Alpert poses with a Bert puppet in a publicity photo for his 1974 special.
Herb Alpert (b. 1935) is a musician and singer best known as the bandleader for Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, who enjoyed their greatest success in the 1960s with such hits as "Spanish Flea" and "A Taste of Honey."
In 1974, after a four-year hiatus from performing, Alpert and the Tijuana Brass staged a comeback with an album and a TV special, the latter of which featured The Muppets as guest stars. The band previously appeared on a 1966 episode of The Hollywood Palace, which also featured Kermit the Frog performing "The Glow-Worm" sketch.
Alpert was also a co-founder of A&M Records, whose headquarters were housed in the Charlie Chaplin Studios from 1966 to 1999, which The Jim Henson Company would later own.
References[]
- In Sesame Street Episode 1736, Oscar has Bob give Fluffy a trumpet lesson in order to join the band. When Bob asks "what band?", Oscar introduces him to Herb Elephant and the Yucatán Brass, represented by multiple elephant trunks with trumpets. The joke was repeated when the storyline was remade in Episode 2906.
- Oscar plays a record of Fats Alpert and the Tijuana Tom-Toms in Sesame Street Episode 2269; the name being an amalgamation of Alpert and Bill Cosby's animated character Fat Albert.