The Bagdasarian Effect

Hey all, Ernie here with a fresh piece from David Buck, who isn’t really a holiday guy, but can find something to appreciate about the guy who created one of the most iconic novelty holiday songs of all time.

Today in Tedium: Have you ever accidentally played back a 33⅓ RPM record back at 45 RPM and just cracked up at now crazy the singer sounds? Of course you have! Tape effects and other forms of audio manipulation have been part of the creative process since the early days of recording, later being used by such rock luminaries as Todd Rundgren and Frank Zappa. In the 1950s, however, a certain group of singing chipmunks hit it big with a certain Christmas song we’ve all heard at least once. This song would lead to a long, popular and amazing run of media based on these three chipmunks, all because of one guy. Today’s Tedium is about a guy named Ross Bagdasarian—whom you may know better as an angry voice belonging to David Seville. Aaaaaaaalvinnn! — David @ Tedium

The record that gave David Seville a career.

The witch doctor taught him what to do

In 1957, Ross Bagdasarian had an idea. He’d had some bit parts in various films—a piano player in Rear Window, an officer in Viva Zapata, among others—but was struggling to make any waves in the world of songwriting. The story goes that Bagdasarian was down to his last $200 when he took a chance on purchasing a fancy tape recorder—one that could change the speed of the recording—for his songs. Playing around with the settings, he stumbled upon a technique that would change his life—something we here at Tedium like to call “The Bagdasarian Effect.”

The technique is simple—Bagdasarian recorded his own voice at half speed, then played it back normally. He didn’t just double the tape speed, he went the other direction! This technique was utilized on Bagdasarian’s “The Witch Doctor” along with another pre-Chipmunks recording, “Bird on my Head.”

Per a 1986 profile on The Dr. Demento Show, Bagdasarian chose the stage name David Seville based off of time he spent serving in the military in Spain. Though using the gimmick of speeding up one’s vocals wasn’t entirely original, he made it work. Dr. Demento puts it best when he says during that same profile that “It wasn’t entirely original, but it had never been used as effectively as on hot single from 1958, ‘The Witch Doctor.’”

Later, Bagdasarian combined his studio magic from previous records into a new idea, cooking up the idea of Alvin & the Chipmunks. Next thing everyone knew, Alvin, Simon and Theodore (who owe their namesakes to three Liberty Records executives that Bagdasarian knew) were born and the rest is Christmas history.

Ross Bagdasarian, a.k.a. David Seville, with a tape player, the device that made him famous.

David Seville, on the record

The runaway success of “The Chipmunk Song” seemed a golden opportunity for making more Chipmunks records. Several follow-up singles were released, exploring the trials and tribulations of David Seville as he attempts to raise his chipmunk children.

”Alvin’s Harmonica” arrived as a direct follow-up to the original “Chipmunk Song,” doing little to vary the style of the Chipmunks’ singing. The song did well on the Billboard charts—peaking at #3 in 1959—but was the last real chart success for Alvin and the Chipmunks. Perhaps because it sounds similar to its predecessor and doesn’t tread new territory, the song is destined to be one of the lesser known tunes from Alvin’s glory days. However, it did translate well to the small screen in the short-lived The Alvin Show and was not the last of the Chipmunks’ original songs.

In ”Alvin for President,” what begins as a basic melody with banal lyrics erupts into a full fledged campaign speech by none other than Alvin, seeking the office of the President. It’s hilariously irreverent and sort of lampoons an early 60s election, per the Dr. Demento profile. “Alvin’s Orchestra” sees Dave experiencing frustration and money woes over the expensive orchestra that the Chipmunks are misusing in probably one of the funniest, oft-overlooked Chipmunks songs.

”Japanese Banana” was an oddity in the Chipmunks ouvre, featuring a samisan player and some rather strange lyrics about cherries, rice and … well, bananas. It’s funny, but lacks the charm of previous Chipmunk originals. Then, there’s the magnificent “Alvin’s All-star Chipmunk Band,” consisting of a chorus of chipmunks singing a fun instrumental piece, resembling many of the Big Band era theme-songs popular around the time.

