Yep, the Chipmunks were big. Sad, isn't it? ( I have the Chipmunks on my Ipod (chortle.))

I guess they are back with a new flick! This is after 50 years. Remarkable!

They sounded a lot like the Bee Gees, but they had more talent.

I like this trio just because the music brings back a lot of interesting memories, both good & bad. Errol used to have a 33 1/3 rpm album of theirs, and a record player where you could play it at half that speed. It suddenly became the voices of 3 ordinary-sounding grown men singing slowly. It was hilarious! Also, Alvin & the Chipmunks' most famous song, Please Christmas, Don't Be Late, was very popular when I was a first grader (Christmas was a much happier holiday for me back then). I loved hearing it on the radio. But along with the fond memories, I have a really bad one. It was also during that same Christmas break from school that a little girl in my class (whom I secretly admired) was tragically killed when her parents bought a new television for Christmas and were installing a large outdoor pole-type antenna. The antenna fell over and landed on her head, killing her. Whenever I hear that whimsical song around this time of year, I'm reminded of a happy childhood, but also of a tragedy that haunted me for many years.

Although I was quite young at the time I can remember when the Chipmonks first became popular in the late 1950s. David Seville (Ross Bagdasarian), who originally entered show business as an actor, co wrote a song called Come On-A My House in 1939. Recorded first by Kay Armen it became a huge hit for Rosemary Clooney in 1951. In the 1950s he continued to act in movies but began spending more time in the recording studio of Liberty Records writing and recording songs . To distinguish himself from his acting career he used the name David Seville when making records. He had a minor hit in 1956 with an instrumental called Armen's Theme and two novelty songs followed in 1957 and 1958 but they did not sell very well. It wasn't until later in 1958 that he would have a hit with the novelty song The Witch Doctor which demonstrated his early experimentation with tape speeds and high pitched voices that would eventually evolve into the Chipmonks. The song reached number one for 3 weeks during its 18 week run. Liberty Records gave him the green light to continue and in late 1958 he released The Chipmonk Song. In its first first five weeks it sold three and a half million copies and by December of that year it had reached number one. In February of 1959 he again made it into the top ten with the single Alvin's Harmonica. Several albums followed, some of them seasonal in theme and The Chipmonk Christmas song (Christmas Don't Be Late) is still played every year and is considered a Christmas standard in the same vein as Brenda Lee's Rocking Around The Christmas Tree. Chipmonk albums continued to sell until the mid 1960s and during the height of Beatlemania there was even a Chipmonks Sing The Beatles album. David Seville passed away in 1972 and in 1980 his son revived the Chipmonks and more albums followed. During the early days of his career the only people who had faith in Mr Seville were two record executives from Liberty Records; Simon Waronker, Alvin Bennett, and recording engineer Ted Keep. It was in gratitude to these three men that Seville named his chipmonks after them.

Unfunny attempt at comedy and one of the most irritating musical concepts ever puked out. But hey, these three were obviously a major influence on the Gibb Brothers. The brainchild of Ross Bagdasarian, one of the most untalented creatures ever to hang around Hollywood for what seemed like centuries. I always wanted the Chipmunks to guest star on The Roadrunner in hopes that Wily E. Coyote would end up having rodent fricasse for dinner.

I'd have loved to be at the meeting where someone said Hey, I've got an idea, how about three singing rodents with intensely high-pitched voices? Wouldn't that be great?

The worst singers in the solar system.

Is it horrible that I have always had such an affection for the Chipmunks? As silly as it sounds, I loved their singing the best. Sometimes downright annoying but always fun. Do you think Dave ever got tired of yelling, Alvin!?