The Muppet Show is a variety sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and starring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a series and other networks in the United States rejected Henson's proposals, British producer Lew Grade expressed enthusiasm for the project and agreed to co-produce The Muppet Show for the British channel ATV. Five seasons, totalling 120 episodes, were broadcast on ATV and other ITV franchises in the United Kingdom and in first-run syndication in the United States from 1976 to 1981. The programme was produced and recorded at the ATV Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.
Francis Alick Howard, better known by his stage-name Frankie Howerd, was an English actor and comedian.
"Rubber Duckie" is a song sung by the Muppet character Ernie on Sesame Street. The song is named after Ernie's toy, a rubber duck affectionately named Rubber Duckie.
"Mah Nà Mah Nà" is a popular song by Italian composer Piero Umiliani. It originally appeared in the Italian film Sweden: Heaven and Hell. It was a minor radio hit in the United States and in Britain, but became better known internationally for its use by the Muppets and on The Benny Hill Show.
James Kern Kyser, known as Kay Kyser, was an American bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s.
"There's No Business Like Show Business" is an Irving Berlin song, written for the 1946 musical Annie Get Your Gun and orchestrated by Ted Royal. The song, a slightly tongue-in-cheek salute to the glamour and excitement of a life in show business, is sung in the musical by members of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in an attempt to persuade Annie Oakley to join the production. It is reprised three times in the musical.
"Lullaby of Broadway" is a popular song with music written by Harry Warren and lyrics by Al Dubin, published in 1935. The lyrics salute the nightlife of Broadway and its denizens, who "don't sleep tight until the dawn."
"Playmates" is a popular song ostensibly written by Saxie Dowell. The main theme was note-for-note plagiarized from the 1904 intermezzo "Iola" by Charles L. Johnson, for which Johnson sued, settling out of court for an undisclosed sum.
"Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" is a popular song which was published in 1944. The music was written by Harold Arlen and the lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 18th Academy Awards in 1945 after being used in the film Here Come the Waves.
"By The Light of the Silvery Moon" or "By the Light of the Silv'ry Moon" is a popular love song. The music was written by Gus Edwards, and the lyrics by Edward Madden. The song was published in 1909 and first performed on stage by Lillian Lorraine in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1909. It was one of a series of moon-related Tin Pan Alley songs of the era. The song was also used in the short-lived Broadway show Miss Innocence when it was sung by Frances Farr.
"You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)" is a popular song from 1913 composed by James V. Monaco with lyrics by Joseph McCarthy. It was introduced by Al Jolson in the Broadway revue The Honeymoon Express (1913), and used in the 1973 revival of the musical Irene.
"Don't Fence Me In" is a popular American song written in 1934, with music by Cole Porter and lyrics by Robert Fletcher and Cole Porter. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.
"The Lonely Goatherd" is a popular show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music.
"Let There Be Love" is a popular song with music by Lionel Rand and lyrics by Ian Grant, published in 1940.
"Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" is an African-American spiritual song that originated during the period of slavery but was not published until 1867. The song is well known and many cover versions of it have been done by artists such as Marian Anderson, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong, Harry James, Paul Robeson, and Sam Cooke among others. Anderson had her first successful recording with a version of this song on the Victor label in 1925. Horne recorded a version of the song in 1946. The Deep River Boys recorded their version in Oslo on August 29, 1958. It was released on the extended play Negro Spirituals Vol. 1, and the song was arranged by Harry Douglas.
"The Hut-Sut Song " is a novelty song from the 1940s with nonsense lyrics. The song was written in 1941 by Leo V. Killion, Ted McMichael and Jack Owens. The first and most popular recording was by Horace Heidt and His Musical Knights. A 1941 Time magazine entry suggests the song was probably a creative adaptation of an unpublished Missouri River song called "Hot Shot Dawson".
"Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (with Anyone Else but Me)" is a popular song that was made famous by Glenn Miller and by the Andrews Sisters during World War II. Its lyrics are the words of two young lovers who pledge their fidelity while one of them is away serving in the war.
"I Love Trash" is a song with music and lyrics by Jeff Moss. It was sung by the Muppet character Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street. The song was first sung in the first season of the series and has been re-taped several times.
Kay Kyser's Greatest Hits is a 1962 compilation album featuring music made famous by American bandleader Kay Kyser released by Capitol Records. While Kyser himself was not present at the recording session, former members of his orchestra Harry Babbitt, Mike Douglas, Trudy Erwin, Ish Kabibble, Jack Martin, Sully Mason, Ginny Simms, and Gloria Wood reunited to make re-recordings of their original Columbia Records hits.
