Living with…the Muppets…at Christmas

Although they are never far away from our consciousness , the Muppets are rising again with their new movie due out in February.  So what better way to mark another Christmas then to recall some favourite moments.

And as December has been a particularly charty time for no81bob (many thanks for the comments over the last few weeks) here’s my personal chart of top 5 Muppet music moments.

Happy Christmas, God Bless us everyonel (as Tiny Tim says in A Muppet Christmas Carol) and I’m looking forward to further musical and cultural journeys in 2012.

no81bob 

1. The Banana Boat Song

Storming in at number one, and my all-time favourite Muppet music moment is the day that Harry Belafonte met a tally-Bear called Fozzie, a pig chorus and a singing tarantula.

It’s all in the timing…

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2. Especially for You

Amidst all the humour, the Muppets always did schmaltz amazingly well (Robin and being Halfway Up the Stairs).  This wasn’t from one of their shows, but presumably some Kylie special, for she sings the duet in all seriousness with Kermit.  Never let it be said the little one (that’s Kylie) can’t act – how she keeps a straight face through the performance in front of a live audience is nothing short of a miracle.

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3. Bohemian Rhapsody

Freddie morphs in to so many of our favourites – Gonzo’s distinctive tones open, and then the wonderful Animal with his Mamma sequence.  And then Beaker, Dr Bunsen Honeydew…the list goes on and on. It had to close with Miss Piggy, Freddie would have liked that

…anywhere the wind blows.

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4. Fever

Again, it’s all in the timing.  Rita Moreno performs what would be a near-perfect version of the classic Fever, if it weren’t for Animal’s drumming interventions.  Unlike Kylie, Ms Moreno fails to keep it together.

A final crescendo of violence – “That’s my kind of woman”.

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5. In the Navy

Rewriting history was always an important part of the Muppet Show, so what better song to represent “those gentle, quaint, fun-loving old charmers”  the Vikings as they rape and pillage a village than with the Village People classic, In the Navy.

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Monty Python could never have done it better.

Category : music