Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem

The Electric Mayhem came into existence in 1976 to do a gig in the Muppet Theatre as a show band. They have also made appearances in several movies and TV specials, and they have cut some studio tracks on other albums. Animal, Floyd, Zoot and Janice also played in the Muppet Show pit band, performing the opening and closing themes and underscoring most of the Muppet Show performances. Rowlf the Dog was the pit pianist, however.

Dr. Teeth

Performer: Jim Henson 1976-1990. Unknown. 1990-Present

* Piano, Vocals
* Bandleader of the Electric Mayhem
* Namesake: Dr. John, the famous New Orleans blues and Jazz pianist, is a large part of the inspiration for Dr. Teeth, even if Dr. Teeth does dress more like Elton John.

Musical Highlights
His hilarious orchestration and vocals on "Tenderly," which are anything but tender, his furiously fast solo rendition of "Money", and his hilarious attempts at classical music are his most memorable moments.

Puppet Trivia:
Dr. Teeth's extendable arms, flashy outfit and translucent blue eyelids make him a very dynamic player to watch. Even when one of the other band members is center stage, the feathers and rings, and of course the famous gold tooth, have a way of upstaging the rest of the band.

Animal
Animal

Performer: Frank Oz

* Percussion, Vocal Noises
* Drummer in Pit band
* Namesake: There is an apocryphal assumption that Animal was modeled after Keith Moon of the Who.

Musical Highlights
Definitely his drum battles with Buddy Rich and Harry Belafonte - the best displays of his drumming virtuosity. Also his drums and backing vocals on Rockin' Robin {"TWEET!! TWEET!! TWEET!!"} and Beaker's rendition of "Mee-Mee" ("Feelings").

Puppet Trivia:
Animal's costume of vest and chained collar, was not consistently used. Apparently, Animal occasionally was sedate enough to appear unchained and in other costumes, even donning a suit for the occasional "At the Dance" sketch. Also, Animal as a drummer makes ingenious use of the "hand-and-rod" construction of early Muppets - his sticks are extensions of the rods themselves. See an early concept sketch for Animal How does Animal play drums with both hands?

Janice
Janice

Performer: Erin Ozker 1976. Richard Hunt 1977-1992. -Unknown- 1992-present.

* Guitar, Vocals
* Guitar in Pit band
* Namesake: Folk singer Janis Joplin clearly was part of the inspiration for Janice, though Joplin was not the straight-haired blonde valley girl type.

Musical Highlights
Janice's covers of Rockin' Robin and the Beatles' (I Get By)With a Little Help from my Friends, complete with bondage, sacrifice and a multi-armed one-man-band idol, are probably her most memorable musical moments.

Puppet Trivia:
Janice's lower lip has undergone a number of modifications in her career. Silicone implants, perhaps? From 1976, when she had none, through the full-lip phase to today's poutier (and IMHO very strange looking) partial lip, the makeover is interesting to watch. See an early Concept Sketch for Janice. How come Janice plays left-handed?

Zoot

Performer: Dave Goelz

* Tenor Saxophone
* Namesake: Old jazz legend Zoot Simms. Zoot also somewhat resembles notable jazz players Chuck Mangione, Manord Ferguson, and Miles Davis.

Musical Highlights
His attempts to save "Lullaby in Birdland from Don Knotts's bass playing, and his attempts to teach Phyllis Diller to play "the Entertainer" highlight a frustrating career as a musical virtuoso in a largely uncaring environment for Zoot. His work with Floyd and Dizzy Gillespie on "Whole Lotta Heapa" is one of his best as well.

Puppet Trivia:
Zoot was one of the first Muppets to be outfitted with real "human" glasses as eyes.

Clifford

Performer: Kevin Clash

* Vocals, percussion
* A recent addition to the band.
* Namsake: No idea. While this rastafarian wildebeest has a certain resemblance to Bob Marley, it is a bit of a stretch.

Musical Highlights
One of the only appearances Clifford has made with the Electric Mayhem was in the NBC special The Muppets at Disneyworld, a companion piece to the opening of MuppetVision 3-D at the MGM Studios theme park in Orlando, Florida.

Puppet Trivia:
As a "new generation" Muppet, Clifford is possessed of some fairly complex machinery for facial manipulation. Kevin Clash's singing voice is one of the best of the Muppeteers', as evidenced by the Theme Song.

Lips

Performer: Steve Whitmire

* Trumpet
* A recent addition to the band.
* Also the late season pit trumpeter on The Muppet Show.
* Namesake: Lips actually has some resemblance to Whitmire, his puppeteer. He doesn't really resemble a rock star, unless you can think of a daishiki-wearing trumpet player with a big blond Afro who never opens his eyes....

Musical Highlights
One of the only appearances Lips has made with the Electric Mayhem was in The Great Muppet Caper, as part of the Mayhem when they were living at the Happiness Hotel in London. Perhaps he was their UK connection (which would explain the huge number of gigs they seem to have had there).

Puppet Trivia:
Lips was originally one of the simplest possible puppets. His eyes didn't move, his mouth had a trumpet in it, to which his hands were originally permanently attached. It has been suggested that Lips was one of Steve Whitmire's "apprentice" puppets, before he moved on to more complex work, like Rizzo and Kermit. Lips evolved into full finger-articulation, and eventually could take the trumpet out of his mouth, but he still never spoke...

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