Mah Nà Mah Nà
Encyclopedia
"Mah Nà Mah Nà" is a popular song written by Piero Umiliani
. It originally appeared in the Italian film Sweden: Heaven and Hell
(Svezia, Inferno E Paradiso). It was a minor radio hit in the U.S. and in Britain
, but became better known in English-speaking countries from its use in the first episode of The Muppet Show
, the 14th episode of Sesame Street
and also from its consistent use as the primary silent comedy sketch scene music for The Benny Hill Show
.
Svezia, inferno e paradiso
(Sweden: Heaven and Hell [lit. Hell and Heaven]) (1968), a pseudo-documentary
about wild sexual activity and other behaviour in Sweden
. The song accompanied a scene in the film set in a sauna
which gave its original title "Viva la Sauna Svedese" (Hooray for the Swedish Sauna). It was performed by a band called Marc 4 (four session musician
s from the RAI
orchestra) and the lead part was sung by Italian singer/composer Alessandro Alessandroni
.
The song also appeared on the 1968 soundtrack album
released for the film.
"Mah Nà Mah Nà" was a hit in many countries in 1968–1969. In the U.S., it peaked at #55 in the Billboard Hot 100
singles chart and #44 on the Cash Box magazine chart in October 1969. The UK single release, on the Major Minor label, was credited to "The Great Unknowns", and featured "Doo-be-doo-be-do" on the B side (also sometimes featured in The Benny Hill Show). Umiliani's own version reached number 8 in the UK in 1977.
The song's lyrics
contain no actual words, only nonsense (iambic) syllables resembling scat singing
. The original version interpolates
melodies from "Swedish Rhapsody" (Midsummer Vigil
) by Hugo Alfvén
, "Santa Lucia
", "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
", the jazz standard
"Lullaby of Birdland
", and others.
recorded a variation titled "Mais Non, Mais Non" ("But No, But No" or "Of Course Not, Of Course Not"), with lyrics he had written in French to Umiliani's tune.
Giorgio Moroder
released version in 1968, as Giorgio.
In 1969, the Dave Pell
Singers recorded a version for Liberty Records which got considerable radio exposure.
During its 1969-70 season, The Red Skelton Show
used the Umiliani recording as background music for a recurring blackout sketch. The otherwise silent bits featured Red and another performer, dressed as moon
creatures, playing with equipment left behind by the Project Apollo
astronauts.
The song is the title track of a 1970 LP on GRT Records (GRT 20003), released after the initial success of Sesame Street
; it is purportedly sung by a Muppet lookalike pictured on the sleeve. Other songs on the album, including "Peg O' My Heart", "Zip A Dee Doo Dah", "Mississippi Mud", and "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town", are sung with the syllables "mah na mah na" filling in for the actual words of the song. Many tracks also feature kazoo
accompaniment.
In 1973, a rendition of "Mah Nà Mah Nà" on the Moog synthesizer
was released on the album More Hot Butter (Musicor MS 3254) by Hot Butter
, best known for the pop tune "Popcorn
". It was re-released on CD in 2000.
Disco group Lipstique released a disco version of the song in 1978. A thrash metal
version was recorded by Skin in 1996.
The British pop group Vanilla
also used the song as a basis for their first single "No Way, No Way" in 1997. It has been featured on several compilations including Now That's What I Call Music!
's thirty-ninth issue and Dancemania
's eighth issue
both released in 1998.
The musical group Cake
recorded a horn-driven version of this song featuring many different sounds. This version was recorded as a children's song and appears on an album called For the Kids
, released in 2002, and on their compilation album, B-Sides and Rarities
, released in 2007.
Surrounding Super Bowl XL
in 2006, a version of the song was recorded for the Pittsburgh Steelers
, replacing the title sylables with "Polamalu
", the last name of the Steelers' star strong safety.
Since 2009, the Philadelphia Union's fan supporters, the Sons of Ben
, have used the song, substituting the group's name in place of the song's title.
