Jim Henson first Sketches of Oscar the Grouch

Behind the scenes on Sesame Street: Jim Henson with Ernie and Frank Oz with Bert.

Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem

DEBUT 1975

PERFORMERS

Dr Teeth - Jim Henson

Animal - Frank Oz

Floyd Pepper - Jerry Nelson

Janice - Richard Hunt

Zoot - Dave Goelz

(Later)

Lips - Steve Whitmire

Clifford - Kevin Clash

Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem are the house band on The Muppet Show. They mostly stick to rock music, but they’re capable of playing other styles, including jazz and (unwillingly) classical. Although Dr. Teeth is the leader, he is not the only one to provide lead vocals. Floyd Pepper is often a lead singer on songs, and Janice is lead singer on a handful of songs.

They drive around in a brightly-painted bus with psychedelic swirls and colors.

In an edition of Ask Henson.com, Karen Falk responded to a question about the origins of the Mayhem band:

“Music was always an important part of Jim Henson’s work. He had a strong interest in all types and had an eclectic record library. When he began writing proposals and creating concepts for The Muppet Show in the late 1960s, they always included a house band that was to appear in each episode. At that time, Jim had a strong interest in the counter-culture movement (as evidenced by his experimental film Youth ‘68) and sought to reflect that in the composition of the band. One proposal from about 1970 says that the band would, “…do songs like “Sunshine” from Hair. In fact, they are all dressed to out-hair the Hair cast.“

The Electric Mayhem as we know it first appeared in 1975 on the Muppet Show pilot Sex and Violence. A page of ideas for the show written by Jim describes the band this way: "Rock act - far-out, elaborate weird equipment, big amps…”.”

MUSICIANS

Core Members

Dr. Teeth on keyboards, pianos, and vocals.

Floyd Pepper on bass guitar, cello, banjo, vibes and vocals

Zoot on saxophone, clarinet, flute, and tuba.

Janice on lead guitar, tambourine, trombone, trumpet, and vocals.

Animal on drums.

Additional Members

Lips on trumpet (The Muppet Show Season 5, 1980; The Great Muppet Caper, 1981; A Muppet Family Christmas, 1987; The Muppets at Walt Disney World, 1990; The Muppet Christmas Carol, 1992, Christmas in Rockefeller Center, 2009; “Jungle Boogie”, The Muppets, and “Kodachrome”, 2015; Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, 2016; The Muppets Take the Bowl, 2017; The Muppets Take the O2, 2018)

Guest Members

A Bongo Player (episode 413)

A brass section consisting of a clarinet player and two trumpet players (one of whom was Bobby Benson) (season 2 of The Muppet Show)

Clifford on percussion (The Muppets at Walt Disney World, 1990)

Don Knotts on stand up bass (episode 201)

Jim on banjo (The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence pilot)

Rizzo the Rat on cymbals (episode 511)

Rowlf on piano (episode 121 (German version only)), (episode 424, episode 513), in addition to Dr. Teeth (The Muppet Christmas Carol)

Scooter on percussion (The Muppet Movie)

Three frog backup singers (episode 406)

Trombone player (episode 517)

Trumpet Girl on trumpet (episode 123 of The Muppet Show) and trombone (episode 505, episode 513)

Zeke on banjo (episode 424) and marimba (episode 523)

A drummer (Episode 505)

Beaker on vocals (episode 424, Studio DC: Hosted by Selena Gomez)

Ninja Rogers on drums (The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson)

Hal Linden on clarinet ( Episode 517: Hal Linden )

A Trombone Player ( Episode 517: Hal Linden )

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MANAGERS

Scooter - The Muppet Movie

Rizzo the Rat and Pepe the King Prawn - Studio DC: Almost Live!

