Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
From '' Deep Percussion ''
Label: Polydor – 24-4508
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1970
Tracklist
A1 Mah-Na Mah-Na
Written-By – Piero Umiliani
A2 Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head
Written-By – Bacharach And David
A3 Mendocino
Written-By – Doug Sahm
A4 Tracy
Written-By – Lee Pockriss, Paul Vance
A5 Theme 18
Written-By – Norrie Paramor
B1 Precisely Percussion
Written-By – Frank Barber
B2 Midnight Cowboy
Written-By – John Barry
B3 Big Spender
Written-By – Cy Coleman
B4 Somewhere There's A Love For You
Written-By – Frank Barber
B5 Hare Krishna
Written-By – Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni, James Rado
B6 Summer Palace
Written-By – Norrie Paramor
Notes
Frank Barber Percussion Ensemble
🎵 [SONG INFO]
"Mah Nà Mah Nà" is a popular song by the Italian composer Piero Umiliani.
It originally appeared in the Italian film Sweden: Heaven and Hell (Svezia, inferno e paradiso). On its own it was a minor radio hit in the United States and in Britain, but it became better known internationally after it was used by the Muppets and on The Benny Hill Show.
Sesame Street producer Joan Ganz Cooney heard the track on the radio and decided it would be a perfect addition to the show. The song's first Sesame Street performance by the Muppets was performed by puppeteers Jim Henson, Frank Oz and Loretta Long (Susan) on the fourteenth episode of the show, broadcast on November 27, 1969. The following Sunday, Henson and his Muppets performed the song on The Ed Sullivan Show. Seven years later, the song was part of the premiere episode of The Muppet Show.
Starting in 1971, The Benny Hill Show—in its second incarnation at Thames Television where it launched in 1969 in colour—included "Mah Nà Mah Nà" as part of a background music medley during their frequent slapstick sketches. The medley became a Benny Hill Show tradition for the rest of its run.
Original version
Although Umiliani used a very similar theme in 1966 for the soundtrack of the Italian film Ring Around the World, "Mah Nà Mah Nà" debuted as part of Umiliani's soundtrack for the Italian mondo film Sweden: Heaven and Hell (1968), an exploitation documentary film about wild sexual activity and other behaviour in Sweden. The song accompanied a scene in the film set in a sauna which gave its original title "Viva la Sauna Svedese" ("Hooray for the Swedish Sauna"). It was performed by a band called Marc 4 (four session musicians from the RAI orchestra), and the lead part was sung by Italian singer/composer Alessandro Alessandroni and his wife Giulia. The song also appeared on the 1968 U.S. soundtrack album released for the film.
"Mah Nà Mah Nà" was a hit in many countries in 1968–1969. In the United States, it peaked at No. 55 in the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and No. 44 on the Cash Box magazine chart in October 1969. It also reached No. 12 on the United States Adult Contemporary chart. In Canada, the song reached No. 22 in the RPM magazine top singles charts, October 11, 1969, and No. 5 on the AC Chart a week later. The original UK single release, on the Pye International label (7N 25499), left the artists name uncredited on the label, and a cover version by Giorgio Moroder, pseudonymously credited to "The Great Unknowns" and released the same year on the Major Minor label (MM 658), featured Moroder's "Doo-be-doo-be-do" on the B side (also sometimes featured in The Benny Hill Show). Umiliani's original version, now credited to Umiliani on the label, was reissued by EMI Records in the UK in 1977 and reached No. 8 in the charts. During its 1–15 September 1969 run on the WLS 890 Hit Parade, the surveys erroneously credited the record to someone named Pete Howard. WPTR did much the same, except that the credit was given to the station's disc jockey, J.W. Wagner.
Other famous versions
A heavy metal version was recorded by the UK band Skin in 1996, for the "Perfect Day" single which was a minor hit in the UK at No. 33. This version is titled "The Muppet Song (Mah Na Mah Na)".
In 2011, the alternative rock band the Fray released a cover of the song on Muppets: The Green Album, though a remaster of the original version from The Muppet Show performance appears on the soundtrack from the 2011 film The Muppets.
The Mexican rock band Maná sang the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2016.