A version sung in Arabic was released by actor/singer Samir Ghanem using the words anam, anam(meaning "sleep, sleep").
In 2011 alternative rock band The Fray
released a cover of the song on the Muppets: The Green Album
CD.
on television. In 1969, the first season of Sesame Street
featured a sketch featuring two Muppet girls who are unsure of what to do, until they decide to sing a song, enter an unusual-looking short, shaggy-haired male Muppet character who begins singing "Mahna Mahna", prompting the girls to join him. None of the characters had names at the time, but the male Muppet who led the "Mahna Mahna" call-and-response was eventually given the name Bip Bippadotta, so as to differentiate him from the official Mahna Mahna character that would be developed later on.
On 30 November 1969, "Mahna Mahna" was performed on the The Ed Sullivan Show
by three new and more fully detailed Muppet characters. The male Muppet character was now purple with wild, orange hair and a furry, green tunic, while the female Muppet characters were two identical pink alien creatures with horns and cone-like mouths (with yellow lips) that always remained open. At this point the male Muppet was given the name Mahna Mahna and the female alien creatures were referred to as The Snouths
(as a portmanteau of "snout" and "mouth" since their mouth also served as their noses). The song "Mahna Mahna" was played at a slower tempo and given a more playful, quintessential "children's"-style arrangement as opposed to the previous arrangement which was slightly reminiscent of late 1950s/early 1960s Calypso
.
In 1976, on the first episode of The Muppet Show
to be recorded (featuring Juliet Prowse), the 1969 "Mahna Mahna" routine from The Ed Sullivan Show was reworked and used as the first sketch with the same characters and a new recording of the last musical arrangement. The Muppet Show became an immediate hit and "Mahna Mahna" was the highlight of that episode.
As a result, the original Piero Umiliani recording finally became a hit in the UK (#8 in the UK charts in May 1977), where the Muppet Show soundtrack album featuring the Muppets' version went to number one. It was at that point that the name "Mahna Mahna and The Snouths" was given the incorrect credit of "Mahna Mahna and The Snowths", which, interestingly enough, has served as the definitive spelling ever since then.
Meanwhile, later on in that same episode, a snippet of the song "Lullaby of Birdland
" is 'hummed' during one of the improvisational passages, as part of a running gag involving "Mahna Mahna".
The later Muppet TV series Muppets Tonight
(1996–1998) revisited it in a sketch with Sandra Bullock
where Kermit the Frog
visits a doctor to complain about weird things that happen to him whenever he says the word phenomena, namely the Snouths suddenly appear with musical accompaniment to sing their part of the song.
In the Muppets version of "Bohemian Rhapsody
" at 00:02:25, Mahna Mahna and the Snowths make a cameo appearance, singing the titular lyric.
The song is performed in the 2011 Muppets film
, where various celebrities sing with the Snouths in the end credits.
" in the chase scenes in the Benny Hill shows
of the 1970s and 1980s.
In the 1990s in the UK, a variation of "Mah Nà Mah Nà" was used as part of an advertising campaign for the BN Biscuit
.
In the early 2000s, Scottish based drink Irn Bru used the song with the words "phenomenal" to replace 'Mah Na Ma Nah'. As a result, the song became very popular in popular culture at that time.
Brazil
's Pato Fu
used the song's melody in the chorus of their 1999 hit "Made in Japan".
The sunscreen brand Banana Boat filmed a TV advertisement for the Australian market, using the song with new words. The words are sung by a boy toddler on the beach, dubbing "baby talk" on a mixture of animation and live action.
In the first episode of the second series of the UK version of The Office
, Gareth Keenan
and David Brent
sing the song at the beginning of the episode.
The song is played as background music in the German film Summer Storm
(2004), and is listed in the ending credits.
The band That Handsome Devil
samples the song heavily in their 2007 song "Hey White Boy".
The Muppets filmed a new version of the song in 2005, for a New Zealand
charity called CanTeen
. In the ad, an updated version of the Mahna Mahna puppet was performed by Bill Barretta
, and the lyrics were changed to "Bandanana", supporting CanTeen's "Bandana
Week".
