Slate has a great article on the origin of the Muppets’ song “Mahna Mahna.” The second most interesting bit I gleaned was that it wasn’t an original tune by the Muppets troupe. It’s so iconic and muppetesque that it’s hard to imagine it having a very non-Muppets beginning.
Yes, that’s the most shocking revelation from this story. The ditty was by Italian composer Piero Umiliani. Surprising given its Muppet notoriety, it was written for the 1968 documentary “Sweden: Heaven and Hell.” The film chronicled sexuality in the Scandinavian country for Italian audiences.
You read that right. The song made famous by those cute and cuddly Muppets had its origin in a soft-core porn movie.
The song, originally released as “Mah Nà Mah Nà”, was featured on the film’s soundtrack. The single was a minor hit and reached #55 on the U.S. charts in ’68. “Mahna Mahna” then began its second life when it appeared in a “Sesame Street” sketch during the first season of the children’s TV show. Later that same year, the Muppets performed the song on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” The catchy tune was reprised for the very first episode of “The Muppet Show” in 1976. See the video below. The Muppet hit even appears in the new film.
For more on this fascinating bit of Muppets trivia, head over to the Slate article. They also have videos of the song from (gasp!) the original movie.
This came out of left field. Latino Review received this pic and they’re claiming it’s a head from the 2011 live action TMNT movie that was being planned. I haven’t heard anything else about this movie since Nickelodeon snatched up the turtles. Could it still be on? Are they going for a more natural turtle look? Did I just stare at this image for an hour speculating what it would look like talking?
Hopefully we’ll get answers to all those questions except for the last one. That is between me and my computer screen.
The Simpsons Sing the Blues came out in 1990, riding on the huge wave of popularity the Simpsons were enjoying at the time. I was an insanely huge Simpsons fan when I was younger, and I’m starting to regain that obsession now thanks to finally buying all the DVD sets.
I had two or three of the Simpsons albums back in the day, and The Simpsons Sing the Blues was my first. While I liked the albums of music from the show better, I can’t help but feel nostalgic when I listen to Do the Bartman or Deep Deep Trouble. Since it’s a couple decades old, you can pick up the album on Amazon for less than ten bucks, or you can listen to all the songs with me thanks to the magical world of YouTube.
Remember when I made a list of the Best Beatles Covers from the Muppet Show, and I said I could listen to a whole album of Jerry Nelson singing? Well, that’s exactly what I’m doing right now thanks to his new album, Truro Daydreams.
Jerry Nelson is of course the super talented puppeteer/voice actor/musician that you probably know as the characters Floyd, The Count, Gobo Fraggle, and too many more to mention. I heard about a year ago that he was coming out with an album, and it looks like it was just now released. It’s a very cool blend of a lot of different styles of music, and I highly recommend picking it up.
Christopher Lee is no stranger to awesomeness, and his latest forray into the world of having a deep voice and being generally intimidating is Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross. His website describes it as a “metal concept album”, but I’ll let you be the judge.
