In 1958, Ross Bagdasarian Sr. used the last $200 he had to purchase a state-of-the-art tape recorder and crafted the blend of sped-up vocals/standard-paced music for his novelty hit “Witch Doctor.” ...

From humble beginnings in a Christmas song to a billion-dollar global franchise, Alvin and the Chipmunks have come a long way. Ross Bagdasarian Sr. was struggling to make a hit song when he spent $190 ...

Exactly 65 years ago, Ross Bagdasarian‘s “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” — a novelty song featuring weird, high-pitched voices augmented in a recording studio — kicked off what would ...

John F. Kennedy was running for president in 1960 when he jotted off a memo to a songwriter. "I'm glad to know that I have at least one worthy opponent," the note said. Kennedy wasn't referring to ...

The persistence of “Alvin and the Chipmunks” as a cultural text is rather baffling. The mischievous singing rodents were created in 1958 for a novelty record, which makes them 57 years old. You’re ...

Alvin and the Chipmunks is a running joke that's lasted fifty years. It began as a novelty record featuring witch doctors in the 1950s (speeding up vocals to chipmunk squeakiness) and branched out ...

Which Alvin and the Chipmunks gift is best? Novelty act Alvin and the Chipmunks have been rocking out since they began recording their squeaky-voiced songs in 1958. Generations continue to enjoy the ...

More than hyperactive enough to engage small fry with microscopic attention spans, "Alvin and the Chipmunks" also has built-in nostalgia appeal for baby-boomer parents and grandparents willing to ...