It was in 1969 that the hit children’s TV show “Sesame Street” debuted their now infamous song “Mah Na Mah Na.” It was only Sesame Street’s 14th episode, believe it or not. In the show, a beatnik called Bip Bippadotta came across two little girls who wanted to do nothing more than sing a song. The bearded fellow only had one word in his repertoire: Mah Na Mah Na. However, that was fine with the little girls. They simply filled in the rest of the song around what Bip could say. No problem whatsoever. The skit was later revised for the first episode of another show that featured puppets.
When “The Muppet Show” premiered, they used a now blonde Bip, but they renamed him Mahna Mahna. He sang with backup help from The Snowths. But where exactly did this song come from? As it turns out, the now very familiar tune came from Piero Umilani, an Italian composer. The song appeared originally in “Sweden: Heaven and Hell,” an Italian film. The song was a minor hit on the radio in both the United Kingdom and the United States, but it didn’t really become well-known until it was used on “The Benny Hill Show” and by The Muppets. However, it was used from 1969 to 1970 on “The Red Skelton Show.”
When the producer for “Sesame Street” heard the song on the radio, she decided that it would be perfect for the show. Jim Henson performed it first, and later, it was performed by Frank Oz and Loretta Long. But what about the original song? Well, Umilani used a tune that was very similar for the soundtrack to another film, “Duello Nel Mondo.” Ironically, Sweden: Heaven and Hell was an exploitation documentary about behavior like wild sexual activity in the country of Sweden. Strange that it ended up being so popular in children’s shows.
Here is the “Sesame Street” version.
Below, you can hear it as it was sung for The Muppets.
Here’s the original song. We love it.
