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Decca will release the original motion picture soundtrack to ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS. The 16-track album will include brand-squeaky new recordings and classics from the forthcoming 20th Century Fox live action/CGI motion picture, "Alvin and The Chipmunks".
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ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS, a global phenomenon to generations of fans, becomes a live action/CGI motion picture event with a contemporary comic sensibility.
Click here for more...
Songwriter Dave Seville transforms singing chipmunks Alvin, Simon and Theodore into pop sensations - while the out-of-control trio lays waste to Dave's home, wreaks havoc with his career and turns Dave's once-orderly life upside-down.
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Decca will release the original motion picture soundtrack to ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS. The 16-track album will include brand-squeaky new recordings and classics from the forthcoming 20th Century Fox live action/CGI motion picture, "Alvin and The Chipmunks". The Chipmunks are back with their signature sound and modern takes on rock, pop, reggae and hip hop produced by Ali Dee (Mya, Shakira). Included among the 16 tracks are renditions of classics such as "Funkytown," "Witchdoctor," and "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)". Stand out new songs include "Get Munk'd," "Coast to Coast," "Follow Me Now," as well as a cover of the Top 40 hit "Bad Day."
A global phenomenon to generations of fans, Alvin and The Chipmunks have sold more than 43 million albums worldwide. The Grammy-winning ensemble has been a household name since 1958 when they first hit the charts with the #1 songs, "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" and "Witchdoctor." "The Chipmunk Song" went on to sell more than 4.4 million records in just 7 weeks of release. The Chipmunks have engaged audiences for decades with animated television shows, feature films, album releases and video games.
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ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS, a global phenomenon to generations of fans, becomes a live action/CGI motion picture event with a contemporary comic sensibility.
A HISTORY OF THE CHIPMUNKS
1955: Little Richard releases “Tutti Frutti.”
1956: Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show.
1957: Buddy Holly and the Crickets record “That’ll Be the Day” at Norman Petty’s studio in Clovis.
And on December 29, 1958, “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” began a 4-week reign at #1 on the Billboard singles chart. Can any other rock’n’roll band say that they’ve been doing it for almost 50 years? Let alone at twice the speed of everybody else? The soundtrack to the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks (starring Jason Lee and the voices Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney) is the latest, greatest effort from Alvin, Theodore and Simon, in collaboration with their longtime music guru David Seville. Never a nostalgic bunch, the trio puts their stamp on a diverse and modern set of rap, rock and pop inflected tracks, from the slammingly anthemic update of “The Chipmunk Song” and hip-hop remake of “Witch Doctor” to a definitively high-pitched version of Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day.” With 13 brand new cuts rounded out by three classic recordings, Alvin and the Chipmunks joins In Rainbows, Sky Blue Sky and Graduation on the list of 2007’s most unique thrilling albums.
An Oral History of Alvin and the Chipmunks
Before they were officially the Chipmunks, Alvin, Theodore and Simon sang the famous “oo-ee, oo-ah-ah, ting-tang, walla-walla, bing-bang” refrain on David Seville’s #1 hit single “Witch Doctor.”
David Seville
Producer/songwriter
Sam Phillips told me once about the moment that he first heard Jerry Lee with Carl Perkins – he immediately realized he had something bigger than a session man. That’s how it was for me with “Witch Doctor.” Human voices couldn’t make that kind of sound. As a producer, you hope to find that sort of talent at least once. Liberty signed them on the spot.
Greil Guralnick
Professor of Musicology and Culture Studies, Scirudaie University
Bobby Vee. Martin Denny. Johnny Burnette. There were a lot of brilliant acts on Liberty Records. But only one of them sold 4.5 million copies of their single in just seven weeks. The ones with fur…and I don’t mean Willie Nelson.
“The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late”) won three Grammy Awards in 1959.
David Seville
Three awards the first time out! It’s a feeling that I’ll never forget. Though the success did go to Alvin’s head a little.
Theodore
He made me sleep on the couch once for a month. Said he needed to use the other bedroom as storage space for hula hoops.
Simon
You know how it is. Alvin would play diva for a little while, Dave would drag him back into the studio, Alvin would make trouble for a little while more, and then the work began. It was their thing. I mean, I’m not a psychiatrist, but I think he needed to hear “AL-VIN!” to create.
From 1960-1969 the band released 11 albums, including the Chipmunks Sing the Beatles, and Chipmunks-a-Go-Go.
Greil Guralnick
What’s so inspiring about them is their ecumenicism. They did Christmas. They did the Beatles. They did “Downtown” and “Mr. Tambourine Man.” They performed with Canned Heat and Tina Turner.
Kermit the Frog
Muppets
I think I’m a pretty good songwriter, so I can croak through my own stuff. But Alvin, Theodore and Simon – they become the song. And Dave knew how to match them with material.
Greil Guralnick.
Detractors say that they’d be nothing without Dave, or the hit songs that they covered. I’ve never understood the argument to begin with. Was Ronnie nothing without Phil? Was Patsy nothing without Nelson Riddle? Interpretation and performance are their own art forms, and no other rodents ever did it better than the Chipmunks - regardless of what the Disney cultists say.