A variation of the song was used in several of the Mama Luchetti's advertisements from Argentina
.
Several ads for Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper appeared on television in 2005. In one, a young woman on a blind date at a restaurant who sips into the beverage, suddenly imagines her narcissistic date, restaurant patrons, and even a waitress all part of a fantasy musical sequence involving The Muppets version of the song "Mah Nà Mah Nà".
In "The Firefly
" episode of Fringe
, the song was playing on a record player in Walter Bishop
's home while he was creating a formula to restore the missing pieces of his brain; pieces which were surgically removed years before in an agreement with William Bell.
In "This Is My House, This Is My Home," the season eight finale of One Tree Hill
, Nathan Scott
performs this song with his daughter, Lydia, as wife Haley James Scott
watches.
In 2011, a group including the muppets performed the song for BBCs Children in Need.
Piero Umiliani
Piero Umiliani was an Italian composer of film scores, and is most famous for his song "Mah Nà Mah Nà".-Biography:Umiliani was born in Florence, Tuscany...
. It originally appeared in the Italian film Sweden: Heaven and Hell
Sweden: Heaven and Hell
Sweden: Heaven and Hell is an Italian mondo film from 1968 directed by Luigi Scattini.The film which is made up of nine segments focuses on different aspects of sexuality in Sweden such as lesbian nightclubs, porn films, swinging lifestyle of married couples and sex education of teenagers...
(Svezia, Inferno E Paradiso). It was a minor radio hit in the U.S. and in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, but became better known in English-speaking countries from its use in the first episode of The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
, the 14th episode of Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
and also from its consistent use as the primary silent comedy sketch scene music for The Benny Hill Show
The Benny Hill Show
The Benny Hill Show is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill.There were various incarnations of the show between 1951 and 1991, and it aired in over 140 countries. The show is generally sketch-based with heavy use of slapstick, mime, parody and double-entendre...
.
Original version
"Mah Nà Mah Nà" debuted as part of Umiliani's soundtrack for the italian mondo filmMondo film
A mondo film is an exploitation documentary film, sometimes resembling a pseudo-documentary, usually depicting sensational topics, scenes, and situations...
Svezia, inferno e paradiso
Sweden: Heaven and Hell
Sweden: Heaven and Hell is an Italian mondo film from 1968 directed by Luigi Scattini.The film which is made up of nine segments focuses on different aspects of sexuality in Sweden such as lesbian nightclubs, porn films, swinging lifestyle of married couples and sex education of teenagers...
(Sweden: Heaven and Hell [lit. Hell and Heaven]) (1968), a pseudo-documentary
Mockumentary
A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...
about wild sexual activity and other behaviour in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. The song accompanied a scene in the film set in a sauna
Sauna
A sauna is a small room or house designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these and auxiliary facilities....
which gave its original title "Viva la Sauna Svedese" (Hooray for the Swedish Sauna). It was performed by a band called Marc 4 (four session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
s from the RAI
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
orchestra) and the lead part was sung by Italian singer/composer Alessandro Alessandroni
Alessandro Alessandroni
Alessandro Alessandroni is an Italian musician. He plays multipleinstruments, including the guitar, mandolin, mandolincello, sitar, accordion, and piano, and has composed over 40 film scores and countless library music....
.
The song also appeared on the 1968 soundtrack album
Soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television program. In some cases, not all the tracks from the movie are included in the album; however there are rare cases of songs in the trailers that do not appear in...
released for the film.
"Mah Nà Mah Nà" was a hit in many countries in 1968–1969. In the U.S., it peaked at #55 in the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
singles chart and #44 on the Cash Box magazine chart in October 1969. The UK single release, on the Major Minor label, was credited to "The Great Unknowns", and featured "Doo-be-doo-be-do" on the B side (also sometimes featured in The Benny Hill Show). Umiliani's own version reached number 8 in the UK in 1977.
