# Are there people who enjoy listening to Alvin and the Chipmunks for musical value? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 26, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-people-who-enjoy-listening-to-alvin-and-the-chipmunks-for-musical-value/716043 "2015-03-26T18:07:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-people-who-enjoy-listening-to-alvin-and-the-chipmunks-for-musical-value/716043/21 "2015-03-28T00:09:40Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > . . . And the “With Children” tape had a lot of “standards” I first heard sung by the Chipmunks, like “Rag Mop” and “Tonight You Belong To Me”. . . . Blasphemy! **Rag Mop** is supposed to be sung by Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-people-who-enjoy-listening-to-alvin-and-the-chipmunks-for-musical-value/716043/22 "2015-03-28T00:39:14Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Blasphemy! **Rag Mop** is supposed to be sung by Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent. Double blasphemy! It’s RAGG MOPP. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-people-who-enjoy-listening-to-alvin-and-the-chipmunks-for-musical-value/716043/23 "2015-03-28T02:24:07Z")
Based on your definition, I guess I qualify. It’s not my goto music or anything, but when I listen to the songs I listen to, it’s never due to finding them amusing or funny. I like the tight, straight high harmonies, without any of them being backup singers. There are some female only groups in the '60s that have that type of sound, but seems rare elsewhere. The closest you get are female barbershop, but they don’t have background music to provide the bass. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-people-who-enjoy-listening-to-alvin-and-the-chipmunks-for-musical-value/716043/24 "2015-03-28T14:08:04Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > No, it’s more like saying that Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are the same character because the same guy did both voices. What he said. This can even happen in serious music. My favourite musician, Tomoko Kawase, has 3 separate projects going on…the brilliant green (with her husband, Shunsaku Okuda), Tommy february[sup]6[/sup], and Tommy heavenly[sup]6[/sup]. A handful of songs have been released under two of them. The singer is always Tomoko Kawase, and with a handful of exceptions (mostly covers), the songs are always written by Tomoko and Shunsaku. Despite this, saying which project a particular song or album was released as is entirely meaningful. (And if it’s a Halloween release.) It tells you what to expect for the song, even when it’s not distinguishing between two different versions of the same song. There are also a number of songs done in two different versions under the same project, which should also be distinguished. Despite being written and performed by the same people under the same name, even. Nobody (who isn’t a little kid) thinks that David Seville and the Chipmunks aren’t characters by Ross Bagdasarian. Just like nobody thinks that the brilliant green, Tommy february[sup]6[/sup] and Tommy heavenly[sup]6[/sup] are not all projects involving Tomoko Kawase and Shunsaku Okuda in various ways. That doesn’t mean the different characters shouldn’t be distinguished, especially when talking about songs released under multiple names. ---
**Author:** ![Hermione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cdc98d/32.png) [@Hermione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermione)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-people-who-enjoy-listening-to-alvin-and-the-chipmunks-for-musical-value/716043/25 "2015-03-28T17:45:35Z")
I dunno–I listen to some of the Chipmunks’ Christmas music every year. Partly for nostalgia value (in my first grade classroom, we played one of the Chipmunks’ Christmas records when the season rolled around), partly for the comedy value (their version of “Twelve Days” is almost as funny as John Denver and the Muppets’) and partly because the arrangements (and Dave Seville’s voice) are very nice. There are a couple of songs he carries on his own–particularly “Silver Bells”, with the boys only coming in on the chorus. And the orchestration/arrangement for that one is especially nice. [What do you think?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ldbFNRMv1M) He also does “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” on his own, with no rodential involvement whatsoever. (Except for the beginning when he tells them, “Sit down by the fire and rest a minute, boys. I want to say something to you and everybody listening…”) ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-people-who-enjoy-listening-to-alvin-and-the-chipmunks-for-musical-value/716043/26 "2015-04-02T14:59:33Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Double blasphemy! It’s RAGG MOPP. True. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-people-who-enjoy-listening-to-alvin-and-the-chipmunks-for-musical-value/716043/27 "2015-04-04T17:53:05Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > I was at an airport with a group of friends, and we were all waiting to get the luggage we checked at the gate, so it was very quiet while we all waited in that little area by the plane door. There was a woman waiting there as well, who otherwise looked completely normal, perhaps in her late 30s or early 40s, and she had headphones on, and they were turned up so loudly we could all hear what she was listening to. > > She was gently bobbing her head and tapping her feet, occasionally closing her eyes and really getting into the music. As God is my witness, the sound coming out of her headphones was the Chipmunks singing “Ooh eee, ooh ahh ahh, ting tang, walla walla bing bang”. As others have said, it’s a pretty decent novelty-ish song. It also probably appears on any number of 50s collections. The fact that she was listening to that song doesn’t necessarily mean she was porting the entire Bagdasarian oeuvre. > [@](#): > > Many Shuvs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Slor that day, I can tell you. Brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-people-who-enjoy-listening-to-alvin-and-the-chipmunks-for-musical-value/716043/28 "2015-04-06T02:44:12Z")
> [@Cayuga](#): > > As others have said, it’s a pretty decent novelty-ish song. It also probably appears on any number of 50s collections. The fact that she was listening to that song doesn’t necessarily mean she was porting the entire Bagdasarian oeuvre. Yes, but she wasn’t just _listening_ to it as if it had come up on Shuffle; she was _rocking out_ to it. But yes, I do suppose it could have been worse; it could have been “Uptown Girl”. 😉 > [@](#): > > Brilliant. > [@](#): > > Five minutes after reading this, I’m still giggling! Rick Moranis for the win! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-people-who-enjoy-listening-to-alvin-and-the-chipmunks-for-musical-value/716043/29 "2015-04-06T16:58:02Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Double blasphemy! It’s RAGG MOPP. [You kids get the heck off my lawn.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyANRiqzfio) Come back when you you’ve gained some culture! :rolleyes: In childhood through early adulthood I had a very high soprano voice, and excellent control of whistle tone. I liked singing along with the Chipmunks because they pitched the songs where I could participate. LOL! [Cecil, for comparison](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISf_OJKYChY) ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-people-who-enjoy-listening-to-alvin-and-the-chipmunks-for-musical-value/716043/30 "2015-04-06T17:05:39Z")
Aargh!! [First link should have gone here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqr-O5HyWL0) Doc Sausage and his Mad Lads. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-people-who-enjoy-listening-to-alvin-and-the-chipmunks-for-musical-value/716043.md?page=1)