Muppets Take Over Capital Radio

[Luke]

Tune in to Capital Radio Takeover (95.8fm) to hear the mayhem when The Muppets (Kermit, Piggy, Animal, Bunsen & Beaker, The Swedish Chef, Pepe and Gonzo) take over the airwaves for one hour on Sunday 23rd June between 7pm and 8pm

Capital Takeover reaches each 8 million listeners including syndication to UK's seven biggest cities. This award winning radio show has recently been presented by the likes of Tom Hanks, Britney Spears, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Madonna....

Christian Day
PR Assistant
The Jim Henson Company
Tel. 020 74284000
Fax. 020 74284001
visit us at www.henson.com


Guys you can listen to the show wherever you are in the world via the net streaming at www.capitalfm.com. The time will be 2pm Eastern i think for the USA.

[Phillip Chapman]

Thanks for the post Luke. It's great that everyone will be able to hear it on-line and talk about the appearance afterward.

I believe this will be airing at 3 pm Eastern/2 pm Central on Sunday for those in the US.

[Luke]

Yeah, i've got a feeling this is a pre-record though. I used to work there many years ago and this kinda stuff was always done on tape a few weeks prior.

I'm not sure if it's just UK'ers that got it but this i think was from that email mailing list that the Henson Company started a while back. It's nice they are doing this kinda thing but live taking questions would be better. I don't think they've ever topped that Gonzo live netstreaming appearance for 'Play TV' - they need to do more of that and interact with people.

[Warrick]

This is gonna be great, People with Digital TV can also tape it from the Digital Radio Stations! I think im gonna tape Audio and on the Video, The TV gets better quality radio.

I called Capital and Henson and they both said that it was pre recorded, But with the Links and Music being broadcast live.
I dont know what that last bit means.

If it was Live i was gonna go down to Leicester Square to watch it !

[Warrick]

I jusy recorded the advertisement they made for the Radio Station ! They said that you can 'Meet the rest of the Muppet Gang tonight' ! They must be doing another Advertisement.

And it IS Eric's Piggy.

See ya

[MuppetDanny]

Hi Guys,

That's great News. But 1 question to ask you -:

1) Is this like "I love Muppets" but radio ?

later
MuppetDanny

[Luke]

Hey Warrick

It just means that they have already recorded all the intro bits and then the producer just stops the tape and plays in the music track, then starts the next bit of dialogue after it. Theres not much point going down there. I think they meant the links were being played 'as live'.

It sounds like a great show and Muppetdanny, it's not like 'I Love The Muppets' - it's more the Muppets answering viewers emails and playing some of their favourite chart music tracks.

[MuppetDanny]

Luke

Thank U for the info. Also what Frequincie is it? it's LW, MW?:confused:

MuppetDanny

[Warrick]

95.8 FM

They are gonna put on a Sneak Peak in the next ten minutes!!!

[Luke]

This is all getting very exciting. I guess they recorded this in the states but if the character list is correct then they got quite a few of the puppeteers together for this.

[Warrick]

There was a Sneak Peak on earlier, Rizzo was speaking and they mentioned Fozzie ! So i think that there is more there than we think !

I cant wait !

See ya

[Luke]

Ok so i am looking forward to this radio appearance - the station has been plugging it a lot and showing previews - it sounds like a lot of fun.

It's gonna be exciting to hear brand new voices for both Fozzie and Animal - who do people think are performing these ?

It's also probably the most impressive cast list for anything Muppety since the fest, and even more impressive seeing as the Muppets don't seem to actually be promoting anything other than the fact it's the anniversary.

Have they ever done much radio together before ? I don't seem to remember them going in for this kinda thing previously.

[Phillip Chapman]

The Muppets on www.capitalfm.com will be beginning in the next hour. Listen on-line and let us know what you think about the appearance.

[Luke]

Just a correction, the Henson email was wrong - it's actually gonna be 8pm (3pm Eastern) so unfortunately theres another hour to wait !