The song's lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
contain no actual words, only nonsense (iambic) syllables resembling scat singing
Scat singing
In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. Scat singing gives singers the ability to sing improvised melodies and rhythms, to create the equivalent of an instrumental solo using their voice.- Structure and syllable choice...
. The original version interpolates
Interpolation (music)
Interpolation in music refers to an abrupt change in musical elements from the main theme.-In classical music:In music and musical composition, especially 20th century and later, interpolation is an abrupt change of elements, with continuation of the first idea...
melodies from "Swedish Rhapsody" (Midsummer Vigil
Midsommarvaka
Swedish Rhapsody No. 1 is a symphonic rhapsody by the Swedish composer Hugo Alfvén. Although the first of three similarly named works, it is often simply called the "Swedish Rhapsody"....
) by Hugo Alfvén
Hugo Alfvén
was a Swedish composer, conductor, violinist, and painter.- Violinist :Alfvén was born in Stockholm and studied at the Music Conservatory there from 1887 to 1891 with the violin as his main instrument, receiving lessons from Lars Zetterquist. He also took private composition lessons from Johan...
, "Santa Lucia
Santa Lucia
Santa Lucia is a traditional Neapolitan song. It was transcribed by Teodoro Cottrau and published by the Cottrau firm, as a "barcarolla", at Naples in 1849. Cottrau translated it from Napuletano into Italian during the first stage of the Risorgimento, the first Neapolitan song to be given Italian...
", "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" was a major hit for The Andrews Sisters and an iconic World War II tune. This song can be considered an early jump blues recording...
", the jazz standard
Jazz standard
Jazz standards are musical compositions which are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list of jazz standards, and the list of songs deemed to be...
"Lullaby of Birdland
Lullaby of Birdland
"Lullaby of Birdland" is a 1952 popular song with music by George Shearing and lyrics by George David Weiss under the pseudonym "B. Y. Forster" in order to circumvent the rule that ASCAP and BMI composers could not collaborate....
", and others.
Other versions
In 1969, Henri SalvadorHenri Salvador
Henri Salvador was a French Caribbean singer.-Biography:Salvador was born in Cayenne, French Guiana. His father, Clovis, and his mother, Antonine Paterne, daughter of a native Indian from the Caribbean, were both from Guadeloupe, French West Indies...
recorded a variation titled "Mais Non, Mais Non" ("But No, But No" or "Of Course Not, Of Course Not"), with lyrics he had written in French to Umiliani's tune.
Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder
Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records...
released version in 1968, as Giorgio.
In 1969, the Dave Pell
Dave Pell
Dave Pell is an American jazz saxophonist and bandleader born in New York City.Pell first played in his teens with the big bands of Tony Pastor, Bob Astor, and Bobby Sherwood, and then moved to California in the middle of the 1940s. There he played on Bob Crosby's radio show in 1946, and was a...
Singers recorded a version for Liberty Records which got considerable radio exposure.
During its 1969-70 season, The Red Skelton Show
The Red Skelton Show
The Red Skelton Show is an American variety show that was a television staple for two decades, from 1951 to 1971. It was second to Gunsmoke and third to The Ed Sullivan Show in the ratings during that time. Skelton, who had previously been a radio star, had appeared in several motion pictures as...
used the Umiliani recording as background music for a recurring blackout sketch. The otherwise silent bits featured Red and another performer, dressed as moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
creatures, playing with equipment left behind by the Project Apollo
Project Apollo
The Apollo program was the spaceflight effort carried out by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration , that landed the first humans on Earth's Moon. Conceived during the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Apollo began in earnest after President John F...
astronauts.
The song is the title track of a 1970 LP on GRT Records (GRT 20003), released after the initial success of Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
; it is purportedly sung by a Muppet lookalike pictured on the sleeve. Other songs on the album, including "Peg O' My Heart", "Zip A Dee Doo Dah", "Mississippi Mud", and "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town", are sung with the syllables "mah na mah na" filling in for the actual words of the song. Many tracks also feature kazoo
Kazoo
The kazoo is a wind instrument which adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. The kazoo is a type of mirliton, which is a membranophone, a device which modifies the sound of a person's voice by way of a vibrating membrane."Kazoo" was the name given by...
accompaniment.
