Stuff It Alvin and the Chipmunks shirt

In 1958, Ross Bagdasarian (better known by his stage name, “Dave Seville”) began experimenting with multi-speed recording to create funny, high pitched sounding voices which he could incorporate into songs.  His first musical creation, “Witch Doctor” was a big success, selling over one million copies. Soon after, Bagdasarian was asked to write another song with the same novelty flair.  And “The Chipmunk Song” (“Christmas Don’t Be Late”) was born. 

Recording the song at half-speed and playing it back at normal speed, his idea was to use the squeaky singing as voices for animal characters.  He soon decided on chipmunks, and named the three chipmunk brothers Alvin, Simon, and Theodore—after Si Waronker, Ted Keep, and Al Bennett, three of the record executives for Liberty Records.  He even gave them different personalities; Simon was the brainy one, Theodore the naive one, and Alvin the spunky, impulsive one who finds trouble wherever he goes. Of course, Alvin’s charming personality led to his tremendous stardom. Bagdasarian’s character Dave was the boys mentor and friend.

And the concept worked!  Soon stores were selling out of copies of “The Chipmunk Song” everywhere.  It became so popular that Liberty Records had difficulty keeping up with the demand. It didn’t take long for the Christmas tune to reach the top of the charts, and Alvin and the Chipmunks even made an appearance in puppet-form on The Ed Sullivan Show.  Before long, stores filled with Chipmunk dolls, jewelry, key chains, t-shirts, comic books and a wide array of other items featuring the furry trio. Other Chipmunk records such as Alvin’s Harmonica, Let’s Sing with the Chipmunks, and Alvin for President followed.

In October of 1961, the Chipmunks underwent a makeover—they were now cartoons! The Alvin Show featured the brothers as cute, friendly little guys, a drastic transformation from their previous “realistic” depiction.  Several new characters were added to the mix, including “Stanley the Eagle,” “Mrs. Frumpington”, and “Clyde Crashcup”.

After Bagdasarian died in 1972, his son Ross Jr. continued the Chipmunk phenomenon.  Reruns of The Alvin Show aired on NBC from 1979 to 1980, and in 1983, a new Chipmunk series was born. Alvin and the Chipmunks gave the three brothers a more modern look, and even introduced three girl counterparts—Britney, Eleanor, and Janette, also known as “The Chipettes”. The show continued to be successful, remaining on the network until 1991. In more recent years, they have appeared in animated features, and a number of nostalgic shirts, socks, tote bags, and other Chipmunk items have been released.