.

Polaris was the band the produced the intro song for the show. "Hey Sandy" will remain as one of my most treasured intros for a television show. It's a staple of my youth and every time I hear it it transports me back to a carefree world with endless Saturday mornings and Ren & Stimpy cartoons.

"Summerbaby" remains one of my favorite tracks from this album simply because Younger Pete played guitar for this track on the show. Obviously, he is not in the actual recording; hey may be singing on the chorus "Nobody knows, nobody knows!" but I could definitely be wrong. It's catchy, you won't be able to resist singing.

This tune flat out grabs a hold of you from the get-go with the slickest bass lines from a 90's tune and mysterious guitar flanger effects. The drumming will have you keeping rhthym in your head and everytime I hear I can't help but start moving my ass.

This healthy dose of nostalgia possesses lyrics that are equally surreal as the show's content itself. "Do you see a lot of angels up there like you? / Wolfgang and Vincent Van Gogh, / Have you seen Josephine? / Someone from town like Marshall Brown or someone you know?" Mark Mulcahy, lead singer for Polaris, can combine such crazy lyrics into an extremely catchy tune.

"I was around / Nobody knows, nobody knows" remains as the songs most recognized lyrical element. The tune is often blasted from my car stereo when rollin down the I-10; I hope some lucky bystander recognizes the song and can recollect similar memories. As I listen to this, I can remember the episode in which younger Pete would recite these words while playing his Fender Strat. I wanted that. WHEN I saw this, my life was pivoted into a new musical direction. I can say that with extreme confidence. Today, I am unashamed in saying that Nickelodean changed my effin' my life.