The Muppets & John Denver Made Christmas Magic

*Writer’s note: This is going to be a very short essay because I have been destroyed by a cold — my first cold in three years — and am exhausted. I have a friendly piece of toilet paper helping my runny-nose situation, and a cherry cough drop that is keeping my throat from exploding into flames, and when those both run out I will have to stop writing and go collapse.

The year was 1979 and The Muppet Show was a hit. The antics of the anthropomorphic foam creations from Jim Henson and company had become fabric to the lives of children and their parents (and any fans of puppetry, humor, wit, silliness, etc.) in America and wherever else you could catch the show. They had also become colleagues of the famous folk singer, song-writer John Denver who would make so many appearances on the show that I once sincerely asked my mom, “Is John Denver… a muppet?!” It was entirely plausible, the man practically lived on their set as far as I could tell back then, and he interacted with them as if they had come up the ladder together. So, of course, why not create a Christmas album?

I want you to imagine being John Denver in the recording studio back then. You have your signature dirty blond hair and big glasses on, facing the microphone with the pantyhose on it, and in comes Frank Oz and Jim Henson to lay down some vocals with you. How do you keep a…