It’s fifty years in, and The Muppets‘ house band Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem are still chooglin’ along. The group counts seminal Muppets Animal (on drums) and Janice (guitar and harmony vocals) among its ranks, and they’ve performed on-screen with the likes of Elton John, Dave Grohl (playing Foo Fighters’ “Learn To Fly”) and Jack White. In recent years, they’ve even broken through the fourth wall to perform some notable real-life festival gigs of their own. For their latest cover, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem keep the flame of classic rock alive with a version of Electric Light Orchestra’s “Mr. Blue Sky.”
The cover was shared as part of YouTube’s “Dear Earth” special in late October, which YouTube describes as an “epic global celebration of our planet and what we need to do to reverse climate change.” The thread of environmental activism in “Mr. Blue Sky” is tenuous at best, but Dr. Teeth and the Mayhem are used to being comic relief and know what to do to brighten the moment. The band load up the song with plenty of sunshine and rainbows: a flower-power guitar solo, a sax solo performed while riding atop cotton-ball clouds, and a finale chorus of Muppet peonies to take it home to the big finish.
Check out more covers from The Muppets here.
Check out more covers of Electric Light Orchestra here.
