The Teddy Bears only stayed on top for 3 weeks before getting knocked down by something a bit more festive. Christmas time was fast approaching and the first broadcast from space wished the American public goodwill to men everywhere. It was time for some quality wholesome family holiday music.
As if placed by DJ Santa under the tree of Billboard Top Hits, The air waves number one earworm was now "The Chipmunk Song" by The Chipmunks with David Seville
The Chipmunks, also known as Dave Seville and The Chipmunks, or later known as Alvin and The Chipmunks was a novelty act started in 1958 by Ross Bagdasarian Sr. Ross played under the stage name David Seville and was the only real life member of the group. The three chipmunks were also played by Ross and then edited and layered in order to sound chipmunky. To many David Seville was the first time they heard of Ross, but he had already been in the game for some time now. After World War 2 Ross returned home and began acting in the play "The Time of Your Life", a play written by his cousin and well known playwright, William Saroyan. In 1951, Ross and William wrote a song for Rosemary Clooney titled "Come on-a My House" and in 1954, Ross Appeared in the Alfred Hitchcock film "Rear Window". Also under the name of Alfi and Harry, Ross had a minor hit in 1956 called "The Trouble With Harry". In early 1958 Ross created the song "Witch Doctor" as David Seville, which charted number one (Pre-Billboard Top 100) featuring high pitched vocals to portray the witch doctor. Hungry for another hit he then released a song titled "Bird on my Head" where the high pitched vocals were this time a bird singing. Ross then tweaked the format and made the characters chipmunks, originally only two named Simon and Funk, after Simon & Garfunkel.
"The Chipmunk Song" AKA "Christmas Don't Be Late" is the first David Seville song officially starring all three chipmunks. The story follows David conducting these three chipmunks, as if they were children, to sing a song about Christmas time. Much to Davids Dismay, The Chipmunks are too ADD and the song soon falls apart, mostly due to Alvin's inability to follow directions. Apply this format to every song and its still marketable to this day.