I have been trying to do the #1 songs on Billboard in order but for this Christmas I was looking for Christmas song that was #1 on the charts. While Christmas songs have charted well in the past this time of year nothing by Sinatra, Crosby or anyone ever had a #1 song on Billboard. However the #1 song on the charts for this day in music history, December 22, 1958, made me want to skip for the 2nd time in a month. The #1 song that day was "The Chipmunk Song" by the Chipmunks and David Seville.
David Seville was really Ross Bagdasarian the brains behind the Chipmunks who wrote and produced the song. It started its run at #1 today for 4 straight weeks. Ross had a #1 song earlier in 1958 with the Witch Doctor. The speeded up voices on Witch Doctor had no name or identity on the song. It was after it was a hit that Ross had the idea for the Chipmunks.
The names of the chipmunks came from the names of executives at Liberty Records where he was under contract. Alvin was for Al Bennett who was president of the company. Simon was named after Al's partner Si Waronker and Theodore was named after Ted Keep the recording engineer.
The personality for Alvin was based on Ross' son Adam. Adam was always asking if it was Christmas yet starting in September. He figured if he was then other children probably were too.
The song went through three versions before the family approved. At one time it was titled "In A Village Park." The third version was the charm. In three weeks the song sold over 2,500,000 copies. It was the fastest selling song of 1958 and won three Grammy awards. They were Best Recording for Children, Best Comedy Performance and Best Engineered Record.
Ross and the Chipmunks were on a roll. In 1959 their song "Alvin's Harmonica" peaked at #3. In the fall of 1961 their own TV show called "The Alvin Show" premiered on CBS.
It only ran for 1 season but the repeats ran for 3 years on Saturday morning when the started it in June of 1962. In 1964 they release an album called The Chipmunks Sing the Beatles after Ross saw them on the Ed Sullivan show. In 1967 Ross retired the Chipmunks. He wanted to be known as serious songwriter again and not known for his novelty material.
Saddly Ross died of a heart attack in 1972. This major set back didn't stop the return of the Chipmunks. In 1980 a radio DJ accidentally played the Blondie song "Call Me" in a faster speed. When the song ended he realized his mistake and joked that it was the Chipmunks version. People took him seriously and began requesting the Chipmunks version. Soon Ross Bagdasarian Jr. and his wife Janice recorded a new Chipmunk album and called it Chipmunk Punk. Ross was the voice of Alvin, Simon and David Seville and Janice was Theodore. A follow up album was called Urban Chipmunk during the Urban Cowboy era of movies and music. The Chipmunks were on a role again with a series of live shows and a new Saturday morning show on NBC television in 1983.
Now they are trying for another comeback with a new movie that just came out with Jason Lee. Will a sequel a new album or cartoon series follow? Don't be surprised if all of them are released and meet with a lot of success.
Would Ross Sr. be happy with his creations continuing into the 21st century after he retired them in 1967? I think he would. I also think he would be just as happy to know that movie fans can see him play a serious musician in the Hitchcock film Rear Window. If you ever see the film you will notice one of Jimmy Stewart's neighbors is a musician and always playing the piano near his apartment window. That actor is Ross Bagdasarian Sr. As Paul Harvey would say, now you know the rest of the story.
No comments:
Post a Comment