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Chipmunk Punk

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1980 studio album by The Chipmunks
Chipmunk Punk
Studio album by The Chipmunks
ReleasedJune 1980 (1980-06)
RecordedSeptember 1979–April 1980
GenreRock
New wave
Novelty
Length29:27
LabelMercury (UK)
Excelsior (later Intersound International)
MCA (1990 reissue) (US)
Geffen (2005 reissue) (US)
ProducerSteve Vining
The Chipmunks chronology
The Chipmunks Go to the Movies
(1969) 		Chipmunk Punk
(1980) 		Urban Chipmunk
(1981)
Singles from Chipmunk Punk
  1. "Call Me"/"Refugee"
    Released: 1980

Chipmunk Punk is an album by the Chipmunks, as well as being the first album released by Ross Bagdasarian Jr., after he took over the voices of the Chipmunks after the death of his father in 1972. Despite the title of the album, none of the songs listed are considered to be in the style of real punk rock music. It was released in June 1980 (see 1980 in music). The album peaked at No. 34 on the Billboard 200. It was certified gold by the RIAA on October 14, 1980, becoming the Chipmunks' first gold record. In 2005, it was re-released on CD, although the CD was only available through the official Chipmunks website. In Canada, the album reached No. 59.

History

The inspiration for the album came when KMET DJ Chuck Taylor played the 12″ version of the Blondie song "Call Me" at 45 instead of 331⁄3 RPM and announced, in jest, that it was the Chipmunks' latest single. So many requests came for this "new" Chipmunks release, that Ross Bagdasarian Jr. and his collaborator Steve Vining rushed to record this album.

In addition to "Call Me," the album featured covers of songs by The Knack ("My Sharona," "Good Girls Don't," "Frustrated"), The Cars ("Let's Go"), Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers ("Refugee"), Billy Joel ("You May Be Right"), Queen ("Crazy Little Thing Called Love"), and Linda Ronstadt ("How Do I Make You").

Chipmunk Punk marked the rebirth of the Chipmunk franchise. It was the first new Chipmunk release since 1969's The Chipmunks Go to the Movies. Previous Chipmunk activity ceased in 1972 with the untimely death of franchise creator/producer Ross Bagdasarian Sr. (also known as David Seville) from a heart attack.

Though this release followed a long dormancy record-wise, the characters had returned to public view via Saturday morning repeats of the cartoon series The Alvin Show on NBC in 1979. The album sparked a second run of the characters and led to another Saturday morning cartoon series, Alvin and the Chipmunks, which began in 1983 and also aired on NBC.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic

The album met mixed critical reviews. Doug Stone of Allmusic called it "good clean fun" which "if nothing else...provides a portrait of a prime period in radio," but Rolling Stone panned it, describing the album as a symptom of corporate greed in the world of television animation. Peter Goddard of the Toronto Star gave the album two stars, writing, "if you want to go out and buy this ridiculous album, go ahead. But remember this: if you do, you'll just encourage Frankie Avalon to come out of retirement. And don’t say I didn’t warn you." Bill Provich of the Ottawa Citizen wrote:

WARNING: This album should have been a single.

For those who don't remember The Chipmunks, beware, though the selections offered here may be appealing a cross-section of modern hits ranging from the Knack's My Sharona to Billy Joel's You May Be Right you may find the vocals strange.

Back in the early '60s, the Chipmunks surfaced as the brainchild of David Seville who recorded novelty records featuring, doctored vocals' (mostly speeded up) to simulate the voices of three cute chipmunks, Simon, Theodore and the ever delinquent Alvin. It was cute at the time.

Now, perhaps any of these cuts including Linda Ronstadt's hit How Do I Make You, Tom Petty's Refugee, The Cars' Let's Go, Blondie's Call Me and Queen's Crazy Little Thing Called Love would have been a chuckle as a novelty single but as a collection they wear pretty thin pretty quickly.

Save your money.

Gus Walker of The Arizona Republic had this to say about the record:

They say recording the Chipmunk octave isn't easy.

First, you slow down the instrumental track to half speed, then hold each vocal note twice as long.

By the end of a session the singers are pooped. Well, I'm here to say that listening to the Chipmunks sing punk is also a chore.

By the end of one song that fake falsetto is harder on the nerves than a dentist's drill.

Wayne Robins of Newsday wrote that it was:

A marketing executive's stroke of genius, reviving the imprint of Simon, Theodore and Alvin, who sang hits such as "The Chipmunk Song" and "Alvin's Harmonica" in the late 1950s. This time, the Chipmunks do their own versions of corporate new wave, with helium-toned voices chirping the words to hits by the Cars, the Knack, Billy Joel, Tom Petty and others. Heard for the first time on the car radio, the joke is funny. At home on the turntable, and listened to more than once, the joke gets thin. But kids will love this, even though they may think it's "The Bee Gees Sing the Top 10."

