{"id":4104,"date":"2012-11-21T05:40:12","date_gmt":"2012-11-21T13:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/?p=4104"},"modified":"2012-11-20T03:45:17","modified_gmt":"2012-11-20T11:45:17","slug":"how-did-a-disc-jockeys-joke-inadvertently-lead-to-an-alvin-and-the-chipmunks-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2012\/11\/21\/how-did-a-disc-jockeys-joke-inadvertently-lead-to-an-alvin-and-the-chipmunks-comeback\/","title":{"rendered":"How Did a Disc Jockey’s Joke Inadvertently Lead to an Alvin and the Chipmunks Comeback?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about music and whether they are true or false. Click here<\/a> to view an archive of the music urban legends featured so far.<\/p>\n

MUSIC URBAN LEGEND<\/span><\/u>: Alvin and the Chipmunks made a comeback in 1980 based on a joke by a New York disc jockey.<\/p>\n

The origins of Alvin and the Chipmunks go back to early 1958, when Rostom “Ross” Bagdasarian, an aspiring actor and singer (who had been in some plays and films and also had a novelty hit in the mid 50s called “The Trouble With Harry”) used experimentation with tape speeds to record his #1 hit (another novelty record) called “The Witch Doctor” under the stage name David Seville.<\/p>\n

You know the one, “Oo ee, oo ah ah, ting tang, walla walla bing bang”<\/p>\n

Later in 1958, Bagdasarian used the same technology to create “The Chipmunks,” and he had his second #1 hit, the popular Christmas tune, “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late),” also as David Seville (although I believe he doesn’t even list himself on the record at all, just the Chipmunks).<\/p>\n