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Polaris Bio
POLARIS BIO
Mark "Muggy" Mulcahy ... vocals, guitar
Dave "Jersey" McCaffrey ... bass
Scot "Harris Polaris" Boutier ... drums
You may know them as that band jumping around in the Wrigley's front yard during the opening sequence of The Adventures of Pete & Pete. The band Polaris started out back in 1984 as Miracle Legion. The band from Connecticut had 4 members. By the end of the 80s the only two mainstays seemed to be Ray "Mr. Ray" Neal and frontman Mark Mulcahy. Soon, they were joined by Dave McCaffrey and Scot Boutier.
While the legal disputes were being battled out in the court room, Polaris as we know it was formed. Mr. Ray took a break from the band as the other three members began working on the project of recording songs for the Nickelodeon series The Adventures of Pete & Pete.
Mark, Dave, and Scot (with their newly adopted nicknames of Muggy, Jersey and Harris) recorded the songs that were worked into the series as early as 1991. These songs were "Hey Sandy," "Staggering" (later retitled "She is Staggering"), "Everywhere," and "Summerbaby." The first full length episodes of Pete & Pete featuring "Hey Sandy" as the theme song aired in 1993. As the series continued, more songs were recorded to be used in the 2nd and 3rd seasons of the show.
The first release of Polaris music was a cassette tape given out in a Frosted Mini Wheats offer. After a long and eager wait, Polaris fans finally got what they'd been waiting for... In 1999, the Polaris album, "Songs from the Adventures of Pete and Pete," was released on Mark's own record lable, Mezzotint. This lable was started in 1996 to prevent legal problems like they had previously experienced.
So what became of the band after Pete & Pete? Well, they went back to being Miracle Legion on the Mezzotint label. Miracle Legion has since gone on hiatus, and, as tragic as it may be, it seems this may be the end for the band. Mark Mulcahy has released three solo albums, the first being "Fathering" (1999), the second being "Smile Sunset" (2001), and the third being "In Persuit of Your Happiness" (2005). But whatever it is that is in store for Miracle Legion, Polaris, Mark Mulcahy, or Mezzotint for the future, I'm sure we won't be disappointed.
At that time, Miracle Legion seemed to have hit it big. The release of the album "Drenched" lead to appearances on MTV and The Late Show with David Letterman. However, shortly thereafter, the band ran into some legal problems with their label.
Polaris has appeared, not only in the opening sequence, but also in the episode "A Hard Day's Pete" as the band in Mrs. Chicutti's garage playing little Pete's mysterious song. They are rejoined by Mr. Ray (on guitar) for this episode.
Scot Boutier and Dave McCaffrey have been playing for Frank Black and the Catholics. As for Mr. Ray, in 1997 he left to play with a band called The Jellyshirts. I have also read that he was (and maybe still is) a fencing instructor (which is really awesome, by the way). In 2004 he toured with Frank Critelli and Chris Buskey.