Most reviews of Chipmunk Punk, even those that were positive, criticized the track listing as featuring comparatively little punk rock in favor of more commercial pop rock and new wave music of the era. In 1994, comedy punk band The Radioactive Chicken Heads recorded a cover of Suicidal Tendencies' "Institutionalized" in the style of Alvin and the Chipmunks specifically due to lead singer Carrot Topp's dissatisfaction with the song choices on Chipmunk Punk.

The album received mixed-to-negative reviews in the United Kingdom. Smash Hits wrote, "we feel a duty to warn you of an album that has recently wormed its way into the racks of your local discerie, a phonographic item entitled 'Chipmunk Punk' by (you guessed it) The Chipmunks. Since their original emergence in The Fifties, this trio of furry dopey looking crltters—Alvin, Simon end Theodore—have squeaked their high-pitched way into the hearts of ell right thinking four-year-olds vie children's radio programmes on both sides of the Atlantic. Their return from retirement is, however, ill-advised es "Chipmunk Punk" shows. For starters, it doesn't have an awful lot to do with punk, consisting as it does of various screeching cover versions of tunes made famous by The Knack, Tom Petty, Blondie and Queen(?). The general consensus of opinion around here Is that the band have never quite recaptured the bite and edge that they had before making their first million. Alvin still sings well but somehow you can tell that his heart isn't in it anymore." While a critic for the Somerset Standard called it "a fun record", James Belsey of the Bristol Post called it "humourless" and "silly".

In 2015, Canadian musician Brian Borcherdt posted recordings of the album on Soundcloud which slowed down the recordings to 16 revolutions per minute, and titled the project "Chipmunks on 16 Speed". Chris Dart of The A.V. Club described the resulting recordings as sounding like sludge metal.

Track listing

Vinyl/cassette

Track listing per AllMusic.

Side one

  1. "Let's Go" (Ric Ocasek) – 3:35
  2. "Good Girls Don't" (Doug Fieger) – 3:13
  3. "How Do I Make You" (Billy Steinberg) – 2:23
  4. "Refugee" (Tom Petty, Mike Campbell) – 3:07
  5. "Frustrated" (Berton Averre, Doug Fieger) – 2:54

Side two

  1. "Call Me" (Debbie Harry, Giorgio Moroder) – 3:11
  2. "You May Be Right" (Billy Joel) – 4:03
  3. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" (Freddie Mercury) – 2:39
  4. "My Sharona" (Berton Averre, Doug Fieger) – 4:03

CD

  1. "Call Me" (Debbie Harry, Giorgio Moroder) – 3:11
  2. "Refugee" (Tom Petty, Mike Campbell) – 3:07
  3. "Frustrated" (Berton Averre, Doug Fieger) – 2:54
  4. "You May Be Right" (Billy Joel) – 4:03
  5. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" (Freddie Mercury) – 2:47
  6. "My Sharona" (Berton Averre, Doug Fieger) – 4:03
  7. "How Do I Make You...?" (Billy Steinberg) – 2:23
  8. "Good Girls Don't" (Doug Fieger) – 3:13
  9. "Let's Go" (Ric Ocasek) – 3:35

Personnel

Musicians

Production

2005 CD Edition credits

  • Janice Karman: Reissue producer
  • Spencer Chrislu: Digital remastering

References

  1. discogs.com "Call Me"/"Refugee" single
  2. "RPM Top 100 Albums - September 13, 1980" (PDF).
  3. ^ Stone, Doug. Chipmunk Punk at AllMusic. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  4. Goddard, Peter (July 26, 1980). "And now here's punk sung by a chipmunk". Toronto Star. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  5. Provick, Bill (August 1, 1980). "Mad's movie music makes sense". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  6. Walker, Gus (July 27, 1980). "Chipmunk punk is a lot of junk". The Arizona Republic. Phoenix, Arizona, United States. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  7. Robins, Wayne (August 10, 1980). "RECORD CAPSULES". Newsday. Long Island, New York, United States. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  8. Zaken, Marc (August 3, 1980). "The Chipmunks are back and they're rolling with some punk". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky, United States. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  9. "THE ORIGINAL NUTTY BOYS" (PDF). Smash Hits. London, England, United Kingdom: EMAP Metro. January 22, 1981. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  10. "Try a record or a cassette". Somerset Standard. November 28, 1980. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  11. Belsey, James (January 3, 1981). "Elvis will be the main attraction". Bristol Post. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  12. "Behold The Sludgy Post-Punk Doom Of Slowed-Down Alvin & The Chipmunks Songs". TheMusic.com.au. November 3, 2015. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  13. "The slowed-down Chipmunks are both brilliant and terrifying". The AV Club. November 2, 2015. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
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