Everyone knows Mahna Mahna from The Muppets — although they may not know that the back-up singers are the Snouths (or Snowths):
The act actually appeared earlier on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Dick Cavett Show, This is Tom Jones, and Pure Goldie:
The original version, from Sesame Street, features a trio of more generic “anything Muppets” singing a slightly different version of the song:
The beatnik male singer got the name Bip Bippadotta, but as he evolved he became known as Mahna Mahna.
The original, original version though didn’t feature muppets at all. Rather, it featured Swedish lesbians — in a now-tame exploitation film called Svezia, Inferno e Paradiso (Sweden, Heaven and Hell):
The song is Piero Umiliani’s “Mah Nà Mah Nà“:
It was a minor radio hit in the U.S. and in Britain, but became better known in English-speaking countries from its use in a recurring blackout sketch for the 1969-70 season of The Red Skelton Show, the 14th episode of Sesame Street, the first episode of The Muppet Show, and also from its consistent use as the primary silent comedy sketch scene music for The Benny Hill Show.