[Luke]

So anyone listening ? Someone needs to remind Eric Jacobson that Fozzie is supposed to be male, sounds very Piggy to me.

[MuppetDanny]

Luke

I had to listen on-line as I can find it on my radio:mad:

Anyway for what I heard it was good, the puppeteer who did Piggy did very well done! But who did Animal? It was terrible, it didn't sound like to Frank's voice.

What did u think Luke?

Later

MuppetDanny

[AruggeRadio]

Luke

Thanks for letting us know about this. I tuned in and it was truly allot of fun. I agree that Eric's Fozzie needs some work but is still very good (it sounds allot like his Bert which I don't think is that bad because Bert and Fozzie essentially had the same voice under Frank Oz, it amazes me he has been able to do so much with the voices). I also loved the interaction between the rest of the Muppets. As Phil alluded to in a previous post it was great seeing interaction between Kermit and Piggy that has been truly missed. Thank goodness for digital recording, I was able to record the whole hour which I’m glad I will get to listen to it over and over. BTW I work in American Radio its fun to hear Euro Radio for a change. I can't believe the Strokes are Top 40 in the UK.

CW

[Luke]

yeah i actually thought he did Animal better than Fozzie - i guess it's all down to personal taste.

I thought it was very funny overall - a good mixture of Muppets, thats what we need to see more off - Muppets interacting with each other and especially other people but i would have preferred them to do Radio without a script - like interacting with people, taking phone calls, adlibbing. I really think they need to do more of that. The script was funny though, and some great lines in there - Pepe, Gonzo and Rizzo were especially good and Erics Piggy is now really very good.

Wierd they were plugging the Muppet DVD's when we have like one out in this country but they thought to include a lot of UK specific references to our presenters and music.

Too much music - that's Capital Radio for ya, but nice they included some Muppet related songs. It must have been funny to hear our adverts and music artists.

Just to fill people in, Chris Tarrant who Piggy mentioned is the presenter of our 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' and breakfast show DJ on that station. Cat Deeley who was also mentioned is another presenter on the radio station but also quite a pin up over here.

[radionate]

CW,

It's not a fomart that can easily be emailed is it. The reason I ask is that I was unable to listen today, as I was actually on air. I too would love to hear the show.

[Foreignman]

I missed the show too, hate it when my actual life gets in the way of Muppety fun. If anyone recorded it and could somehow e-mail it to Nate and I, we would much apreciate it... Well at least I would much apreciate it, I can't speak for Nate, but I'm sure he would much apreciate it too... yeah.

[Luke]

If anyone has it in digital format you could just put it up as a realaudio file so people could stream it, or if you convert it to MP3 you could uplaod it to live365.com

[radionate]

Hey Phil, do you think this is something you could do on Muppet Central?

And yes I would appreciate it very much!

[Chilly Down]

Aaaugh! I missed it! I've been out of the loop so long. Any chance a person could hear the program even though it's no longer airing live? Does the radio have an archive on its website?

(BTW, hello, everyone -- I'm not quite "back" yet; I still have another busy week ahead of me. But I hope to update you on what's been going on in my life soon. Looking forward to hearing from you as well!)

[Phillip Chapman]

Hi Tom,

Great to see you! Capital FM does archive old takeover shows on their site so hopefully it will be on-line later this week for those that missed it.

[JohnFranklin]

Originally posted by AruggeRadio
I can't believe the Strokes are Top 40 in the UK.


i can't believe they are top 40 anywhere. talk about horrible!


-JF

[Zack the Dog]

ahh, i read the post wrong from the very beginging, i saw 8:00 PM, and didn't think of it as UK time,which at 8: 00 wouldn't have been bad because i worked till 8 and then would probaly have only missed 10 minuets of it, then i noticed today it was 3:00 Eastern time and it was 3:50 at the time;-) i had to work at four so i got to hear about 3 mins of the end but not the very end.

i heard rizzo and Pepe talking and Pepe said something about them making Piggy angery and rizzo thought pepe was saying hungery, then Piggy chops one of them or both of them, gonzo introduces a song by kermit and someone? kermit and the girl start to sing and i had to go before the song ended.