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SONGS PERFORMED BY THE ELECTRIC MAYHEM

1 of 15

Television

The Muppet Show Season 1

Episode 102: Connie Stevens - “Ain’t Misbehavin’” (UK Spot)

Episode 104: Ruth Buzzi - “Sunny”

Episode 106: Jim Nabors - “Money”

Episode 110: Harvey Korman - “Love Ya to Death”

Episode 110: Harvey Korman - “Sweet Tooth Jam” (UK Spot)

Episode 116: Avery Schreiber - “Tenderly”

Episode 118: Phyllis Diller - “Lazybones” (UK spot)

Episode 120: Valerie Harper - “Searching”

Episode 123: Kaye Ballard - “Fugue for Frog”

Episode 124: Mummenschanz - “Mr. Bassman” (with Scooter)

The Muppet Show Season 2

Episode 202: Zero Mostel - “Chopin’s Polonaise in A Flat”

Episode 209: Madeline Kahn - “New York State of Mind” (UK spot)

Episode 211: Dom DeLuise - “Don’t Blame the Dynamite”

Episode 213: Rudolf Nureyev - Boccherini’s “Minuet in A Major”

Episode 222: Teresa Brewer - “Cheese Cake” (UK Spot) (performed by Dr. Teeth on solo piano)

The Muppet Show Season 3

Episode 301: Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge - “New York State of Mind”

Episode 314: Harry Belafonte - “Honeysuckle Rose” (UK Spot)

Episode 315: Lesley Ann Warren - “Mack the Knife” (UK Spot)

Episode 317: Spike Milligan - “America”

Episode 320: Sylvester Stallone - “Lady Be Good” (UK Spot)

The Muppet Show Season 4

Episode 418: Christopher Reeve - “Sam’s Song” (UK Spot)

Episode 419: Lynda Carter - “With a Little Help From My Friends”

Episode 419: Lynda Carter - “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”

The Muppet Show Season 5

Episode 503: Joan Baez - “Blackbird”

Episode 504: Shirley Bassey - “Barnyard Boogie”

Episode 504: Shirley Bassey - “After You’ve Gone” (UK Spot - performed by Orchestra)

Episode 510: Jean-Pierre Rampal - “Rockin’ Robin”

Episode 511: Paul Simon - “Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover”

Episode 513: Tony Randall - “Poison Ivy”

Episode 524: Roger Moore - “How High the Moon” (UK Spot - performed by Orchestra)

Specials

Julie Andrews: My Favorite Things - “Your Mamma Won’t Like Me”

Sex and Violence - “For the Birds”

Sex and Violence - “Love Ya to Death”

Grover and a Kitten

Intro from The Dick Cavett Show featuring Jim Henson and The Muppets, 1971

Jim Henson with The Muppets of 1970. This photo was sent out as a Henson Company Holiday Postcard in 1970. #rarepic

Original The Muppet Show logo design by Michael Frith. 1976.

Muppet Builder/Actress Amy Van Gilder

Amy Van Gilder was one of the earliest designers in the NY Muppet Workshop, hired during the first season of The Muppet Show. She left Henson for a time in the early 1980s to start a family, but returned to work on Muppets Tonight. She also had a cameo alongside Jim Henson in The Great Muppet Caper, as a patron of The Dubonnet Club.

She was later hired by The Walt Disney Company in the Imagineering Department, where she currently helps with integrating the newly acquired Muppets property into their theme parks. Her achievements there include design and theming concepts for Lucky the Dinosaur, the first in a series of free-roving Audio-Animatronics in Disney’s Living Character Initiative, which would later include the Muppet Mobile Labs.

Amy Van Gilder’s children are journalist Sonia van Gilder Cooke and photographer Bartholomew Cooke . Sonia van Gilder Cooke mentioned her mother as her “role model” in an interview with The Sunday Times of London.

DESIGN CREDITS The Muppet Show - Muppet designer, Lew Zealand character finishing Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas - Puppet designer The Muppet Movie - Muppet designer, Muppet Workshop coordinator The Great Muppet Caper - Muppet “Doctor” The Dark Crystal- Podlings fabrication Fraggle Rock - Muppet designer, built Convincing John (with Rollie Krewson) Dreamchild- Mechanical Design Assistant Designers Muppets Tonight - Muppet designer Muppet Mobile Lab - Costumes & figure finishing

Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem Baseball Cards.

1971 Christmas card from The Jim Henson Company.

Sesame Street

what a ball for your birthday, jim henson!