I recently watched Ernie Kovacs’s The Nairobi Trio sketch. I first saw it in the mid-'70s on early-morning TV when I was visiting relatives.
The Nairobi Trio (original version)
The Nairobi Trio (later version)
Just thought I’d share this classic in case anyone hasn’t seen it.
Here’s a relevant article, which identifies the tune as Solfeggio and reveals that the gorilla on the left was variously played by such luminaries as Jack Lemmon and Frank Sinatra.
I’ve often wondered what the tune was. They also used it in the old Colt 45 Malt Liquor commercials. (Haven’t been able to find any of those.)
They scared the hell out of me when I was a kid!
Me, too! I loved Ernie Kovacs and Edie Adams, and the show was wonderfully surreal, but those gorilla heads freaked me out. I actually had nightmares in which the Nairobi Trio pursued me, trying to beat on my head with their horrid drumsticks. I also had nightmares about Ricky Ricardo’s conga drums and Kukla, Fran and Ollie (mostly Kukla and Ollie - Fran wasn’t very scary). I guess I was a sensitive child.
Thanks, Johnny, seen them many times but always worth another look (and listen).
Kovacs has to be one of the funnist guys who ever lived. He did not live long enough by far.