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A few things you may not notice if you haven’t watched this impeccably produced mashup of Bert & Ernie and M.O.P.’s “Ante Up” approximately 250 times, as I have:
- 0:05: As Bert and Ernie jump around to the beat, a boombox is visible in the background. (Well, it’s really a table radio, but this was the early 70’s.)
- 0:09, 1:14, 1:18: Various characters are playing horns and trumpets, mimicking the sampled horn section on the track. (You can hear those horns in their original context, in the first 8 seconds of this hella-fierce Sam & Dave video.)
- 0:18: As Ernie says, “Take chains off! Take rings off! Bracelets is yapped, everything off!”, he looks at his hands, then wiggles his fingers.
- 0:30: As the doctor shouts, “Clamp ‘em down,” his hand is clamped down on Ernie’s wrist.
- 0:38: As Bert says, “Keep a rugged dress code,” he looks at a character in a hardhat, then down at his own shirt.
- 0:40: Right after Bert says, “Always in this stress mode,” he gets visibly startled by Ernie popping out behind his chair.
- 1:07: The instruments that Bert and Ernie are playing — a kick drum and a snare drum — are the two main instruments in the boom-bap beat of the song.
- 1:22: Notice the faraway voice, and how well it matches with the groggy Bert being awakened in the background.
- 1:25: It could also be argued that the growly bleats at the very end are those of the sheep, seen moshing at that very moment.
- Hell, M.O.P. even look like Bert and Ernie. And it goes without saying that Ernie is lip-synching the little guy (Lil Fame), while Bert takes the big guy (Billy Danze).
There are mounds of Muppet mashups out there — Coldplay, Master of Muppets, and of course the brilliant Sad Kermit series — but this is the genre’s Citizen Kane.
