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Remember This? ‘The Chipmunk Song’… #1 December 1958

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Eyes Of A Generation.com


Remember This? ‘The Chipmunk Song’… #1 December 1958

Did you know that David Seville was the stage name for Ross Bagdasarian? Bagdasarian was creator and voice of The Chipmunks. The year before he had a hit with ‘The Witch Doctor’…Oh e oo aha aha, ting tang walla walla bing bang, etc.

The tape machine Bagdasarian used to record the chipmunk sound on was a variable speed, Tape-O-Matic “Voice of Music” reel-to-reel recorder. The key words here are variable speed. People tried to emulate his sound, but without the variable speed function, you just couldn’t get there.

This song was #1 Christmas of 1958 and won two Grammys, one of which was for technology. This is the original version with some interesting video editing. Enjoy, share and sing along!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whY9MKlvisI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whY9MKlvisIMy 3rd fan made Chipmunk video featuring clips from various Chipmunks Christmas special episodes and shows where David Seville and The Chipmunks celebrate Ch…

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9 responses to “Remember This? ‘The Chipmunk Song’… #1 December 1958”

  1. Clark Humphrey

    Yes. The family had come to Calif. from Armenia to enter the wine biz. He spent his last years running Chipmunk licensing and the family vineyards.

  2. Mark Heller

    Grape farmer from Fresno, Jerry Lane. I’m not convinced it was a Tape-O-Matic, as Frank Thorn, who produced a lot of stuff at Liberty told me he (Seville) messed with athletic tape on the capstan shaft, to get the speeds he needed….I could swear Frank told me they were Ampex units.

  3. Jerry Lane

    Originally from Fresno. He was the sad piano player in Rear Window. On a cross country drive, he and William Saroyan wrote Rosemary Clooney’s novelty hot “Come on a’ My House.”

  4. Frank Youngwerth

    Gene Carroll, had done the same thing ten years earlier in the Cleveland market. He produced some records with a similar sound, the artists were called The Animals. Same sound.

  5. Gary Donahue

    I remember driving my family crazy playing this song and singing it when I was a kid. Now when I hear it, it drives me crazy too 🙂

  6. Dennis Degan

    I coulda told you that Bagdasarian used the name ‘David Seville’ as his stage name. I guess ‘Bagdasarian’ was too hard to pronounce (I never had any trouble with it).

  7. Glenn Mack

    A very funny parody.

    http://youtu.be/ja6xjkMJjyw

  8. Bob Hollis

    Never hear this on the radio anymore. Now it’s 100 bland versions of Holly Jolly Christmas, starting on the first week of November. Here’s the original version:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hAUWyp0qzs

  9. Clark Humphrey

    The live clip, as I recall from seeing it in a retrospective special, was from Ed Sullivan. Bob Clampett designed the puppets; at the start of the bit, Alvin tries to bop Sullivan with a baseball bat.

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