~more info here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah_N%C3%A0_Mah_N%C3%A0
#thefrankbarberpercussion
#mahnamahna
#pieroumiliani
From '' Deep Percussion ''
Label: Polydor – 24-4508
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1970
Tracklist
A1 Mah-Na Mah-Na
Written-By – Piero Umiliani
A2 Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head
Written-By – Bacharach And David
A3 Mendocino
Written-By – Doug Sahm
A4 Tracy
Written-By – Lee Pockriss, Paul Vance
A5 Theme 18
Written-By – Norrie Paramor
B1 Precisely Percussion
Written-By – Frank Barber
B2 Midnight Cowboy
Written-By – John Barry
B3 Big Spender
Written-By – Cy Coleman
B4 Somewhere There's A Love For You
Written-By – Frank Barber
B5 Hare Krishna
Written-By – Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni, James Rado
B6 Summer Palace
Written-By – Norrie Paramor
Notes
Frank Barber Percussion Ensemble
🎵 [SONG INFO]
"Mah Nà Mah Nà" is a popular song by the Italian composer Piero Umiliani.
It originally appeared in the Italian film Sweden: Heaven and Hell (Svezia, inferno e paradiso). On its own it was a minor radio hit in the United States and in Britain, but it became better known internationally after it was used by the Muppets and on The Benny Hill Show.
Sesame Street producer Joan Ganz Cooney heard the track on the radio and decided it would be a perfect addition to the show. The song's first Sesame Street performance by the Muppets was performed by puppeteers Jim Henson, Frank Oz and Loretta Long (Susan) on the fourteenth episode of the show, broadcast on November 27, 1969. The following Sunday, Henson and his Muppets performed the song on The Ed Sullivan Show. Seven years later, the song was part of the premiere episode of The Muppet Show.
Starting in 1971, The Benny Hill Show—in its second incarnation at Thames Television where it launched in 1969 in colour—included "Mah Nà Mah Nà" as part of a background music medley during their frequent slapstick sketches. The medley became a Benny Hill Show tradition for the rest of its run.
Original version
Although Umiliani used a very similar theme in 1966 for the soundtrack of the Italian film Ring Around the World, "Mah Nà Mah Nà" debuted as part of Umiliani's soundtrack for the Italian mondo film Sweden: Heaven and Hell (1968), an exploitation documentary film about wild sexual activity and other behaviour in Sweden. The song accompanied a scene in the film set in a sauna which gave its original title "Viva la Sauna Svedese" ("Hooray for the Swedish Sauna"). It was performed by a band called Marc 4 (four session musicians from the RAI orchestra), and the lead part was sung by Italian singer/composer Alessandro Alessandroni and his wife Giulia. The song also appeared on the 1968 U.S. soundtrack album released for the film.
"Mah Nà Mah Nà" was a hit in many countries in 1968–1969. In the United States, it peaked at No. 55 in the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and No. 44 on the Cash Box magazine chart in October 1969. It also reached No. 12 on the United States Adult Contemporary chart. In Canada, the song reached No. 22 in the RPM magazine top singles charts, October 11, 1969, and No. 5 on the AC Chart a week later. The original UK single release, on the Pye International label (7N 25499), left the artists name uncredited on the label, and a cover version by Giorgio Moroder, pseudonymously credited to "The Great Unknowns" and released the same year on the Major Minor label (MM 658), featured Moroder's "Doo-be-doo-be-do" on the B side (also sometimes featured in The Benny Hill Show). Umiliani's original version, now credited to Umiliani on the label, was reissued by EMI Records in the UK in 1977 and reached No. 8 in the charts. During its 1–15 September 1969 run on the WLS 890 Hit Parade, the surveys erroneously credited the record to someone named Pete Howard. WPTR did much the same, except that the credit was given to the station's disc jockey, J.W. Wagner.
Other famous versions
A heavy metal version was recorded by the UK band Skin in 1996, for the "Perfect Day" single which was a minor hit in the UK at No. 33. This version is titled "The Muppet Song (Mah Na Mah Na)".
In 2011, the alternative rock band the Fray released a cover of the song on Muppets: The Green Album, though a remaster of the original version from The Muppet Show performance appears on the soundtrack from the 2011 film The Muppets.
The Mexican rock band Maná sang the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2016.
~more info here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah_N%C3%A0_Mah_N%C3%A0
#thefrankbarberpercussion
#mahnamahna
#pieroumiliani
