“The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)“ is a novelty Christmas song written by David Seville in 1958…..as Seville sang and recorded the song….varying the tape speeds to produce “high-pitched chipmunk voices….but the recording credits the vocals to The Chipmunks….who were a fictitious singing group of chipmunks named Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. The song won three Grammy Awards in 1958 for Best Comedy Performance, Best Children’s Recording and Best Engineered Record (non-classical).
The song was very successful while reaching # 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles chart….which became The Chipmunks’ first and only….as well as David Seville’s 2nd and final # 1 single….which has the distinction of being the only Christmas record to reach # 1 on the same chart….as the single sold 4.5 million copies in seven weeks. Before the song’s success, The Chipmunk Song was featured on American Bandstand’s “Rate-A-Record” segment and received the lowest possible rating of 35 across the board….then between 1958 and 1962….the single managed to re-enter the Hot 100 by peaking at # 41 in 1958….# 45 in 1960….and # 39 in 1962. The song managed to chart on the Hot Digital Songs for the 1st time in 2005….while peaking at # 35 on that chart….as The Chipmunk Song is the last Christmas/holiday song to reach # 1 on any US singles record chart totaling performance of all available records.
