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:: Little Tin Soldier and Little Toy Drum ::

:: Glow Worm ::

:: Alvin's Harmonica ::

:: I've Been Working on the Railroad ::


One of the earliest records I remember owning was Chipmunk Punk, and I’m pretty sure its grooves were destroyed by repeated spins on my Fisher Price record player. My folks bought it for me, and at the same time gave my sister Urban Chipmunk. We competed a lot over whose Chipmunk album got played. I didn’t want to hear them singing Kenny Rogers covers, I wanted to rock my six year old self out to their version of Tom Petty’s “Refugee.” Actually, now that I’m looking at the track-listing for Urban Chipmunk, I’d love to hear it again.

Back in the sixties, Chipmunks rip-off artists, The Grasshoppers, existed on budget labels for parents who were too cheap to buy the real thing for their kids, or were smart enough to know their kids wouldn’t give a shit and be able to tell the difference anyway. Instead of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore, we’ve got Dennis, Archie and Ricky, and they’re just as rascally and mischievous as their furry counterparts. They exist to irritate, as well as sing for, their caretaker/manager, Eddie Maynard, who scolds them an awful lot like David Seville scolded his tree critters. The only real difference, besides species, is their choice of song – old timey, royalty-free standards, instead of the novelty pop songs of the Chipmunk act. Well, for the most part anyway. There are two copyrighted songs on this LP – “Chipmunk Song” and “Alvin’s Harmonica” – originally recorded by the Chipmunks. It’s actually a well-done and pretty fun two sides, though, you know, it ain’t no Chipmunk Punk. But then, what is?


Phil

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