Glenn Gaslin's Astonishing Tales of Danger & Wonder

The Secret History of the Mahna Mahna Song

I thought it was simply a Muppets sketch. A nonsense song so good it'll live forever, a tune universally catchy that my two-year-old calls it his favorite song. But no, as I learn from Morning Becomes Eclectic today, after they play the excellent Cake version, this little ditty goes back a long way. A few fun facts:

• It was originally recorded in 1968 by a Piero Umiliani, as "Mah Nà Mah Nà," and first showed up on the soundtrack for a Swedish porn film.

• The first two performances by Muppets were within three days of each other, on Sesame Street and then on The Ed Sullivan Show, in 1969.

• It was a favorite of Benny Hill.

• The version we all know and love, "Mahna Mahna," was, in fact, the first sketch on the first episode of The Muppet Show, in 1976.

• And this bit from the original The Office is freaking hilarious.

The 2007 Mixtapes: Vol. 1

Is it me or has it been a slow year for music? I think it’s me. I think I’ve been lazy. Last year, I was putting one of these together a month, but now it’s halfway into 2007 and here’s my first compilation of singles, covers and maybe some older stuff that happened to hit me right. Dig.

1. "Float On," Goldspot: Combines three musical tastes I love so much: Modest Mouse, covers, and The OC
2. "Here (In Your Arms)," Hellogoodbye: They always make me happy.
3. "Girlfriend," Avril Lavigne: Could this be the only great pop song so far this year? Can that be possible?
4. "Invincible," Muse: Every couple of months, I have a new favorite song from Black Hole & Revelations, so here it is.
5. "Fire In the Canyon," Fountains Of Wayne: Easily the best track from Traffic and Weather.
6. "Skunks,“ Caribou: Don’t know much about this beyond I love it and it’s on the soundtrack to Everything’s Gone Green, the very delightful Douglas Coupland-written movie that nobody else has seen.
7. "Long Way Home," Tom Waits
8. "Ain't No Reason," Brett Dennen: Mayrav and I walked into a show at the Wiltern recently, with no idea who was playing, and it was this guy. The crowd, mostly 22-going-on-45, was totally worshiping him and his bangs.
9. "Tomorrow Is a Long Time," Nickel Creek: Saw the brother and sister from this group at Largo, as The Watkins Family Hour, and wow can they play some fiddle and sing some folk songs.
10. "Australia," The Shins
11. "Baroque Hoedown," They Might Be Giants: The Disneyland Electric Light Parade song. Zev digs it almost as much as I do.
12. "New Routine," Fountains Of Wayne
13. "Slippery Rock 70's," Stavely Makepeace: From the Hot Fuzz soundtrack.
14. "At The Timeshare," The LeeVees: From an album I’ve had for a while called Hanukkuah Rocks, most of which isn’t really about Hanukkah and is, in fact, really funny.
15. "Bro's," Panda Bear: If I meditated, my head would probably sound like this.
16. "Everything'll Be Alright (Will's Lullaby)," Joshua Radin
17. "When I Go," Brett Dennen
18. "Boys Don't Cry," Oleander: Because it’s not complete without an ‘80s cover.

The 2006 Mixtapes: vol. 7

Took me long enough. I’ve been meaning to compile these monthly, but I got behind. Go ahead and be mad at me, but we both know it won’t last. Here’s the mix I have going over and over again in the car:

1. “Instant Karma!,” Campaign for Real Time: Love this song, and these guys are so urgent about it
2. “Imaginary Girl,” The Bees
3. “Hard-Core Troubadour,” Steve Earle: They used this in Talladega Nights, and man was that shit funny
4. “Wolf Like Me,” TV On The Radio: Another from my growing songs-about-wolves collection
5. “Starlight,” Muse: I could put that whole album on this mixtape, but that’s not really in the spirit of the thing
6. "New Round,” Beck
7. “Tennessee-In-Between,” King Straggler
8. “Bank Job,” Barenaked Ladies: Easily the funniest, most bittersweet song I’ve heard about a heist gone wrong
9. "Dead,” Steve Burns: They Might Be Giants cover
10. “Sing, Theresa Says,” Greg Laswell
11. “Bonnie Taylor Shakedown 2K1,” Hellogoodbye: No idea how I came upon this, but it sort of makes me feel like I’m 14
12. “Sundress,” Ben Kweller: Sometimes I listen to it, then listen to it two more times
13. “You Could Be Happy,” Snow Patrol
14. “The Stranger's Lament,” King Straggler: Nobody knows how good this song is
15. “Fake Palindromes,” Andrew Bird
16. “Read My Mind,” The Killers: Yeah, I like the album
17. “Infinite E,” Monkeys With Guns: Because they’re monkeys, with guns
18. “If Your Poison Gets You,” Frank Black
19. “Strange Apparition,” Beck
20. “Through My Door,” The Muckrakers
21. “If Looks Could Kill,” Camera Obscura
    

More Deviant Things You Don't Know About Yanni

I am man enough to admit that I have owned, in my life, some Yanni CDs, and that they were stored near the Vangelis and the Tangerine Dream, and that they might have seen some action. That was the Old Glenn, however, and I've long since stopped tracking the Greek god of synth's movements. And this, I learn today, means I've missed all the fun.

The self-styled silky-haired prog/ambient guru appeared on Howard Stern today, talking trash about John Tesh, boasting about his private jet, and there there's this, from the so-useful Howard show notes:

Yanni reported he grew up in Greece, and lost his virginity in “a whore house” when he was 14. Yanni then said the prostitute who deflowered him knew he was young, and the experience didn’t go well, particularly because he felt the woman in question looked like his aunt.

Oh and did you know Yanni was arrested--and released--in Florida in a nasty he-said-she-said domestic disturbance? Me neither! And look at that mug shot! This is the wake up call I've been waiting for. No more turning the other way, no more letting it slide. Yanni, I'm watching you.