armchair cultural observation since 1995

Fictional Bands: The Mosquitoes

themosquitoesgilligansisland

America’s No. 1 Rock ‘n Roll group and Gilligan’s personal favorite, The Mosquitoes end up on Gilligan’s Island in an episode from the second season of the TV comedy.

They get dropped off the island with their instruments by a helicopter at the start of the episode in hopes of getting away from their fans but soon discover the island is anything but deserted. While they’re there they perform a couple songs for the castaways and sound incredibly good for not having any amplifiers for their instruments or microphones. For his part, Gilligan somehow manages to have all of their albums even though he’s been stranded on an island. Logic rarely ever featured in the show though but the songs they perform, “Don’t Bug Me” and “He’s A Loser” sound like they could logically have been hit songs on the radio in the mid-’60s.

The Mosquitoes were portrayed in the episode by a real band called The Wellingtons, which provided the iconic theme song for the show and were also known for writing the equally as catchy theme song to Disney’s “Davy Crockett.”

The visit from the rock stars sends the castaways in a frenzy as they see them as their ticket home, but they also quickly learn that the band is a guaranteed ticket home.

“We’re not dealing with regular people, we’re dealing with musicians,” Skipper talking to Gilligan about The Mosquitoes.

In hopes of getting them to help rescue them, the castaways decide to form an opening act that will stroke their egos and get them in their good graces. The opening act, The Gnats, ends up having an awesome logo and drumset built by the Professor but the sounds they make could barely be classified as music.

thegnatsgilligansisland

The Mosquitoes run away when they hear The Gnats perform so the girls instead form a three-piece singing group called The Honey Bees, which has the opposite effect on the band.

After hearing them perform “You Need Us,” the band decides they have enough competition and flee the island, leaving a souvenir gift and a note behind. The gift, as Gilligan notes isn’t even autographed, is one of their records, The Mosquitoes at Carnegie Hall.

themosquitoesatcarnegiehall

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