In 1973, a rendition of "Mah Nà Mah Nà" on the Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
was released on the album More Hot Butter (Musicor MS 3254) by Hot Butter
Hot Butter
Hot Butter was an instrumental cover band fronted by the keyboard player Stan Free. The other band members were Dave Mullaney, John Abbott, Bill Jerome, Steve Jerome, and Danny Jordan. They are best known for their 1972 cover of the Moog synthpop instrumental, "Popcorn", originally recorded by its...
, best known for the pop tune "Popcorn
Popcorn (instrumental)
"Popcorn" is an early electronic pop instrumental, originally composed by Gershon Kingsley in 1969 on his album Music to Moog By. The same year this tune was released and recorded at Audio Fidelity Records label in New York City....
". It was re-released on CD in 2000.
Disco group Lipstique released a disco version of the song in 1978. A thrash metal
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
version was recorded by Skin in 1996.
The British pop group Vanilla
Vanilla (band)
-Band history:The band members consisted of sisters Frances Potter and Alison Potter plus two friends Alida Swart and Sharon Selby.They released just two singles for EMI in the late 1990s....
also used the song as a basis for their first single "No Way, No Way" in 1997. It has been featured on several compilations including Now That's What I Call Music!
Now That's What I Call Music!
Now That's What I Call Music! is a series of various artists compilation albums released in the United Kingdom and Ireland by Polygram /EMI/Sony Music/Virgin Records ; spinoff series were later introduced in South Africa and many other countries worldwide, including the United States...
's thirty-ninth issue and Dancemania
Dancemania
Dancemania is a series of remix compilation albums by i-DANCE. The series deals primarily with dance music, especially eurodance. Despite its tracks have been made by various musicians from all over the world mainly from the European continent, the albums have been released exclusively in Japan.The...
's eighth issue
Dancemania 8
Dancemania 8 is the eighth set in the Dancemania series of dance music compilation albums, released in 1998 by EMI Music Japan.The album debuted at #9 on Oricon's weekly album chart in January 1998 and remained within the top 20 positions on the chart for 4 consecutive weeks, peaking at #8.The...
both released in 1998.
The musical group Cake
Cake (band)
Cake is an American alternative rock band from Sacramento, California. Consisting of singer John McCrea, trumpeter Vince DiFiore, guitarist Xan McCurdy, bassist Gabe Nelson and drummer Paulo Baldi, the band has been noted for McCrea's sarcastic lyrics and deadpan voice, DiFiore's trumpet parts, and...
recorded a horn-driven version of this song featuring many different sounds. This version was recorded as a children's song and appears on an album called For the Kids
For the Kids
For the Kids is an album featuring new renditions of children's songs performed by today's popular artists. In the United States, a portion of the proceeds go to VH1's Save the Music Foundation...
, released in 2002, and on their compilation album, B-Sides and Rarities
B-Sides and Rarities (Cake album)
B-Sides and Rarities is the first rarities compilation album by Cake, an alternative rock band from Sacramento, California...
, released in 2007.
Surrounding Super Bowl XL
Super Bowl XL
Super Bowl XL was an American football game pitting the American Football Conference champion Pittsburgh Steelers against the National Football Conference champion Seattle Seahawks to decide the National Football League champion for the 2005 season...
in 2006, a version of the song was recorded for the Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
, replacing the title sylables with "Polamalu
Troy Polamalu
Troy Aumua Polamalu is an American football strong safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He was drafted in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft by the Steelers. He played college football at the University of Southern California.-High school:Troy Polamalu graduated...
", the last name of the Steelers' star strong safety.
Since 2009, the Philadelphia Union's fan supporters, the Sons of Ben
Sons of Ben
The phrase Sons of Ben is a mildly problematic term applied to followers of Ben Jonson in English poetry and drama in the first half of the seventeenth century....
