Photo Credit: DisneyDr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem have been staple characters in multiple iterations of The Muppets TV shows and films. They finally received their own TV series, The Muppets Mayhem, which debuted on Disney Plus back in May. The legendary Muppets band has revamped their old school image and have been featured on a new episode of the D23 Inside Disney: The Official Disney Podcast.
The band consists of lead singer and keyboardist, Dr. Teeth (Bill Barretta), saxophonist, Zoot (Dave Goelz), bassist, Floyd Pepper (Matt Vogel), lead guitarist and singer, Janice (David Rudman), trumpeter Lips (Peter Linz) and the legendary drummer, Animal (Eric Jacobson). The Electric Mayhem band members were designed and created by Jim Henson, along with Bonnie Erikson, Don Sahlin, Dave Goelz, and Michael K. Firth. Henson and Goelz were the original performers and were eventually joined by Frank Oz and Richard Hunt. They were inspired by a variety of iconic rock and jazz musicians, like Elton John, Janice Joplin, Gato Barbieri, Malcolm John Rebennack Jr., Keith Moon and John Lennon. Jim Henson had a strong passion for music of the counter-culture in the late 60’s according to Henson historian, Karen Falk, and was his main source of influence.
Electric Mayhem would emerge first as the house band for The Muppet Show in 1976, which lasted for five seasons. They would branch off into various Muppet movies such as, The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppets Take Manhattan, and the classics, The Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island. Whether the band played Victorian-Era music to pirate sea shanties, their performances would be iconic to their personas.
The D23 Inside Disney hosts, Sheri Henry and Courtnee Collier, take a deeper look into what it takes to make the Muppets perform as musicians, go over Electric Mayhem Muppet trivia, and interview each of the band members themselves. The episode is now available on all streaming providers, including YouTube. The Muppets Mayhem is also streaming on Disney Plus.