MUPPETS MAYHEM!
Can You Picture That?
Finding my way back to a band I first came to know and love back in 1976
Over the years, my friends and I have talked about the songs that make up the soundtrack of our lives. We get in a groove where we name songs or throw out band names followed by a collective “yesss!” and together we do some off key singing of a few bars.
You see, there are these songs in the world that are so much a part of me that they define who I am. They are part of my DNA.
The music and me cannot be separated. We are one.
So then, it is a particular pleasure to know and love the band that plays that meaningful music. If that band stays together for a long time you learn to love and evolve with them over the years. You grow up and grow old together.
There are not that many bands that can make great music and make it well for ten years, not to mention twenty, or even thirty years. Fewer still stand the test of time for almost fifty years. That starts to become rare air.
Recently, I was surprised and delighted to find my way back to a band I first came to know and love back in 1976.
Nineteen-seventy-six. What a year.
Cue the wavy lines…
Bell bottom jeans, the Bicentennial, and the Freedom Train
(Almost no one I know remembers the Freedom Train, but I sure do.)
Music was a little squishy in 1976. The top song was “Silly Love Songs” by Wings. It was followed by “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” by Elton John and Kiki Dee. These are not terrible songs by any means, but not rock anthems either.
Not to fear, the rest of the top 100 from 1976 does hold some classic gems including “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen, “Dream On” by Aerosmith, and “Take the Money and Run” by the Steve Miller Band.
All five of those bands I’ve just mentioned, those who charted in 1976, certainly made their impact on the music we listen to today. Those bands are part of the tapestry of music not just for me personally but for the world.
Those songs and those bands are worth a good listen.
But none of those five bands I mentioned were part of my recent rendezvous with the past.
No, my musical interlude is a little more colorful. Yes, even more colorful than Elton John.
And that’s saying something.
I recently reconnected with one of my favorite bands via the Disney Channel and a show called “The Muppets Mayhem.”
No, I am not kidding. This isn’t a joke.
I love The Muppets and I always have. I am not embarrassed to say that and own it.
In 1976 I watched The Muppet Show from the start. Yep, I was there from Episode 1. Kermit and Fozzy and all the rest with their vaudeville humor, slapstick jokes, and puns were always backed by a house band.
In case you don’t remember, or maybe never knew, the band was the one and only Dr Teeth and the Electric Mayhem.
The musical guests were always amazing
Over the years The Muppet Show in its various iterations has always managed to feature some pretty notable music artists. I’m talking phenomenal musicians like Lou Rawls, Paul Simon, Debbie Harry, Alice Cooper, Diana Ross, Linda Rondstat, and Harry Belafonte.
During a version of the show called Muppets Tonight that aired in late 90’s, there was even a memorable and honestly kind of surreal guest appearance by Prince.
Behind each of those legendary performers and performances, you will find Dr Teeth and the Electric Mayhem.
To say that The Mayhem is just a bunch of puppets is to undersell the genuine musical bonafides that the creators of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem have brought to the table for almost fifty years.
This time it is about the band
There have been multiple versions of Muppet shows, some good, some bad. There have also been multiple movies, some good, some bad.
When I was recently perusing Disney+ and saw this new show called The Muppets Mayhem, I have to admit that despite my years of loyalty, my expectations were pretty low.
What’s different this time is that this new show centers solely on Dr. Teeth and his Electric Mayhem. There are little to no appearances from the other Muppets. The creators did this on purpose to highlight and develop the backstory for the members of the Mayhem. As the viewer, you get to know each of the band members more, and you start to feel like you are part of the band.
What at first seemed like a fun dip into the lives of Zoot, Floyd, Janice, Animal, Lips, and Dr Teeth himself turned out for me to be kind of a nostalgic ride.
I found myself laughing, singing along, and getting into my memories. I remembered how much I have really loved The Mayhem over the years.
Want to know something funny? Well, a little awkward…
Throughout The Muppets Mayhem a character called Moog wears a series of vintage Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem t-shirts. If the trivia section of IMDB can be trusted, all of the shirts worn by the character are actual Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem shirts sold throughout the years.
When I found this out, I became obsessed. I didn’t just want, I needed a Mayhem shirt. I became preoccupied with scouring sites looking for replicas and trying to buy a Mayhem shirt. I needed to have a band shirt. I could NOT believe I did not already own a Mayhem shirt.
Until I did laundry a few days later and remembered, oh yeah, my favorite workout t-shirt is an Electric Mayhem School of Music shirt that I bought on Woot. Heh. I’ve been wearing it for so long I forgot I even had it.
Now that’s a well loved band shirt paying tribute to a long loved band.
Watching this show just renewed my love for everything Dr Teeth. By the end of the first season of The Muppets Mayhem, I was crying a little bit, glad I had watched it, and I remembered three things:
- Why I love The Muppets,
- How much music matters to me, and
- Most of the lyrics to the Mayhem’s signature song, Can You Picture That? If you know, you know. That song made its first appearance in 1979’s Muppet Movie and shows up again in Episode 1 of Muppets Mayhem. It’s still a banger.
That’s a Keeper
When I started writing this story, I didn’t really have a plan, other than I needed a place to talk about how I was feeling after reconnecting with the Mayhem, how happy I am that this new Muppet show is really good, and a place to get into my memories.
Perhaps as Dr Teeth tells Nora in Episode 1, “no plans is the plan.”
This plan-less story that is cram packed full of love and music and nostalgia but lacking a solid narrative through-line is a perfect tribute to Dr Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, just as it is.
Every episode of Muppets Mayhem ends with Zoot, the saxophone player and band photographer, snapping a photo. First with a vintage Polaroid and later with a phone.
Since I can’t quite figure out how to close out this wild, nostalgic, meandering love letter to my favorite Muppet rock band, it seems only fitting to do the same.
So…smile!
Karen Fayeth was born with the eye of a writer and the heart of a storyteller. Her work is heavily influenced by her New Mexico roots and continues to evolve in an urban setting. Karen has won awards for her writing, photography, and art. Now living in the San Francisco Bay area, she can be found online at www.karenfayeth.com and on all the socials: Twitter, Instagram, Flickr, Facebook