, have used the song, substituting the group's name in place of the song's title.
A version sung in Arabic was released by actor/singer Samir Ghanem using the words anam, anam(meaning "sleep, sleep").
In 2011 alternative rock band The Fray
The Fray
-Literature:*Fray, a phenomenon in Terry Pratchett's The Carpet People*Fray , a comic book series by Joss Whedon**Melaka Fray, titular character of the comic book series-Music:*"Fray", a song from the album 14 Shades of Grey by Staind...
released a cover of the song on the Muppets: The Green Album
Muppets: The Green Album
Muppets: The Green Album is a cover album of popular Muppet songs by various contemporary music artists. The album was released by Walt Disney Records on August 23, 2011 on CD and as a digital download in the iTunes Store....
CD.
Versions by the Muppets
Aside from its notoriety from The Benny Hill Show, "Mahna Mahna" became familiar to many from its renditions by the MuppetsThe Muppets
The Muppets are a group of puppet characters created by Jim Henson starting in 1954–55. Although the term is often used to refer to any puppet that resembles the distinctive style of The Muppet Show, the term is both an informal name and legal trademark owned by the Walt Disney Company in reference...
on television. In 1969, the first season of Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
featured a sketch featuring two Muppet girls who are unsure of what to do, until they decide to sing a song, enter an unusual-looking short, shaggy-haired male Muppet character who begins singing "Mahna Mahna", prompting the girls to join him. None of the characters had names at the time, but the male Muppet who led the "Mahna Mahna" call-and-response was eventually given the name Bip Bippadotta, so as to differentiate him from the official Mahna Mahna character that would be developed later on.
On 30 November 1969, "Mahna Mahna" was performed on the The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
by three new and more fully detailed Muppet characters. The male Muppet character was now purple with wild, orange hair and a furry, green tunic, while the female Muppet characters were two identical pink alien creatures with horns and cone-like mouths (with yellow lips) that always remained open. At this point the male Muppet was given the name Mahna Mahna and the female alien creatures were referred to as The Snouths
The Snouths
The Snouths are the names of the pink, alien-like Muppets who are famous for singing Mah Nà Mah Nà....
(as a portmanteau of "snout" and "mouth" since their mouth also served as their noses). The song "Mahna Mahna" was played at a slower tempo and given a more playful, quintessential "children's"-style arrangement as opposed to the previous arrangement which was slightly reminiscent of late 1950s/early 1960s Calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
.
In 1976, on the first episode of The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
to be recorded (featuring Juliet Prowse), the 1969 "Mahna Mahna" routine from The Ed Sullivan Show was reworked and used as the first sketch with the same characters and a new recording of the last musical arrangement. The Muppet Show became an immediate hit and "Mahna Mahna" was the highlight of that episode.
As a result, the original Piero Umiliani recording finally became a hit in the UK (#8 in the UK charts in May 1977), where the Muppet Show soundtrack album featuring the Muppets' version went to number one. It was at that point that the name "Mahna Mahna and The Snouths" was given the incorrect credit of "Mahna Mahna and The Snowths", which, interestingly enough, has served as the definitive spelling ever since then.
Meanwhile, later on in that same episode, a snippet of the song "Lullaby of Birdland
Lullaby of Birdland
"Lullaby of Birdland" is a 1952 popular song with music by George Shearing and lyrics by George David Weiss under the pseudonym "B. Y. Forster" in order to circumvent the rule that ASCAP and BMI composers could not collaborate....
" is 'hummed' during one of the improvisational passages, as part of a running gag involving "Mahna Mahna".
The later Muppet TV series Muppets Tonight
Muppets Tonight
Muppets Tonight is a live-action/puppet television series created by Jim Henson Productions and featuring The Muppets. Much like the "MuppeTelevision" segment of The Jim Henson Hour, Muppets Tonight was a continuation of The Muppet Show, set in a television studio, rather than a theater.-Format:The...
