The Mosquitos were one of the most talented bands of the mid '80s, hailing from the north shore of Long Island, New York. They were heavily influenced by '60s pop, especially Merseybeat / British Invasion, and they combined fantastic harmonies with fine songwriting and musicianship. The band featured Vance Brescia (lead vocals, guitar), Tony Millions (keyboard, vocals), Steve Prisco (lead guitar, vocals), and Iain Morrison (bass, vocals). After original drummer Pat Bishow left the band, Mitch Towse joined The Mosquitos.

Their only vinyl release was "That Was Then, This Is Now," a 5-song, 12 inch EP (Valhalla, 1985). The title track was covered in the summer of 1986 by The Monkees as their 20th anniversary single, reaching # 20 on the Billboard singles chart. The Mosquitos' "Darn Well" was selected by Jeff Tamarkin as the leadoff track to "Garage Sale" (ROIR, 1985), a fine cassette-only compilation of '80s garage sounds. One of the EP tracks, "Do You Want To Hurt Me," appears on the Spanish power pop compilation CD "The Bam Balam Explosion, Vol. III" (Bam Balam Records, 1996).

The only official live release is a cover of "Let's Stomp!" on the "Cavestomp! Vol. 1" CD (Cavestomp! Records, 2000). This was recorded in 1997 at the first of the annual Cave Stomp shows in New York City, and featured only lead singer Vance Brescia from The Mosquitos, who performed under the band's name with pals Tony Formosa (bass) and Pete Bross (drums).

While their official releases don't come close to showing how great they were, many of us have wonderful memories of the band... And there are, of course, live tapes and demos out there to testify to their brilliance.

This e-mail group was set up in February 2005 by friends Blair Buscareno and Bill Jones (who met at a Mosquitos show in '83) to provide a forum for sharing memories of The Mosquitos and the cool scene they helped create.