Muppet Question # 11 Answered
On Thursday, November 02, 2006 at 12:02:49 AM, Homo J. Sapien said...
A Muppet question from someone old enough to remember. Whats the name of the character with the gold tooth and feathered cap? I think he had something to do with the band. Or was he Miss Piggy's pimp?
Well, Homo (if I may call you that), your first instinct was correct (although your second instinct probably looks more the part - but it's a family show!)
The character's name is Dr Teeth, and he was voiced by Jim Henson (as was Kermit, Rowlf, Waldorf and others). He is often erroneously credited as the Muppet who sang the world-famous 'Mahna Mahna' song, but in fact that was sung by another Muppet, specifically called Mahna Mahna, who was also voiced by Henson (however, it's fair to say that Mahna Mahna sounded very similar to Dr Teeth to the point of sounding exactly alike; hence the confusion).
Your memory of him having 'something to do with the band' is spot-on. In fact, he was the leader of the band. The band's proper name was 'Dr Teeth & The Electric Mayhem', although for all intents and purposes they were simply refered to in casual conversation as 'The Electric Mayhem'. (Note: The word 'Band' should never appear as part of their name.) In addition to being in charge, Dr Teeth is the lead singer and plays keyboard.
Left to right: Dr Teeth, Floyd, Janice and Zoot,
with Animal on drums at the back.
Dr Teeth was purportedly a caricature of jazz keyboardist Dr John (both his appearance and his unique style of talking are parodies of Dr John), although sources indicate that other inspirations included Leon Russell and Elton John.
There were no pimps on The Muppet Show.
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posted by BEVIS @ 8:13 am
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9 Comments:
None?
What about dealers of wizz fizz?
Not even.
Thanks Bevis! I can sleep now. That's a great picture of the band. Do you know if you can get a poster of it?
You certainly can (or you used to be able to, anyway). In fact, that's where the picture came from - a site showing the image as an Electric Mayhem poster from the 70s and 80s. It'd be a valuable collector's item now, if you could find one / still had one hanging on your bedroom wall.
But I'm starting to suspect that you already know the answers to the questions you're asking me ...
:)
Nup. Maybe the pic just looks a bit "posterish". Just using my homo sapien instinct I guess.
The one with no eyeballs (Floyd?) gives me nightmares to this day.
i believe that Mahna Mahna man also had non-eyeball eyes like our friend floyd.
I always thought Dr. Teeth had something to do with Dr. Hook, but there is something not right about a muppet singing "Looking For Pussy".
I know Dr. john, but somehow that never even skipped my mind. Hell, like me, he doesn't even have a proper surname.
While it's true that both Floyd and Mahna Mahna had that "no eyeballs" look to them, the fact is they were both wearing sunglasses.
Remember, this was the seventies, and both characters were "cool cats".
Still, I understand what you're saying and agree that they looked a little strange.
(Scooter had it worse, though. His eyes were on the front of his glasses! If he turned sideways or lost his glasses, he had no eyes at all! But the worst-case scenario goes to Dr Bunsen Honeydew, who literally had no eyes at all. He wore glasses, however, and seemed to have perfect vision somehow. I agree - it's enough to give a kid nightmares for life!)
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