Bobby Evers writesTop Five Musical Cameos From ‘The Adventures of Pete & Pete’

OK, so, this might not land as well with readers who were already adults in the mid- 1990s, or for anyone that was 14 or under during 9/11. But let me just fill you in:

The Adventures of Pete and Pete was a quirky, cool, live-action series on Nickelodeon that ran from 1993 to 1996. It was about two brothers, both named Pete, and their meditative observations about childhood in a small Midwestern postmodern America. While it had incredibly nuanced writing and bright, beautiful colors, most of what we talk about when we talk about Pete and Pete, is the music (compositions by Polaris and Stephin Merritt) and the obscure celebrity cameos, which rivaled Portlandia's use of them today.

This week's Top Five merges both of those. While its non-musical cameos could be a whole other list unto itself (Steve Buscemi?? Patti Hearst???), today we bring you: The Top Five Musical Cameos From The Adventures of Pete and Pete:

5. LL Cool J (from "Sick Day," season 2, ep. 10)

"In Spain it's called Dia infermo, in Hungary beteg nap. Around here... It's just known as... 'the sick day.'" Wherein little Pete plays hookie from school and learns a few memorable lessons about the world, his community, and himself as well. Like Bart Simpson before him, Little Pete is a bit of a hellion. As his principal, it is LL Cool J's job to announce, in a secret coded language to the other teachers that Pete is out, and they all rejoice.

4. Kate Pierson (from "What We Did On Our Summer Vacation," Season 1, ep. 4)

In this early episode, we find our heroes lamenting the end of summer, with Little Pete beating up the ocean with personal superhero, Artie, The Strongest Man in the World. Much speculation is made as to the identity of the ice cream truck driver, Mr. Tastee, as he wears an anthropomorphic ice cream cone head, preventing anyone from seeing his face. In one of the more memorable cameos, we find B-52's singer, Kate Pierson, blind and delusional saying that "Leonard" "never really understood me." When Tastee goes missing, they seek her help, as the only person who truly knew him. She lifts her dark glasses up to her shock of red hair to reveal her cornflower blue eyes and says "Leonard said that my eyes were bluer than the bluest blue tornado bar. He did. He said that."

3. Michael Stipe (from "What We Did On Our Summer Vacation," Season 1, ep. 4)

Nearly giving up hope of finding Mr. Tastee, Big Pete turns to another ice cream man for answers. Enter Mr. Scrummy, played by an early 90's Michael Stipe. He still has hair in this role, and uses hand gestures a lot while talking. Pete inquires as to why ice cream men are so afraid of letting other people get close to them. Stipe explains: "Look, aren't we here on the first hot day of every summer? Aren't we? Don't we carry 49 different flavors including pineapple blurt? What else do you want from us?" Big Pete doesn't know how to answer. His vocabulary is too young to communicate that he wants Mr. Tastee to reciprocate his emotional vulnerability.

2. Debbie Harry ( from "New Year's Pete")

Apparently this episode was not one of the numbered episodes of any particular season, but was in fact one of the pilot episodes that was developed during their transition from live-action short to full length TV show. So this episode precedes season 1, but is still full of oddball spirit. For example, we find Pete and Pete selling land mine lawn inspection services to Blondie's Debbie Harry. She says she'll have to ask her husband. Big Pete asks if he's home, and Harry says, "No, I'm not married. But if I ever do meet that special someone, I'll be sure to ask him." Then her dog blows up.

1. Lucious Jackson (from "Dance Fever," Season 3, ep. 5)

Feelings of unrequited love were always a thread of this show, which is why so many of us were able to identify with it over the years. In this episode Big Pete goes to the school dance where inexplicably, Luscious Jackson is the hired performer. Instantly, Pete falls in love-at-first-sight with bass player, Gabby Glaser, inspiring a generation of prepubescent American males to idolize girls with guitars. For some reason, Pete can't get to the front of the stage. Hijinks ensue, as hijinks often will. By the end though, she finds him and they totally dance, you guys. (reliving this episode was very emotional for me).

Honorable Mentions:

Gordon Gano of The Violent Femmes, Richard Edson of Sonic Youth, Juliana Hatfield, Syd Straw, & Iggy Pop (who was in too many episodes for it to be considered a cameo).

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