70s musical skit

Gayle

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There was a short musical skit on Sesame Street in the 1970s which featured a muppet who looked like the singer Joe Cocker (lots of facial hair) and had two "backup" girl singers. The song had no words, just sounds. It went something like "Unum a num bop baby beepee..." The character would start the song and the two backup singers would follow. Then the character would get a carried away with his singing and the two backup singers would look at him like he was crazy. Then he got back on track with his singing. Does anyone know the name of this character and the song and what episode of Sesame Street it was on? Every now and then they repeat it this skit. Thanks a lot.
 

fatblue

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AHH! That's the famous 'Munah! Munah!' song! That skit was done on the Ed Sullivan show and later on The Muppet Show. The SS skit came in between. I guess you could say that muppet could be a Joe Cocker type. Never really thought much of it that way.

It went:

"Manuh! Manuh!" Then the back up singers would go:
"Doo Doo, Doo Doo Doo"
Then he would get carried away and they would stare him down. Yeah, it was a cute skit, pretty funny and very cool how they did it. Only Jim Henson could come up with such great creativity.
 

Gayle

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That's so funny! How did you know it was on the Ed Sullivan show?? I wonder if it's really Joe Cocker that he's imitating. That's the impression I got with his hairy, contorted face. I wonder if this character has a name?
 

fatblue

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That skit is on the 'Muppet Magic' DVD/Tape, which has skits from the Ed Sullivan Show.

I think he's adopted the name on this board of 'Manuh Manuh' because we never really knew an official name for the character. The ones without names I would always refer to as 'Character muppets', don't know who they were, but you remember the good performances they did. It wouldn't suprise me if he was based on Joe Cocker, because ol' Joe was pretty big in '69 and the early 70s as well.
 

JaniceFerSure

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Mahna mahna
(ba dee bedebe)
mahna mahna
(ba debe dee)
mahna mahna
(ba dee bedebe badebe badebe dee dee de-de de-de-de)

(repeats)

mah mama na mahna mah namwomp mwomp
ma mo mo mana mo
mahna mahna
(ba dee bedebe)
mahna mahna
(ba debe dee)
Mahna Mahna!
(ba dee bedebe bedebe badebe debe de-de de-de-de)

(long pause)

...mahna mahna?
 

Docnzhoss

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It's a classic sketch that makes people laugh to this very day. Even people who barely remember watching The Muppet Show seem to remember that song. I know because I often sing the song and people are like, "Hey, I know that song from somewhere!"

Manha manha,
Doo Do Duh-Do Doo
Manha manha,
Doo Do-Do Do
Manha manha,
Do do duh-do do, duh-do do, duh-do do-do duh do-do-do-do-do.

The two girl singers are called Snowths.
 

Docnzhoss

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Whoops!

Hey Dee,
looks like we broke into song at the same time!

*Ring, ring
(Picking up phone)
Hey Dee, it's for you!

(Voice on the other end)
~Mahna Mahna!
 

JaniceFerSure

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Docnzhoss said:
Whoops!

Hey Dee,
looks like we broke into song at the same time!

*Ring, ring
(Picking up phone)
Hey Dee, it's for you!

(Voice on the other end)
~Mahna Mahna!
High 5 Ryan,boy we're good.<laughing>
 

SesameMike

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Ever watch the old "Benny Hill" shows produced by Thames? A regular feature on that classic British comedy show was these fast motion sequences, usually outdoors, of Benny and the gang getting into some kind of trouble, sometimes of a rather risque nature. During these sequences they play one of several musical fanfares in the background, usually as the only audio. One such piece is an instrumental, fast-paced version of "Mahna-Mahna".
 
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