(1996–1998) revisited it in a sketch with Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Annette Bullock is an Academy Award winning American actress and producer who rose to fame in the 1990s after roles in successful films such as Demolition Man, Speed, The Net, A Time to Kill, and While You Were Sleeping. She continued with films such as Miss Congeniality, The Lake House,...
where Kermit the Frog
Kermit the Frog
Kermit the Frog is puppeteer Jim Henson's most famous Muppet creation, first introduced in 1955. He is the protagonist of many Muppet projects, most notably as the host of The Muppet Show, and has appeared in various sketches on Sesame Street, in commercials and in public service announcements over...
visits a doctor to complain about weird things that happen to him whenever he says the word phenomena, namely the Snouths suddenly appear with musical accompaniment to sing their part of the song.
In the Muppets version of "Bohemian Rhapsody
Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera...
" at 00:02:25, Mahna Mahna and the Snowths make a cameo appearance, singing the titular lyric.
The song is performed in the 2011 Muppets film
The Muppets (film)
The Muppets is a 2011 American musical and comedy film, and the first Muppets theatrical release in 12 years, as well as the first Disney-produced Muppets film since 1996's Muppet Treasure Island...
, where various celebrities sing with the Snouths in the end credits.
Commercially licensed versions
It was regularly used as an alternative to "Yakety SaxYakety Sax
"Yakety Sax" is a piece of music written by James Q. "Spider" Rich and popularized by saxophonist Boots Randolph.The composition includes pieces of assorted fiddle tunes such as "Chicken Reel", and was written for a performance at a venue called The Armory in Hopkinsville, Kentucky...
" in the chase scenes in the Benny Hill shows
The Benny Hill Show
The Benny Hill Show is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill.There were various incarnations of the show between 1951 and 1991, and it aired in over 140 countries. The show is generally sketch-based with heavy use of slapstick, mime, parody and double-entendre...
of the 1970s and 1980s.
In the 1990s in the UK, a variation of "Mah Nà Mah Nà" was used as part of an advertising campaign for the BN Biscuit
BN Biscuit
The BN Biscuit is a brand of biscuit, consisting of a filling, such as chocolate, sandwiched between two biscuits. It was launched on 12 May 2000, acquired from Lefèvre-Utile by United Biscuits in 1998, and relaunched in September 2000...
.
In the early 2000s, Scottish based drink Irn Bru used the song with the words "phenomenal" to replace 'Mah Na Ma Nah'. As a result, the song became very popular in popular culture at that time.
Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
's Pato Fu
Pato Fu
Pato Fu is a Brazilian rock band from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. The band was formed by lead singer Fernanda Takai, guitarist John Ulhoa and bassist Ricardo Koctus, in 1992. Their drummer, Xande Tamietti, joined the band in 1996, as did keyboardist Lulu Camargo in 2005...
used the song's melody in the chorus of their 1999 hit "Made in Japan".
The sunscreen brand Banana Boat filmed a TV advertisement for the Australian market, using the song with new words. The words are sung by a boy toddler on the beach, dubbing "baby talk" on a mixture of animation and live action.
In the first episode of the second series of the UK version of The Office
The Office (UK TV series)
The Office is a British sitcom television series that was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 9 July 2001. Created, written, and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the programme is about the day-to-day lives of office employees in the Slough branch of the fictitious...
, Gareth Keenan
Gareth Keenan
Gareth Keenan is a fictional paper salesman on BBC's comedy The Office. He is portrayed in the series by Mackenzie Crook as a gaunt, self-important team leader proud of his alleged lieutenant status in the Territorial Army...
and David Brent
David Brent
David Brent is a fictional character in the BBC television mockumentary The Office, as well as a recurring character in the NBC series of the same name, portrayed by co-writer and director Ricky Gervais. Brent is a white-collar office middle-manager and the principal character of the BBC series...
sing the song at the beginning of the episode.