I hope it can be replayed!

Zack)Rowlf the,Dog

[AruggeRadio]

I saved the File as an MP3. Its about 55-megs thought so its huge. I may break it down into smaller peaces, or just take the Audio Clips of the Muppets and send them to Phil to use on MC Radio. I'm very busy right now but I will try to get those to Phil so he can throw them up if he wants to.

BTW I thought Animal was a voice totally missed also. But remember Steve's Kermit was pretty afoul the first time he did it so who knows give the guy a few tries.

CW

[Luke]

CW

It's totally illegal to do that (rebroadcast) - when i kinda mentioned uploading it somewhere i meant doing it on the quiet.

As for Capital archiving old takoever shows - i thought that was a text transcript thing ? Can anyone point to me to where the audio is kept.

[Phillip Chapman]

Here's the transcript and a real audio link (http://www.capitalfm.com/webClient?guid=32541). Ten minutes of Muppet dialogue can be heard through the streaming Windows Media link.

[radionate]

Did anyone else have poor quality audio from the archieve? I can't hear Kermit at all, but Piggy sounded all right at times, a little low pitch in her voice here and there. Fozzie sounded a little off too, but I think its just going to take some getting used to the new voices.

[Luke]

The audio was wacky throughout the show - everyone had their own varying volume levels.

[AruggeRadio]

Well in the original broadcast the characters switched from the Left to the Right speakers to make it seem as thought the Muppet’s had all been in various places around the room. It sounds like this archive was in Mono, so you hear the reverb from the Right stereo speaker. That’s why I would assume there is the volume problems.

CW

[radionate]

I wondered if it was just my computer, but the more I listened, the more I realized it was mainly just Steve's mic that was going out. Kermit always sounded like he was a mile away (I could only tell it was Kermit as the other guys were addressing him directly).

Have a lot of these take over shows had similar audio quality mishaps?

I just saw Auggi's post, and converting from Stereo to Mono sounds like its likely the problem. If you listen to the John Denver and the Muppets Alblum on a Mono station, the same problem occurs (I know as I once played a cut on my college stations Mono broadcast)

[Zack the Dog]

Thanks for posting that Phil! that was a hoot! too bad it's only 10 minuets but a great one at that!

the Muppet ShowDVD's arent out yet are they? I mean rizzo kept pulgging it in;-)



Zack)Rowlf the, Pepe, I wasn't there, I don't care! okay?Dog.

[MrTheFrog]

Well lets try to figure out "The Animal Voice Mystery"...

From the sounds of it, the only puppeteers there were Steve, Dave, Bill, and Eric.

Steve and Dave had bad mikes, so Rizzo, Kermit, Beaker, Bunsen and Gonzo came in badly.

Bill and Eric's mikes were fine, so Fozzie, Piggy, Pepe and the Chef came in clearly.

Animal was coming in over one of the bad mikes.

Fozzie and Piggy both spoke over Animal's lines, so it probably wasn't Eric.

But so did Pepe, Rizzo, and Gonzo.

So the question is....Is it a conspiracy? Were Animal's lines pre-recorded? Could one of our favorite puppeteers have the ability to throw their voice across the room? Was there a fifth puppeteer on the grassy knoll? Where is Sherlock Hemlock when you need him? What do you guys think?
-Artie

[Luke]

I guess it depends where this was recorded. Steve was over for the Queens Jubilee so it's not impossible that the other puppeteers came over and recorded this at Capital's studios around the same time. If thats the case, Capitals studios (while high tech) are very low on omni-directional mics and the studios are full of directional stuff so a puppeteer making out they are in the distance is gonna come across badly anyway.

The more likely thing is that they recorded it in the states, i think Capital own a few stations over there and i'm sure Henson themselves probably have the equipment what with Chaplin having recording studios. If thats the case i have no idea as to sound.

