The TANGERINE PUPPETS were a popular group based in Forest Hills, Queens in New York City in the late 60’s. There were many great musicians in that school including members of The RAMONES and The VAGRANTS. Before them came SIMON & GARFUNKEL as well as BURT BACHARACH. With budding virtuosos, Mark Mayo on guitar and Lloyd Landesman on keyboards, the TANGERINE PUPPETS believed in a serious musical approach and a dedication to their visual presentation. LESLIE WEST of the VAGRANTS was a big influence on the band and Mark’s relationship with Leslie paved the path for several opportunities. When the TANGERINE PUPPETS dissolved, Mark went on to play with VAGRANTS’ singer, PETER SABATINO. They were and acoustic duo that performed around New York, but Mark soon missed the heavy rock sound. He re-established a connection with drummer, MARK BABANI and they invited LESLIE WEST’s brother, LARRY to several sessions.

HAYSTACKS BALBOA

As fate would have it, after the PUPPETS disbanded, Landesman would join Polott in a revamping of the UMBRELLA whose current drummer and guitarist were from Forest Hills and knew Lloyd. After several rehearsals, waning enthusiasm and few gigs, the band dissolved. Lloyd returned to a new project that was in its fledgling stages with his former PUPPETS bandmates. He brought Polott along on bass, ironically to fill the chair that former VAGRANTS bassist, Larry West, sometimes occupied. This group became HAYSTACKS BALBOA, a riff on Haystacks Calhoun – a popular wrestler at the time. It featured Mark Mayo on guitar and Lloyd on Hammond Organ. They were soon signed to a record deal on Polydor Records after a hot summer rehearsing in basements and opening up for Paul Butterfield at the Pavillion at the old NY World’s Fairgrounds, a venue that both Mayo and Polott had played when the Fair was open, years before. Headlining the venue that summer were legendary bands such as Led Zeppelin, Procol Harum, Grateful Dead, Santana and Mountain. HAYSTACKS BALBOA was managed by Shelly Finkel, then manager of Mountain. He brought the band to PREMIER TALENT who booked their first show at the SCHAEFFER FESTIVAL, opening for JETHRO TULL. Their album was produced by the legendary Shadow Morton.

After a shake-up, Keith was looking for a new lead guitarist and bassist. Mark Mayo and Mark Polott had their own thing, but the suggestion was made that they fill in at gigs during the search and this was appealing. They weren’t exactly the type and the image that the Brats projected. but they could ROCK!

Maybe it was the gangster suits, maybe the slide show or the dueling lead guitarists. Whatever it was, the band had a good run as outsiders, surrounded by the world of Punk and New Wave.

And the Wave was big and swept up the boys. They morphed into a tight, groomed pop band. The personnel changed by adding some close friends who had the right vibe and an MTV look. The pompadours grew and the tunes were commercial. A little reggae was introduced. It was a genre they often visited. And they peppered in some cool instrumentals to showcase their melodic bent. The set became a polished assault of shorter catchy tunes. Through it all, they played their hearts out and enjoyed many memorable nights on stage. The name came about when it was decided during a fierce naming marathon, that the next name suggested would be it, no matter what! Someone said the Eskimos and after the laughter subsided and composure was regained, they landed on Igloos. Original, if nothing else.

The simplicity of our sound coupled with a complexity of chordal structure led us to pursue a new challenge. We have always felt, and still do, that our songs were our most marketable commodity. We craved a way to further embellish our creations. We decided to take a leap into uncharted (no pun intended) territory and form a big band. We added a horn section. Initially it was two trumpets, a trombone and two or three saxes. The line up and instrumentation varied during the life span of Raccoon Lodge, but was consistently a dynamic live unit and really fun in the studio. We played out a fair amount, the highlight being a night at the Hard Rock Café on 57th Street in Manhattan. Our undoing was the complexity of running an eight piece band… too many scheduling conflicts, too many phone calls and too many egos. The recordings live on as a testimonial to our power and energy. It was a blast singing in front of the massive sound coming off those seemingly tiny stages. We would also meet some great sax players that would influence our sound, even up to today.

The 90’s were winding down. It was a time to scale it down, have some fun and still be on the scene. A series of groups followed, featuring the great Ken Plum, a hot tenor sax player from the Lodge and Jim Taormina, a keyboardist they met through an old drummer friend from the early 70’s known as Dippy. This core was augmented by a series of female vocalists. Blue Zone became Blue Lagoon when the boys added Val Kinzler up front and an old friend, the amazing Joe Franco who sat behind the drum kit. Joe had left the Marks in Haystacks many years before to join the Good Rats and remained a good friend of theirs for decades. His career has been stellar with stints with Leslie West , Dee Snider and Twisted Sister. This line up recorded a nice demo at Avatar and played several gigs around town. This didn’t quite work out but they remained Blue.

The group added Dave Painchaud on  trumpet and a new saxophonist, Senien Hicks. Backed by gentleman drummer Doug Sako, the music simmerd. They were many gigs at some great venues.

In 2004, Urban Blue recorded it’s first cd, “It’s Different Today.” Mayo and Polott were helped out by Lloyd Landesman who co-produced and engineered. Lloyd was the keyboardist in Haystacks Balboa, over thirty years before. It’s a rollicking fourteen songs including a reggae influenced cover of ‘Crossroads” and the title cut, their post 9/11 ballad. The music is available on iTunes and CDBaby.