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The Mosquitoes - A band of mop-top rock and
roll musicians seen on episode No. 48 "Don't Bug the Mosquitoes" on the
situation comedy GILLIGAN'S ISLAND/CBS/1964-67.
The Mosquitoes (Bingo, Bango, Bongo and Irving) were America's hottest new
rock group. To escape their crazed fans they had themselves dropped on a
deserted island for some rest and relaxation. Their hunt for privacy was
interrupted when they discovered the island was the home of a group of
shipwrecked castaways desperate to return home.
To encourage the musicians to leave the island both men and women castaways
formed singing groups. The men formed a rock group called The Gnats. The
female group called The Honeybees (comprised of Ginger, Mary Ann and Mrs.
Howell) sang the song "You Need Us" ("like a clam needs a shell...Like a
prisoner needs a cell).
Shortly after the Honeybees talented performance, The Mosquitoes
secretly left the island but not before leaving a copy of their album "The
Mosquitoes Live at Carnegie Hall."
The Mosquitoes were played by Les Brown, Jr. (Bingo), George Patterson (Bango),
Ed Wade (Bongo), and Kirby Johnson (Irving). Three of the Mosquitoes
(excluding Bingo) were actually members of The Wellingtons, the folk singing
trio that performed the theme song "The Ballad of Gilligan's Island."
TRIVIA NOTE: The voice of Mary Ann
(Dawn Wells) was dubbed by singer-songwriter Carol Connor. A similar plot
appeared on the western comedy F TROOP/ABC/1965-67 when Corporal Randolph
Agarn (Larry Storch) quit the Cavalry to manage a frontier rock group called
the "Bedbugs." To get Agarn to reenlist Sergeant Morgan O'Rourke (Forrest
Tucker) formed a band called the "Termites" in hopes of discouraging Agarn
in his new career.
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