Looking back on my youth, some of the fondest memories as far as entertainment was concerned were the stellar original shows that Nickelodeon produced in the early 90s. Any given afternoon (or Saturday night; I was around for the beginning of Snick) was an embarrassment of riches as far as live-action kids shows were concerned. Between Hey Dude, Salute Your Shorts, Clarissa Explains it All and The Adventures of Pete & Pete, you were guaranteed a good time. What all of these shows had in common was a trait so common to great entertainment (whatever the audience) that it’s rare to find a great show without it: they didn’t talk down to their audience. They took great pride in being off-kilter and made no scurried attempts to over-explain their sometimes dysfunctional nature. Okay, enough rambling about nostalgia, let’s get on to this week’s album of the week…
Polaris - “Music From the Adventures of Pete & Pete”
The Adventures of Pete & Pete was one of those shows that just oozed charm, and thus was never destined for the mainstream (hence the reason that Nickelodeon has put further seasons of the series on ‘indefinite hiatus’ for DVD release). The show wallowed in its own off-beat happy-go-lucky world, which is a fitting metaphor for the music the show featured. Jangle-pop band Polaris provided the instantly-memorable theme song and also many of the background songs featured throughout the show’s run. Any fan of indie-pop or catchy guitar-driven pop songwriting will have a hard time finding much (if anything) to dislike here. The album features 12 cuts from the show and not a one among them is a dud. While there are certainly tracks that outshine others, it’s merely a difference in the degree of goodness. This album has been a listening mainstay since entering my collection about a year ago (I was unaware it had been released in 1999). It takes only a short while to worm itself into your brain and then you’re hooked. You’ll be singing along to almost every track on the album in no time. There are several instances on the album of sampling, clips usually of a space-related nature (no surprise given that the band is named after a constellation) that in most cases have little to nothing to do with the songs themselves. At first these are a bit unwelcome, especially when they lie between your ears and the opening track “Hey Sandy,” but after a few spins, you’ll come to appreciate them for what they are, and, if you’re anything like me, you’ll find yourself counting off with the sample in preparation for singing along (and mangling) “Hey Sandy.” Tracks like “She is Staggering” deftly demonstrate the saccharine sweetness of the beginning stages of love (fittingly, as it is first heard in the show when older Pete begins to take interest in his best friend Ellen) while “Summerbaby,” first heard in the show as a mysterious song the younger Pete hears on the radio and becomes enamored with is every bit as captivating and catchy as a song that would warrant such obsession should be.
The beauty part of this music, as well as the show in which it originated, is that it holds up well regardless of the age of the listener and/or viewer. It’s almost a shame for the band that this wasn’t given a prominent release when the show was at its peak, as I have no doubt that it would have become an indie-pop classic. As it stands though, the fact that this is available in any form is of great benefit to music fans everywhere; this is pop music at its very finest.
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