Largely due to The Muppets and other inscrutable factors, I was berated by the “Mahna Mahna” song all Thanksgiving weekend. Someone whispered to me that this song was originally from a Swedish Italian softcore porn flick called Heaven and Hell—and lo and behold! Someone was right! From Slate:
In the tradition of the shocking, factually questionable Mondo Cane, Heaven and Hell was styled as a documentary about Scandinavian sexuality, which provided a thin veneer of respectability for its leering exploration of lesbian nightclubs and meter maids who moonlight as nude models.
That sounds totes hot, yes? TOTES NO. It’s freaking BORING, as this completely SFW clip from the movie featuring the original “Mahna Mahna” song will attest.
SNORE!!! More on the history of “Mahna Mahna” here!
This is Ricky Martin’s self professed “favorite song.” Are we one stop closer to unraveling Mr. Martin’s secret sexuality?
Secretly ho hum Swedish sexuality?
That aside, Ho Hum was an excellent and exciting Swedish porno.
The film, called Sweden: Heaven and Hell, is Italian not Swedish. The composer, Piero Umiliani, was a pioneer of this sort of Bossa Nova easy-listening OST stuff. He was a notable colleague and contemporary of Ennio Morricone. Cattttch up.
RICKY MARTIN (‘S SEXUALITY): ACTUALLY ITALIAN
@Ovidius
Caaaaaaught up.
Great. I’d hate to think that the details concerning 60s Italian soundtrack recordings weren’t common knowledge.