That's Entertainment : Kermit the Frog - The Rainbow Connection
A frog…a banjo…a ballad.
What more can you want?
When I was a kid, The Muppet Show was at its peak. A variety show that was big in the ratings, it attracted celebrity A-List guest stars to interact with the puppets and churned out a zany, cheesy mix of song, dance and humour.
I guess, when you look it now, it inhabits a similar place Hey, Hey It’s Saturday does and reflects a simpler time when people were easier entertained.
Take for instance - music. In the old days, magazines would carry ‘rumours’ of a band recording. Or releasing an album. Or touring. Hearing a song on the radio meant going to the record shop and having them search the coming release guides, find the label and catalogue number, write out a pre order and wait 2-6 weeks for the single to come in to stock before racing back to buy it and listen to it. That’s why people like Molly Meldrum were cool - they knew all the stories and gossip.
Now, I can watch a band live on the internet recording their latest track, upload it on my mobile phone and have listened to it a million times before it even hits the stores. It’s instant, immediate, now!
The Muppet Show, along with it’s sister production Sesame Street, spawned an industry under the care and guidance of Jim Henson and his creative workshop. There were albums, movies and animated shows. It’s now owned by Disney.
Of course, eventually, we all grew up and technology made things much more accessible. Variety entertainment died as the internet exploded and you can find literally everything your heart desires online.
However, one Muppets song that resonated with me through the years as a kid and now as an adult, is the wistful opening number from The Muppet Movie.
The Rainbow Connection is a beautiful song (weird to think it was written by Paul Williams who was Little Enos Burdette in Smokey and the Bandit!!!). Dreamy, yearning, wistful, positive and full of hope. It should be cheesy but it never is.
It’s one of those little oddities that strikes a chord in every listener, and I for one, adore it.
And as Statler and Waldorf would heckle from the balcony: MORE!!! MORE!!!
Enjoy!
Rainbow Connection https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSFLZ-MzIhM
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