Loading AI tools
1958 song composed by Ross Bagdasarian From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" is a novelty Christmas song written and recorded by Ross Bagdasarian (under the stage name of David Seville) in 1958. Bagdasarian sang the song, varying the tape speeds to produce high-pitched "chipmunk" voices, with the vocals credited to Alvin and the Chipmunks, Seville's cartoon virtual band[1] and later media franchise.[2] The song won three Grammy Awards in 1958, for Best Comedy Performance, Best Children's Recording, and Best Engineered Record (non-classical);[3] it was also nominated for Record of the Year.[4][5][6][7]
| "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Picture sleeve of 1959 reissue single by Liberty Records (F-55250) | ||||
| Single by Alvin and the Chipmunks and David Seville | ||||
| from the album Let's All Sing with The Chipmunks | ||||
| B-side |
| |||
| Released | November 17, 1958 source (Billboard 100 Edition Nov 17th 1958. Earliest Mention) | |||
| Recorded | October 31, 1958 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:21
| |||
| Label | Liberty F-55168 Liberty F-55250 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Ross Bagdasarian | |||
| Producer(s) | Ross Bagdasarian | |||
| Alvin and the Chipmunks and David Seville singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Alternate cover | ||||
 1961 reissue, utilizing animated makeovers for The Alvin Show | ||||
After the success of "Witch Doctor" in early 1958, Liberty Records asked Bagdasarian to create another successful novelty record. He then came up with three singing chipmunks who were named, as an inside joke, after executives at Liberty Records. The chipmunks were Alvin (named after Al Bennett), Simon (named after Simon Waronker), and Theodore (Ted Keep).[8][9][10][11] The song was their first official on-scene appearance. It saved Liberty Records from near-bankruptcy.[2]
In 1958, Ross Bagdasarian released a novelty song (as David Seville) about being unsuccessful at love until he found a witch doctor who told him how to woo his woman; the witch doctor responds in a high-pitched squeaky voice with a nonsense incantation which creates an earworm. Seville had bought a tape recorder, experimenting recording himself at different speeds to create a duet between him and the witch doctor. The voice of the witch doctor was in fact Seville's own voice, sung slowly but recorded at half speed on the tape recorder, then played back at normal speed, thereby speeding up the voice into a high-pitched squeaky one.[12][13][14] The song was a hit, holding number one for three weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 chart,[15][16] ranked by Billboard as the No. 4 song for 1958.[17]
One phrase in the chorus has Alvin wishing for a hula hoop, which was that year's hot new toy.[18][19][20] The novelty record was highly successful, selling 4.5 million copies in seven weeks.[9] It eventually sold 12 million copies.[21] Before the song's success, "The Chipmunk Song" was featured on American Bandstand's "Rate-A-Record" segment and received the lowest possible rating of 35 across the board.[22] It spent four weeks at Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart[23][24][25] from December 22, 1958, to January 12, 1959, succeeding "To Know Him Is to Love Him" at Number 1 on the same chart by the Teddy Bears, a pop group that featured Phil Spector. At the height of its popularity, Bagdasarian and three chipmunk hand-puppets appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, lip-synching the song. "The Chipmunk Song" appeared on the Chipmunks' debut album, Let's All Sing with the Chipmunks, in 1959, and was repeated on Christmas with the Chipmunks, released in 1962. The song also has been included on several compilation albums. It had the distinction of being the only Christmas record to reach No. 1 on the same chart until Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" did so 61 years later in 2019.
The song was certified Gold by the RIAA as one of the best-selling physical Christmas singles in the United States.[26] Between 1958 and 1962, the single re-entered the Hot 100 several times, peaking at No. 41 in 1958, No. 45 in 1960, and No. 39 in 1962. (Starting in 1963, Billboard would list recurrent Christmas songs on a separate chart.) The song charted on the Hot Digital Songs for the first time in 2005, peaking at No. 35. With the release and popularity of the live-action film Alvin and the Chipmunks in 2007, "The Chipmunk Song" re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 70. At the same time, a remixed version of the song that appears on the Chipmunks' 2007 album (and soundtrack to the film) Alvin and the Chipmunks: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, peaked at No. 66.
As of December 25, 2011, Nielsen SoundScan estimated total sales of two versions of the digital track by The Chipmunks at 867,000 downloads, placing it third on the list of all-time best-selling Christmas/holiday digital singles in SoundScan history (behind Mariah Carey's 1994 hit single "All I Want for Christmas Is You" and Trans-Siberian Orchestra's 1996 track "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24").[27]
The Chipmunk Song is a popular Christmas song that has been featured in movies and television, and has been a staple on the Billboard charts. The song was a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 when it was released in 1958, and re-entered the chart multiple times in the 1960s. It also appeared on the Holiday 100, where it peaked at number 26 in 2015. The song has been featured in many movies and television shows, including Look Who's Talking Now! (1993),[28] Donnie Brasco (1997),[29][30] The Fate of the Furious (2017),[31] and an episode of The King of Queens (1998).[32] Bob Rivers released a parody of the song for his 2000 Christmas album Chipmunks Roasting on an Open Fire.[33] The song was featured in the 2007 live-action film Alvin and the Chipmunks, and a remix of the song was created for the movie and entered the Hot 100. The song helped launch the multimillion-dollar Alvin and the Chipmunks brand. It is considered one of the most popular Christmas songs of all time.[9]
| No. | Title | Credited artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" (Ross Bagdasarian Sr.) | David Seville and The Chipmunks | 2:17 |
| 2. | "Almost Good" (Ross Bagdasarian Sr., Mark McIntyre) | The Music of David Seville | 2:02 |
| No. | Title | Credited artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" | David Seville and The Chipmunks | 2:17 |
| 2. | "Alvin's Harmonica" | David Seville and The Chipmunks | 2:39 |
All tracks are written by Ross Bagdasarian Sr.
| No. | Title | Credited artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" | Alvin, Simon and Theodore with David Seville | 2:17 |
| 2. | "Alvin's Harmonica" | Alvin, Simon and Theodore with David Seville | 2:39 |
All tracks are written by Ross Bagdasarian Sr.
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
