- The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)
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"The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" Single by The Chipmunks A-side The Chipmunks, Alvin, Theodore & Simon, with the music of David Seville - The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) B-side David Seville - Almost Good Released 1958 (U.S.) Format 7" Genre Christmas song Length 2:17 Label Liberty Records (F-55168) Writer(s) Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. (a.k.a. David Seville) Producer Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. (a.k.a. David Seville) "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" is a song written by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. (a.k.a. David Seville) in 1958. Although it was written and sung by Bagdasarian (in the form of a high-pitched chipmunk voice), the singing credits are given to The Chipmunks, a fictitious singing group consisting of three chipmunks by the names of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. The song won three Grammy Awards in 1958: Best Comedy Performance, Best Children's Recording, and Best Engineered Record (non-classical).[1]
Contents
Chart performance
The song was very successful, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles chart, becoming The Chipmunks' first (and only), as well as David Seville's second and final, #1 single. It has the distinction of being the only Christmas record to reach #1 on the same chart. The single sold 4.5 million copies in seven weeks, according to Ross Bagdasarian, Jr.[2] Ironically, 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.[3]
Between 1959 and 1962, the single managed to re-enter the Hot 100, peaking at #41 in 1959, #45 in 1960, and #39 in 1962. (Starting in 1963, Billboard would list re-current Christmas songs on a separate chart.) The song managed to chart on the Hot Digital Songs for the first time in 2005, peaking at #35 on that chart.
"The Chipmunk Song" is the last Christmas song to reach #1 on any US single record chart totaling performance of all available records.
With the release and popularity of the film Alvin and the Chipmunks in December 2007, "The Chipmunk Song" re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #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 #66 and was credited as "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) (2007 Version)".
Adaptation in other media
The song has been adapted in The Alvin Show as one of its musical segments. The short depicts Alvin looking through various presents to find a hula hoop, even as he reluctantly sings along with the other Chipmunks. At the end of the song, Seville rewards Simon and Theodore with toy planes and Alvin with his hula hoop. The subsequent argument about singing the song again ends abruptly with their Christmas tree falling over, and Seville and the Chipmunks emerge from the mess to wish the viewers a merry Christmas.
The song was featured in A Chipmunk Christmas. A depressed Alvin sings along flatly at first (much like the 1958 original), but then leaves the studio to give away his harmonica to a sick boy. As Seville starts to resume recording the song without Alvin, Alvin returns in the nick of time to sing the song with the others.
The song was featured in the 1980s and 1990s version of Alvin and the Chipmunks, in the episode "Merry Christmas, Mr. Carroll." In that version, Alvin is taken by Dave (as the Spirit of Christmas Past) to his old house, a cabin lodge where he saw Dave and younger versions of himself, Simon and Theodore. There, it was revealed that Dave wrote the song (called "The Christmas Song" in this episode), because it was inspired by the gifts that the young Chipmunks gave him (which was an eraser, a pencil and a piece of paper).
The song was featured in the film Alvin and the Chipmunks. There were multiple versions of the song in that film, the original with Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.'s voice, a new one with Jason Lee's voice as David Seville, and a rock mix.
The original recording has been used in the feature films, Donnie Brasco (1997) and Almost Famous (2000).
It can also be found on the 2-disc Christmas compilation album Now That's What I Call Christmas! 4.
Different versions
In most subsequent releases since the song's original release, the first verse on the original recording has been re-recorded, sounding more exaggerated than the original release, which contained "Almost Good" as the flip side. There is also a version with the Chipmunks and rock group Canned Heat which was first issued as a single in 1968, which is a bonus track on the 2007 re-release of the Chipmunks' first Christmas album, Christmas with The Chipmunks, this version is the official remix of the original version of the song. On the Solid Gold Chipmunks: 30th Anniversary Edition greatest hits album (1988), this song appears, but with an altered bridge and ending. Instead of Dave yelling at Alvin for how flat he is in the first verse, Alvin instead appeals that he has asked for the hula-hoop for years but has never gotten it. Dave answers by telling him to finish the song, and they'll discuss it later. After they finish, Dave tells Alvin that something came in for him. It s the hula-hoop that he has been asking for, and the song fades out with Alvin now rattling off a long list of what else he desires for Christmas. The Solid Gold Chipmunks album, Here's Looking at Me album, and The Chipmunk's 35th Birthday Party (1993) are currently the only known albums that contains this version. There are two versions of the song that both feature Kenny G on the album A Very Merry Chipmunk (1995), that features a more jazz version of the song with Kenny G playing the saxophone during the song, the first is the long version with Alvin complaining about Kenny G and his success as a jazz saxophone player and him helping Alvin to learn to play the sax, the second version called "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) (Reprise)" is the first version but with the talking removed and just the song with Kenny G playing the sax and the Chipmunks singing the song. There was also a version with the Chipmunks and CCM singer, Jaci Velasquez in which Alvin fell in love with Jaci and changed the line "Hula Hoop" into "Date With You".
On the album Disney's Merry Christmas Carols, Chip 'n' Dale sing "The Chipmunk Song" with Donald Duck in the background.
In 2008, Rosie Thomas released A Very Rosie Christmas, which featured a slower tempo contemplative rendering of "Christmas Don’t Be Late". Christian rock band Jars of Clay did a rendition of the song during the last night of the Love Came Down Tour '08 event.[citation needed]
See also
- List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1958 (U.S.)
References
- ^ O'Neil, Tom (4 May 2009). "Today in 1959: First Grammy Awards handed out". Los Angeles Times. http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2009/05/today-in-1959-first-grammy-awards-handed-out-.html. Retrieved 29 Nov. 2009.
- ^ http://www.chipmunks.com/ History section
- ^ Clark, Dick; Robinson, Richard (1976). Rock, Roll and Remember. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company.
Categories:- 1958 songs
- Alvin and the Chipmunks songs
- Christmas songs
- Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
- Songs written by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.
- Novelty songs
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