Later, albums began popping up, beginning with 1959’s Let’s all sing with the Chipmunks and followed by Sing Again with The Chipmunks and Around the World with The Chipmunks in 1960, The Alvin Show (1961), The Chipmunk Songbook (1962), two volumes of Christmas with The Chipmunks (1962 & 1963), The Chipmunks Sing the Beatles Hits (1964), The Chipmunks Sing with Children (1965), Chipmunks à Go-Go (1965), and 1969’s The Chipmunks Go to the Movies.

Though based around a gimmick, the songs themselves are of a high quality for the most part, something that Bagdasarian was adamant about. Per the April, 1963 issue of Billboard Magazine, Bagdasarian refused to allow shoddy merchandise—including his songs—to bear the faces of Alvin, Simon and Theodore.

Later albums like Chipmunk Punk (1980) and Urban Chipmunk (1981)—along with the 80s/90s cartoon version of the trio many of us probably grew up with—would come well after the original heyday of Alvin & the Chipmunks, but not before at least one television show made an effort to take Bagdasarian’s cartoon children into a visual medium.

Tedium’s four favorite David Seville songs that technically aren’t performed by tiny woodland creatures …

Full disclosure: there aren’t many David Seville songs that do not feature the Chipmunks in some way. However, there are quite a few places where the man behind our little rodent friends was responsible for some pretty amazing tunes. Here are a few of our favorites.

1. “Bird on my Head.” “I’m just sittin’ in a vacant lot, with a bird sittin’ on my head…” the song begins, followed by the lament of a “wicked, wicked, cruel cruel world.” The song is goofy, but poignant. Similar to “The Witch Doctor,” the bird in the song title is represented by the sped-up vocal while David Seville sings the main story.

2. “Witch Doctor.” Written by Thomas Kerry and performed by Ross as David Seville, this catchy tune is where everything began. The nonsense refrain of “Ooh Eeh Ooh Ah Ah Ting Tang Walla Walla Bing Bang” may sound crazy, but it was enough to rescue the struggling Liberty Records from an impending bankruptcy, in addition to leading Bagdasarian on the path to creating the ultra-successful Chipmunks.

3. “Come on-a my House.” A popular song, most notably performed by Rosemary Clooney in 1951, “Come on-a my House” was written by Ross Bagdasarian and author William Saroyan—who also happened to be Bagdasarian’s cousin—in 1939, though it wasn’t recorded for a full decade after. A version of the song exists where Bagdasarian sings lead, and it’s been covered too many times to successfully list. Above, you’ll find a fantastic cover version by the one and only Surf Punks, a band that carries the fun of the song quite aptly.

4. “The Trouble with Harry.” Released as single under the artist name Alfi & Harry, this song is a ton of jazz piano riffing by the titular Harry, underscored by an angry club owner yelling at him to play the right song. Bagdasarian shows off his voiceover chops—another primary aspect of the Chipmunks’ original songs—in this hilarious music skit.

Going nuts: The Chipmunks’ many imitators and parodies

Aside from a our purple people-eating friend up there, the Chipmunks were widely imitated, paid tribute and parodied.

Perhaps the best and most interesting parody of the Chipmunks were the jazz infused Nutty Squirrels. Releasing a singled entitle “Uh-Oh Parts 1 & 2,” in 1959, this group was essentially a jazz/swing version of The Chipmunks with an emphasis on scat singing.

Their eponymous album is a treasure trove of jazzy fun and worth a listen or three. Second only to the Nutty Squirrels are Shirley & Squirrelly, with their high-pitched hijinks lampooning the CB Radio craze of the 70s with “Hey Shirley, (this is Squirrelly)” from 1976.

Finally, it is perhaps worth mentioning Jonathan Coulton’s Thing-a-Week classic “Podsafe Christmas Song,” featuring sped up vocals of Adam Curry, CC Chapman, and Len and Nora from Jawbone, Jonathan’s instructions a la David Seville and plenty of singing in a loose parody/tribute of the Chipmunks classic, yearning for a Christmas song that’s safe to play on a podcast.

On a side note, I believe Coulton’s “Chiron Beta Prime” qualifies.