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Chipmunks music biography continued...

1958, the Chipmunks act began with recordings first brought to life in Bagdasarian's 1950s novelty recordings under the name David Seville and the Chipmunks. The voices of the group were all performed by Bagdasarian, who sped up the playback to create higher pitched, comical, squeaky voices. The novelty tune, "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)," was highly successful, selling more than 4 million copies in seven weeks, and it launched the careers of its chipmunk stars. It spent four weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart from December 22, 1958 to January 12, 1959. It also earned three Grammy Awards and a nomination for Record of the Year. At the height of its popularity, Bagdasarian and three chipmunk hand-puppets appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, lip-synching the song. "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. The success of the novelty recordings also led directly to a cartoon series, "The Alvin Show," which ran from 1961-1962. The final Chipmunks album in their original incarnation, The Chipmunks Go to the Movies, was released in 1969.



After the death of Ross Bagdasarian in 1972 from a heart attack, the Chipmunks' careers stalled until NBC showed interest in the original show (the network carried Saturday morning reruns of The Alvin Show as a midseason replacement in 1979) and the following year, Excelsior Records released a new album of contemporary songs performed by the Chipmunks. The new album — Chipmunk Punk — featured Bagdasarian's son, Ross Bagdasarian Jr., doing the voices of the characters. This, in turn led to another television cartoon series, entitled Alvin and the Chipmunks, which ran from 1983-1990. Several Chipmunks movies followed and Bagdararian Jr. continued to record the threesome's albums, the latest entitled, Undeniable. Indeed, the Chipmunks mass appeal over the years has been completely undeniable.