| The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) | |
| Cover: | Single_The_Chipmunks-The_Chipmunk_Song_cover.JPG |
| Caption: | Picture sleeve of 1959 reissue single by Liberty Records (F-55250) |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Alvin and the Chipmunks and David Seville |
| Album: | Let's All Sing with The Chipmunks |
| Released: | November 17, 1958 source (Billboard 100 Edition Nov 17th 1958. Earliest Mention) |
| Recorded: | October 31, 1958 |
| Length: |
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| Label: | Liberty F-55168 Liberty F-55250 |
| Producer: | Ross Bagdasarian |
| Prev Title: | The Bird on My Head |
| Prev Year: | 1958 |
| Next Title: | Alvin's Harmonica |
| Next Year: | 1959 |
"The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" is a 1958 novelty Christmas song written and recorded by Ross Bagdasarian (under the stage name of David Seville). 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 and was nominated for Record of the Year in the 1st Annual Grammy Awards.[3]
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 named after Liberty Records executives.[4] In the song, the chipmunks Alvin, Simon, and Theodore express their lack of patience for the arrival of Christmas Day. "The Chipmunk Song" has been a staple on the Billboard charts and saved Liberty Records from near-bankruptcy.[5] The song has been featured in many movies and television shows, including a prominent appearance in the successful 2007 live-action film Alvin and the Chipmunks. It helped launch the multimillion-dollar Alvin and the Chipmunks brand and has been consistently ranked among the greatest Christmas songs of all time.[6] [7] [8] [9]
See main article: Witch Doctor (song). 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 recording his own voice which was sung slowly but recorded at half speed on the tape recorder, then played back at normal speed, thereby creating a high-pitched squeaky voice.[10] [11] [12] The song was a hit, holding number one for three weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 chart,[13] [14] ranked by Billboard as the No. 4 song for 1958.[15]
After the song’s success, Seville 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).[16] [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,[21] eventually selling 12 million copies.[22] Before the song's success, "The Chipmunk Song" was featured on American Bandstands "Rate-A-Record" segment and received the lowest possible rating of 35 across the board.[23] It spent four weeks at Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart[24] [25] [26] 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 and performed the song.[27] "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 was 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.[28] [29] In 1958, it won Grammy Awards for Best Comedy Performance, Best Children's Recording,[30] [31] and Best Engineered Record (non-classical).[32] [33] [34] [35]
The song was certified Gold by the RIAA as one of the best-selling physical Christmas singles in the United States.[36] 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) , 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"[37] and Trans-Siberian Orchestra's 1996 track "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24").[38]
The song is included in Look Who's Talking Now! (1993),[39] Donnie Brasco (1997),[40] [41] an episode of The King of Queens (1998)[42] and The Fate of the Furious (2017).[43] Bob Rivers released a parody of the song for his 2000 Christmas album Chipmunks Roasting on an Open Fire.[44] Norah Jones recorded a cover of the song for her 2021 Christmas album, I Dream of Christmas.