David Seville
The Mickey Incident (when Alvin shocked the world by bragging to a reporter that the Chipmunks were “bigger than Mickey Mouse”) was blown out of proportion by the media.
Alvin
Chipmunks just have better voices than mice. It’s not bragging if it’s true.
Simon
It’s funny how people forget that Mickey had promised to retire if the Chipmunks album sold more than his. Which it did. I still think the controversy is the reason we’re not in the Hall of Fame.
Greil Guralnick
That’s probably an exaggeration. The Rock Hall is just a little snobbish … wait, is Jann going to be reading this? Anyway, the process of consensus is inherently conservative, and thus skewed to mainstream pop and rock’n’roll. True innovators of less prestigious genres like heavy metal, prog and high-pitched cartoon singing often get left out.
Simon
We weren’t in it for the critical acclaim, but sure, it hurt a little. You might not be able to tell from looking at me, but I read a lot of newspapers and magazines. What Lou Reed never realized is that no grade at all is way worse than a C+. We were good enough for the Dean to reference, but we never got our own review.
Robert Christgau
Kraftwerk… synthesizes the innovations of Environments and David Seville & the Chipmunks… - The Village Voice, September 4, 1978.
From 1983-1990 the band starred in its second hit television series, and also continued to release records. Counting soundtracks and greatest-hits collections, the Chipmunks discography includes more than 40 albums.
Greil Guralnick
I have to say, the later work is equally inspired– sure, a guy like Prince does rock, new wave, and funk, but he never made a record quite like 1992’s Chipmunks in Low Places. And any old band might think to cover “My Sharona,” but not “Good Girls Don’t” (from 1980’s Chipmunk Punk). I think all discerning fans are pleased to see them make a comeback.
Clyde Crashcup
Inventor
I wouldn’t call this a comeback. Since I invented Soundscan in 1991 the Chipmunks catalogue has sold 3.5 million copies.
David Seville
It has been a little while. This record was actually Clyde’s idea. The music industry hired him to invent its anti-file sharing program. Foolproof stuff. He heard a lot of music in the lab, and told me that the world needed a new Chipmunks record more than ever.
Greil Guralnick
I don’t think I ever realized just how bad a “Bad Day” can be until I heard Alvin sing it.
Alvin Chipmunk
I relate to “Bad Day.” Totally. Great art is about honesty.
In addition to “Bad Day”, the new CD includes covers of the Platters’ “Only You” and Lipps, Inc.’s “Funkytown,”
Theodore
I’ve always said that there’s no F-U-N-K without M-U-N-K.
David Seville
After we cut “Only You” and the new version of “The Chipmunk Song,” Alvin and I had some creative disagreements. He said he wanted bring in other writers and musicians. Sure, I was a little hurt, but I also thought I could be objective enough to recognize it as another one of his harebrained schemes.
Alvin
I never understood why people kept comparing me to rabbits. Though, there was that one night at the Mansion… Anyway, Dave’s the man. But, y’know, if JT can work with Timbaland and Rick Rubin, why can’t the Chipmunks have more than one producer, yo? The results speak for themselves.
David Seville
It’s true. Everything turned out perfect. (Producer) Ali Dee really opened me up creatively to hip-hop. Getting to work on a song like “How We Roll,” I felt like Dylan going electric at the Newport Folk Festival.
David Seville
I know that every band in every bio ever says this about the new stuff. But I really think this is the best Chipmunks record yet. And I think Alvin agrees. Alvin?
Alvin
David Seville:
Alvin?
Alvin
David Seville
AL-VIN?!!!!!!!!
www.universalclassics.com/
www.alvinandthechipmunksmovie.com
www.myspace.com/alvinandthechipmunkssoundtrack
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Songwriter Dave Seville transforms singing chipmunks Alvin, Simon and Theodore into pop sensations - while the out-of-control trio lays waste to Dave's home, wreaks havoc with his career and turns Dave's once-orderly life upside-down. The film stars Jason Lee, David Cross, Cameron Richardson, Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney.
www.universalclassics.com/
www.alvinandthechipmunksmovie.com
www.myspace.com/alvinandthechipmunkssoundtrack
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1. Bad day
2. The Chipmunk Song - Original Mix
3. Follow Me Now
4. How we Roll
5. Witch Doctor
6. Come Get It
7. The Chipmunk Song - Rock Mix
8. Funkytown
9. Get you Goin'
10. Coast 2 Coast
11. Mess Around
12. Only You (And You Alone)
13. Ain't No Party
14. Get Munk'd
15. Witch Doctor - 1958 Recording
16. The Chipmunk Song - 1958 Recording
Jason Lee - David Seville
Ross Bagdasarian Jr. - Alvin / Simon (voice)
Janice Karman - Theodore (voice)
Don Tiffany - Don the Sound Engineer
David Cross - Ian
Cameron Richardson - Claire
Jane Lynch - Gail
Jordan Green - Obnoxious Kid
Allison Karman - Female Intern #1
Tiara Parker - Female Intern #2
Kira Verrastro - Female Intern #3
Directed by - Tim Hill
Writing credits
Jon Vitti - screenplay
Will McRobb - screenplay
Chris Viscardi - screenplay
Jon Vitti - story
Ross Bagdasarian - creator
Don Rhymer
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