As for Animal, the whole things sounds as if it were recorded link by link, without any edits or loops so i guess there must have been someone else there doing Animal - it didn't sound like Eric to me anyway. Perhaps it was Brian Henson, or a puppeteer from Henson UK ? There must have been someone very British there to have included all those references to Britain and Capital Radio's presenters.

[Joggy]

Did anybody make an audio recording of the complete show including songs (cassette or Minidisc or whatever)? I'd love to have this in good stereo quality... email me at jal@euronet.nl for a trade! (I have a big lot of Muppet audio to trade!)

[radionate]

Joggy, You have a minidisc player? I'm so impressed! Didn't think anyone had one.

[Joggy]

Oh yes, I have one. It's one of my most treasured possessions. I use it for any sort of sound recording!

[radionate]

I really wish they had caught on more over here in the states. I love them. The sound quality on them is fantastic, and they editing that you can do is pretty amazing too. One of my favorite toys to play with.

[Warrick]

Im back, And here is my take on it all...

First off, On sunday morning I heard Ray Charles singing 'Its not Easy Bein' Green', I have never ever heard this on the radio before ! And it wasnt on Capital FM it was on some Classical station, i just over heard it.

So here it goes...

Muppets - Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Animal, Rizzo, Pepe, Bunsen, Beaker, Swedish Chef

Performers -
Steve: Kermit, Rizzo, Beaker
Dave: Gonzo, Bunsen
Bill: Pepe, Swedish Chef
Eric: Piggy, Fozzie, Animal

I think that Eric did Animal and it was just played over them while they were doing their dialogue. Or it could have been Bill. He can do low rough voices.

Music - Manha Manha ( It was done really bad, a new version or a real old version ), Ray Charles - Its Not Easy Bein' Green, Kermit and Kylie Minogue - Especially For You (The Studio Recorded Version, not with crowds applauding)

Apart from Fozzie and Animal beiong slightly off i LOVED it ! I think that Fozzie sounds like Franks latest Fozzie, The really high 'nearly Piggy' voice.

And they mentioned NEW Muppet Show DVD's ! Could this be that Henson thought by the time this was aired the DVD's would be here or nearly be here ? Hopefully it means they are coming to the UK aswell !

See ya

[GuySmiley]

Originally posted by radionate
You have a minidisc player? I'm so impressed! Didn't think anyone had one.

Yeah - I have one too - and the Capital FM Takeover has been archived to my minidisc in all it 'CD Like Quality'! I wouldn't be without my minidisc player!!

Guy!

[CountCrow4]

If anyone recorded the radio broadcast, can you make it an mp3 file and share it on kazaa or audio galaxy so others can download and listen to it?

Thanks!
Don
Muppet fan Since Manhattan

[GWGumby]

Audiogalaxy is dead, man. Sorry to have to be the one to break the news to you.

[Thog]

Originally posted by GWGumby
Audiogalaxy is dead, man. Sorry to have to be the one to break the news to you.

That makes me soooooo sad.

[radionate]

Originally posted by Thog


That makes me soooooo sad. what was audiogalaxy? Was it like Limewire and stuff? The university has blocked Limewire and Morpheus from the webserver, and I'm in desperate need of a new music swapping system! (I know I know, I shouldn't do it, but I just learned how it works, and its fun!)

[Foreignman]

Yeah, these file sharing programs are great! Especially for Muppet fans like us, you can find the most obscure things on their, just the other day, on Morpheus, I found Gelfring Song, which I've wanted forever!

[Bragi]

Hey, guys.

Wooooo - they mentioned Björk! Yay!


"Recording quality" - pretty bad.

I think Fozzie sounds pretty darn good.

Swedish chef - pretty bad.

Miss Piggy - sometimes sounds a little bit low... she turns into Fozzie too often.

Animal - pretty darn terrible. Anyone can sound like that.

Is it me or is Bill chancing Pepe a little bit? Maybe he just doesn't work as well when he isn't really excited about everything (which he usually was on the TV show).

[Ryan]

Is the radio show still avalible to listen to on the net? I missed it when it was live :(