Remember Alvin and the Chipmunks? “ALLLLLVIN!!!”

Actually, Alvin and the Chipmunks are a six-time Grammy Award winners! Their animated music group, which was created by Ross Bagdasarian in 1958, consists of three singing animated chipmunks: Alvin, the adorable but mischievous troublemaker, who, of course, was the star of the group; Simon, the tall, brainy character; and Theodore, the chubby and naive sweetie. These three personalities are managed by David Seville who brings them to life with fathering and sharing their secrets.

Here’s an interesting tidbit: The Chipmunks are named after the executives of their original record label, Liberty Records: Alvin Bennett (the president), Simon Waronker (the founder and owner), and Theodore Keep (the chief engineer). And, David Seville was Ross Bagdasarian’s stage name.

The characters were an unprecedented success, and the singing Chipmunks and their manager were given life in several animated cartoon series, using redrawn, anthropomorphic chipmunks, and eventually motion pictures.

Now, the fun details of this success story are told by Ross’ son on this website:http://www.chipmunks.com/history.php, which includes the fact that in the early 1950’s the family was down to their last $200 and his father took it and invested in a fancy tape recorder that allowed him to change tape speeds. As they say…the rest is history.

Personally, being born in 1950 - I am a first hand witness of the phenomenon that followed. :-P

In inventory, I have this vintage 33 1/2 RPM record, entitled “The Chipmunk Song.” It is actually recorded by The Grasshoppers and produced by Merry Records with the Merry Orchestra and includes other classics like Row, Row, Row Your Boat, I’ve Been Working on the Railroad, Red River Valley and many more. But, of course, it also serenades you with The Chipmunk Song. Does anyone know anything about this group, this producer or this record?

The Chipmunk Song

Is anyone an expert in vintage records? Do you collect them? And for fun…let us know if you REMEMBER Alvin and the Chipmunks original recordings!