Almost everyone who knows anything about the history of pop music knows that David Seville, the man behind the Chipmunks series of novelty recordings (cute or annoying, depending on your point of view), was a pseudonym for musician and songwriter Ross Bagdasarian.
As a songwriter, Bagdasarian was responsible for co-writing Come On-A My House, which was a huge hit for Rosemary Clooney in 1951.
He came up with the idea for the Chipmunks in 1958 and put out The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) on Liberty Records in time for the holiday season. Bagdasarian provided the voices of Alvin and the other Chipmunks by varying the speed of the playback tapes.
The record proved to be a phenomenal success, selling an estimated four million copies and topping the the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The Chipmunk Song has become a perennial Christmas favorite, surfacing in one form or another every year.
Its success spawned a whole series of Chipmunk recordings, a couple of animated TV series, several movies and a host of other products.
On some of the Chipmunks original singles, the flip side featured an instrumental by "The Music of David Seville." In the case of The Chipmunk Song it was Almost Good, a quirky little number that you can listen to and download from the link below.
Almost Good
Watch the spinning turntable in the best of several versions of Almost Good available on YouTube.
If you're among the select few who simply must have Almost Good on a 45 single, you're in luck. It can be had quite cheaply from a variety of sources.
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