Lesson in Pop Culture Literacy

[ornoth]

Submitted for your approval:

The year is 1968; a 42 year old Florentine composer named Piero Umiliani pens several tracks for a sexually titillating Italian language pseudo-documentary about Sweden entitled “Svezia, Inferno e Paradiso”: Sweden, Heaven and Hell.

One of those tracks, which accompanies an all-girl sauna scene, charts internationally, reaching number 55 on the American Billboard Hot 100, despite having no more lyrics than a series of nonsense syllables, in similar vein to scat singing.

A little more than a year later, the song is performed by Jim Henson’s Muppets on the 14th episode of Sesame Street, as well as the Ed Sullivan Show. The rest, as they say, is history.

But if you’re not familiar with this story, you might be amused to view the song in its original context in this scene from “Svezia, Inferno e Paradiso”.

Watch on YouTube

Comments

[f-l-i-r-t.livejournal.com]

who knew? ...how interesting and amusing... cheers for sharing

[ailsaek.livejournal.com]

Cool, thanks. I just emailed Kathy the link to your post, cos I had to share the bogglement.

[jtroutman.livejournal.com]

Best trivia story I have read so far this year. And yes, one of my favorite muppet things. for reasons I cannot explain, but knowing now that it originally involved a room full of women wearing nothing but towels, I feel at peace.

Updated.

[ornoth.livejournal.com]

Whup. New url: