[Today: A good old-fashioned variety show...]
In the late-70′s, every Sunday night around 8pm found my brother and I freshly scrubbed, in our pajamas, and sprawled out in front of the television in full anticipation of The Muppet Show. Marlin Perkins was usually closing up shop on Mutual Of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, summarizing that day’s adventure with Water Buffalo, while we impatiently squirmed, waiting for The Great Gonzo and Fozzie Bear to take center stage.
The Muppet Show was a good old-fashioned variety show in the mold of The Ed Sullivan Show or The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. There were skits and jokes, celebrity guests and regular characters, and plenty of singing and dancing. As Barney The Dinosaur and countless children’s shows since have proven, the music could have been terrible and the show would have still been a huge hit (kids aren’t the most discerning music critics, after all). It’s to the show’s infinite credit that that not only was the music enjoyable for kids and adults alike, it has also held up remarkably well.
Of course, the Muppet Band (aka Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem) was a killer unit, with the inimitable Dr. Teeth on vocals and keyboard, the lovely Janice on guitar, the mysterious Zoot on saxophone, the delightfully-named Sgt Floyd Pepper on bass, and the energetic Animal on drums. Part Keith Moon, part Tasmanian Devil, Animal had trouble getting through any performance without destroying his kit. This was brilliant, hilarious theater, and it always left us wanting more. The show usually featured first-rate musical guests, including disparate notables such as Alice Cooper, Dizzy Gillespie and John Denver. But the Muppets didn’t just lean on their guests for great songs – they had plenty of their own, including ‘Mahna Mahna’ and ‘Can You Picture That?’.
Music, Mayhem, And More! collects all the best songs from The Muppet Show and their subsequent movies. Kermit T. Frog’s ‘Rainbow Connection’ (from the original Muppet Movie) is a beautiful little tune about the nature of dreamers, and it’s since been covered by Willie Nelson, Dixie Chicks, and many others. Statler and Waldorf – the old curmudgeons in the balcony – may not have liked it one bit, but me and my brother couldn’t get enough.
Listen: Rainbow Connection
Listen: Mahna Mahna
Listen: Can You Picture That?
Tags: Alice Cooper, Animal, Barney The Dinosaur, Dixie Chicks, Dizzy Gillespie, Dr. Teeth, Ed Sullivan, Fozzie Bear, Janice, John Denver, Keith Moon, Kermit The Frog, Marlin Perkins, Music Mayhem And More!, Sgt Floyd Pepper, Tasmanian Devil, The Great Gonzo, The Muppets, The Smothers Brothers, Willie Nelson
25 November 2009 at 9:44 am |
[...] By dkpresents It’s a good thing that I’ve already detailed my love of The Muppets, because this brilliant video left me [...]