Taken from John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together, a 1979 Christmas TV special, this surprisingly moving version of Silent Night includes the story of the song itself so I won’t repeat it here. The special itself has never been released, but a soundtrack album was and is still available. Merry Christmas folks, hope you have a good one!
Tag Archives: Muppets
Baa Baa Bamba – Emilio Delgado
In memory of beloved Sesame Street actor Emilio Delgado, who passed away earlier this year at the age of 81. Delgado joined the cast of Sesame Street in 1971 as one of the shows first human characters, and remained playing the role of Luis who ran the Fix-It shop until 2016. La Bamba is a Mexican folk song made world famous through Ritchie Valens’ 1958 cover version. And just in case you’re in need of more sheep themed Latin numbers from Sesame Street, here’s the Count with Lambaba…
Born To Be Wild – Wilson Pickett, Ozzy Osbourne and Miss Piggy
Wilson Pickett singing Born To Be Wild is of those unlikely but surprisingly great cover versions that you can’t quite believe exists. Appearing on his ninth studio album Hey Jude, released in 1969, the same year that the movie Easy Rider and its soundtrack came out, and recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the record also features Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers on guitar. Another member of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, guitarist Jimmy Johnson, credits Allman’s performance on this recording as the birth of Southern rock. While the album and single Hey Jude were minor hits, Pickett’s cover of Born To Be Wild fared less well.
Speaking of unlikely Born To Be Wild covers, there have been many wonderful musical muppet moments, but Ozzy Osbourne and Miss Piggy’s Born To Be Wild duet isn’t one of them…
Smells Like Teen Spirits – Best Teen Spirit Covers Megamix
Featuring, in order of appearance:
- Original Cast of Pan
- Willie Nelson
- The Lucky Devils
- Paul Anka
- Pleasure Beach
- Setenta
- The Floppotron
- 8 Bit Universe
- Warsaw School of Economics Choir
- The Moog Cookbook
- 1992 Teen Spirit Deodorant Commercial
- Rockapella
- Eläkeläiset
- The Muppets and Jack Black
- Ptingo
- The Bad Plus (inc. Kurt Cobain interview excerpt)
- The Drum Majors
- Nirvana vs Missy Elliot
- DJs from Mars
- Wix
- Original Cast of Pan
Often listed as one of the greatest songs of all time, Smells Like Teen Spirit is the opening track on Nirvana’s 1991 album Nevermind. Although it is the only track on the album to credit all three band members as writers, the original idea and lyrics were Kurt Cobain’s, inspired by a phrase written on his wall by Kathleen Hanna, singer of Bikini Kill: ‘Kurt smells like Teen Spirit’. Although intended as a reference to a deodorant brand, Cobain had interpreted it as a revolutionary slogan and remained unaware of the true meaning until months after the single was released.
Cobain said of writing the song: “I was trying to write the ultimate pop song. I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies. I have to admit it. When I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily that I should have been in that band—or at least a Pixies cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard.”
Istanbul (Not Constantinople)- They Might Be Giants
Istanbul (Not Constantinople) was covered by They Might Be Giants on their 1990 album Flood and released as single following the success of Birdhouse in Your Soul, the first single taken from the album.
Istanbul (Not Constantinople) was written by Canadian vocal quartet, The Four Lads, and released in 1953 on the 500th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans.
An extremely well-covered song, some of its many interpreters include: Frankie Vaughan, Bing Crosby & Connie Russell, Bette Midler, The Ritchie Family, The Big Muffin Serious Band, Col Joye’s Joy Boys, Bart and Baker, The Sacados and Pierce Brosnan and The Muppets…
Cover to Cover 