The song is played as background music in the German film Summer Storm
Summer Storm
Summer Storm is a 2004 German coming-of-age film directed by Marco Kreuzpaintner, starring Robert Stadlober, Kostja Ullmann, Alicja Bachleda-Curuś, and Marlon Kittel...
(2004), and is listed in the ending credits.
The band That Handsome Devil
That Handsome Devil
That Handsome Devil is an American rock band hailing from Brooklyn, New York, by way of Boston, Massachusetts.The band mixes genres such as rock, funk, jazz, jive, blues, surf, R&B, reggae, rockabilly, rap, and psychedelic. Their sound has also been described as "equal parts Screamin’ Jay Hawkins,...
samples the song heavily in their 2007 song "Hey White Boy".
The Muppets filmed a new version of the song in 2005, for a New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
charity called CanTeen
CanTeen
CanTeen, The Australian Organisation for Young People Living with cancer, is the national support organisation for young people living with cancer; including cancer patients, their brothers and sisters and young people with parents or primary carers with cancer.CanTeen was created by young cancer...
. In the ad, an updated version of the Mahna Mahna puppet was performed by Bill Barretta
Bill Barretta
Bill Barretta has been performing with the Muppets since 1991, when he performed the body of family father Earl Sinclair on Dinosaurs...
, and the lyrics were changed to "Bandanana", supporting CanTeen's "Bandana
Bandana
Bandana can refer to:*Another name for a kerchief*Bandana *Bandana *Bandana, Kentucky, a small town in the United States*Y Bandana, a Welsh alternative rock band.**Y Bandana , their self-titled debut album....
Week".
A variation of the song was used in several of the Mama Luchetti's advertisements from Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
Several ads for Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper appeared on television in 2005. In one, a young woman on a blind date at a restaurant who sips into the beverage, suddenly imagines her narcissistic date, restaurant patrons, and even a waitress all part of a fantasy musical sequence involving The Muppets version of the song "Mah Nà Mah Nà".
In "The Firefly
The Firefly (Fringe)
"The Firefly" is the 10th episode of the third season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe, and the 53rd episode overall. The episode centers on a chain of events created by Walter crossing over into the parallel universe in 1985 that has had subtle but significant effects...
" episode of Fringe
Fringe (TV series)
Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The series follows a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security...
, the song was playing on a record player in Walter Bishop
Walter Bishop
Walter Bishop may refer to:*Walter Bishop, Sr. , Jamaican composer and songwriter*Walter Bishop, Jr. , American bop and hard bop jazz pianist, son of the above*Dr. Walter Bishop , character in the television show Fringe...
's home while he was creating a formula to restore the missing pieces of his brain; pieces which were surgically removed years before in an agreement with William Bell.
In "This Is My House, This Is My Home," the season eight finale of One Tree Hill
One Tree Hill (TV series)
One Tree Hill is an American television drama created by Mark Schwahn, which premiered on September 23, 2003, on The WB Television Network. After its third season, The WB merged with UPN to form The CW Television Network, and, since September 27, 2006, the network has been the official broadcaster...
, Nathan Scott
Nathan Scott
Nathan Royal Scott is a fictional character on The CW television series One Tree Hill, portrayed by James Lafferty. He was the second protagonist during the first six seasons; but following Lucas Scott's departure, Nathan has become the main character and central figure of the show. Nathan is Lucas...
performs this song with his daughter, Lydia, as wife Haley James Scott
Haley James Scott
Haley Bob James Scott is a fictional character on The CW television series One Tree Hill, portrayed by Bethany Joy Galeotti. Haley is initially introduced as Lucas Scott's best friend and eventual sister-in-law after her marriage to Nathan Scott in her junior year of high school...
watches.
In 2011, a group including the muppets performed the song for BBCs Children in Need.
External links
- Mahna Mahna (song) on Muppet Wiki
- Mah nà Mah nà (song) on Piero Umiliani Official Website
- "Mahna Mahna": How a ditty from a soft-core Italian movie became the Muppets' catchiest tune. by Sam Adams, Slate Magazine, Nov. 23, 2011