Christmas with the Munks

I have this album by comedian Bob Rivers from some years ago. He is known for his “twisted” Christmas songs and this CD is made up of titles like Santa Claus Is Foolin’ Around, Who Put The Stomp, Flu Ride and Chipmunks Roasting On An Open Fire. This one is a parody of The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire).

Now the rodents roasting could be any chipmunk or two. Might be Disney’s Chip and Dale, for that matter. But because of their famous Christmas with the Chipmunks album, with the phenomenal The Chipmunks Song, the thing that comes to mind instantly is that Alvin, Simon and Theodore are the chipmunks that Rivers is roasting. 

Although incorrigible at times, the last thing that a lot of us would want is to see Alvin and his brothers being roasted. I guess this is because, for some strange reason, the characters created by Ross Bagdasarian Sr., have become more real than others. In fact, I admit there was a point in my life when I did entertain the idea that chipmunks could sing. I am sure a lot of kids over the years probably also did.

It was way back in the late ’50s when Bagdasarian was experimenting with the speed of a tape recorded. He found out that if he recorded his voice on slow speed and then played it back on fast, the vocals he got sounded something like little animals singing. Then one day while driving on the highway, a chipmunk crossed the road, stopped in front of his car and then rose up on its haunches as though to challenge him. That chipmunk became the inspiration for the naughty Alvin. He soon got two brothers, Simon and Theodore.

Christmas entered the picture when Bagdasarian, who was also responsible for the hit novelty tune Witch Doctor, composed The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late) in the summer of 1958. Although the Christmas holidays were still months away, it became the fastest-selling single of the time, with 4.5 million copies sold in less than two months and even went on to win three Grammy Awards.

A whole album soon followed. Although the songs were short with very basic arrangements, the infectious charm of the Munks vocals made the LP Christmas With The Chipmunks a huge hit. It had the boys or chipmunks singing in their high-speed style carols like (All I Want For Christmas Is) My Two Front Teeth, Jingle Bells, Frosty The Snowman Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Night Before Christmas, Silver Bells, White Christmas and We Wish You A Merry Christmas.

The Chipmunk Song and the album Christmas With The Chipmunks are now considered pop classics. Lucky you if you kept the original album. These are also the bases for the continued success of the Chipmunks during the past, would you believe? It has been 50 years. There are Chipmunks books, games, clothes, TV shows, etc. And after the buck-toothed threesome crossed over to big-screen stardom four years ago, they have become even bigger stars, most particularly in the music department.

 Since the Munks started out as singers, they were made to become pop stars in the Chipmunk flicks. Of course, the music plays an important part of the plot. The present formula for the movie soundtrack is for the Munks to record their own versions of current hits. There is not really much to do with this job.

Just take any popular song and then have them recorded Chipmunk style. Nothing new I admit, but the kids love them and absolutely adore hearing them sing familiar tunes. As for those old enough to remember that first album, hearing them sing again is like feeling or smelling the Christmas from one’s childhood again. They get to sing again in the upcoming film Alvin And The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked.

This is in adventure mode. The Munks and their female counterparts, the Chipettes with their “Dad” Dave, are on their way to a music festival when they are shipwrecked. The result is a wacky adventure on an island. Nice that they get to be like Lost or Castaway and bad Uncle Ian is back with more evil devices to get his hands on the little pop stars.

As for the songs, these are now available in the soundtrack album with a wacky cover of Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO leading the line-up. Also included are Bad Romance, Trouble, Whip My Hair, Vacation, Say Hey Firework, Club Can’t Handle Me and others. Very good but since this movie was made for the Christmas holidays, it would have been nice if they had included Christmas Don’t Be Late.