Live Outdoor show, Belleville, NJ. 
2014 Remix of our version of 'Too Rolling Stoned.'

Too Rolling Stoned - Live, 9/9/84

a great blues jam we did. i barely remember the drummer and totally forget his name, as we never seen him again after this. recorded on October 20th 1984, at The Night-Time Skyway, Belleville, NJ.

Countryhouse Shuffle - 10/20/84 - Night-Time Skyway

This track is more of a metal sound. the guitar and bass, slightly out of tune with each other - although the flanger on the bass seems to help alot. Recorded December 4th, 1984 at The Night-Time Skyway, Belleville, NJ. this may have been Ross himself on the drums, while recording the session also. i think the phone rang, and we cut the jam short.

Get Buzzed - 12/4/84 - Night-Time Skyway

Working Man Jam - Night-Time Skyway - 1/04/86

Recently found, lost Soundcheck - pre show/warm up, from 1984.

Soundcheck - 9/9/84

The Mosquitos were a Hard Rock/Blues jam band from New Jersey in the early 1980s, buzzing around the Nutley/Belleville area as a 3 piece unit from 1984 - 1986.

Recorded by Ross Philips at The Night-Time Skyway, they had a swarm of different drummers, while the guitarist and bassist always remained as the founding fathers.

when tracing their origin, you would have to go back to the spring of 1982.
JW on Bass and JZ on guitar, they were only 16 and 'Otis HH' was probably their original drummer.
the keg parties at Otis' place in Kearny were legendary, and these guys would jam for hours,
with crowds of people coming in.

then Ross had discovered them.
'yeah they were smoking pot in a cemetery every Saturday, on their way to The Record Shop in Bloomfield. they were pathetic. JW's sister Deb would have to drive out there and get them a ride back home every week, so i took them out of there.' Ross himself can be heard at the end of one of the tracks: 'that's great, fucking great!'

and if you thought underground bands like the self-knighted Sir Lord Baltimore were hip, then The Mosquitos were the Kings. the Ross antenna was right there, making the mainstream Brian Epstein and The Beatles look like termites. the spitting image of Rock's Royalty Steve Marriott also had 
a welcome for the band:
'if the light is on, i'm home.'

by September '84, Deb had lined up an outdoor gig in the Belleville Valley.
the band came on as a thief in the night, and the lower part of town was now looking at the real conductors of their train - now standing still.

a last minute decision to add 'Too Rolling Stoned' while onstage was totally off the cuff,
but embedded their name in local history for years to come. 
this was easily The Small Faces playing 'You Need Loving,'
but a delivery equal to the Sex Pistols at The Texas Longhorn, complete with secret agents waiting for them offstage.


later that same week the band returned to the Night-Time Skyway, 
and presented Ross with the tapes.

the elder General Philips, sat back in his chair pouring a bottle of Stoli, 
while the defining moments of audio were ripping through the studio speakers.
it was Washington's attack on Trenton,
as an Anvil had just been dropped on the underground world of Rock & Roll.
a trio of self rightous, pompous unforgiven clowns had just stormed the watchtower, 
and brought it's controllers out in chains.
Sgt. Pepper was dead. 
they weren't here to save the Queen.
The Mosquitos had arrived with a grain of salt, as they were here all along. 

the following month had them back at the Ross lair 
laying down their most vital & totally uncompromising studio jam to date -
'Countryhouse Shuffle.'
coincidentally, the title applies suspiciously to the previous month's event.
*the CS style may have come from 'Choker' on the Guitar Boogie album, a purchase made from their old Saturdays in Bloomfield.


an interesting note was the drummer on this track.
the guy walked in out of nowhere, and sat behind the kit.
soon afterwards, he shook hands with everyone and they never seen him again. and no, that is not allegorical.

CS was the cornerstone of the Mosquitos cocoon,
and if anyone could square a circle...
this collection of tracks, now available to the world for the first time in 30 years. 
*note that many of the 1984 & 1985 recordings remain lost.
the new 'Soundcheck' track, recently found and uploaded here.

two years later, the Ross connection was still the winning vehicle. the final sessions would be with legendary Jazz Teacher, Al K on drums in early 1986.  at just 19, they were playing with the best. 


in the end, they took a vacation from it all. 
no, not one of those. freedom was not there on either side of the coin - regardless of what any band tries to sell you.
and in the early morning hours of the 21st Century, 
it is unfortunate and beyond frightening, 
that both sides... remain fast asleep.







The Mosquitos

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