I bet you thought this was going to be a review of the new Star Wars movie. Nope. We aren’t seeing that until Christmas Day. (We have a date with our younger daughter and her husband–both are complete Star Wars fanatics.)
This is about another galaxy far, far away…a time when I was a child with my nose stuck in a book. I’d been that way a couple of years since I’d learned to read rather early in life. I was very young and was already a total geek and wanted only to read.
Amazing Gift
Then Christmas came, and I awoke to find a record player under the Christmas tree along with a half dozen 45s.
Yes, kids, jump in the Way Back Machine and head to the Dark Ages…before digital music, iPods, and CD’s. Before cassettes. Before 8-track cartridges.
Even though I was too young to know what was cool and what wasn’t, I still recognized that all those 45 records would appeal more to my parents’ generation than mine. With one exception. A little gem of a song by Alvin and his chipmunk buddies Simon and Theodore with some ineffectual blustering by an adult named David Seville according to the record label.
Wow. I loved that song from the minute the round black vinyl made its first few revolutions on the turntable. I literally wore that record out. Thinking back on the months that followed Christmas and realizing how many times I must have played The Chipmunk Song, I now see how extremely tolerant my parents, especially my mother, were. They never yelled, “Cut that damned thing off.” (I confess, I wasn’t as tolerant with some of my daughter’s alternative or rap or hip hop tunes.) Nor did they try to sneak it off the turntable and consign it to the trash.
The Chipmunk Song by Alvin and The Chipmunks was produced by Liberty Records and first appeared in 1958. It had already been around and popular by the time I received the record. The whole thing was created by Ross Bagdasarian aka David Seville. He was a pioneer with the multi-speed record player and became a millionaire by fiddling with those speeds. You may have heard of his first hit, a little ditty called Witch Doctor which sold over a million copies.
A million copies might sound like a huge hit, but it pales in comparison to The Chipmunk Song, actually titled Christmas, Don’t Be Late. He wanted to use a gimmick to represent animal voices, and his children suggested chipmunks. In the end, Bagdasarian did all four voices including the David Seville character. He named his chipmunks after Liberty Records executives. Si Waronker became Simon, the good chipmunk; Ted Keep was Theodore who was kind of silly, and Al Bennett was the memorable Alvin.
You can get a copy of the original Chipmunk Song as well as videos of the subsequent television show or books, but the song remains the best of the lot, in my humble opinion.
As I’ve been writing this, I’ve listened to a CD my daughter gave me a few Christmases ago. After receiving it, I promptly loaded it into my computer. The album is a Christmas mix she put together of some of my favorite Christmas songs. Track 1 was, of course, The Chipmunk Song by Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. It’s nice to know I raised my daughter to appreciate the finer things in life. *snicker*
Christmas Romance
I haven’t used The Chipmunk Song in a story yet, but I may. In the meantime, I have 2 Christmas romances for your consideration.
LuvU4Ever, a holiday short story romance, is free! (If Amazon and Nook still haven’t reduced it to FREE, get it from one of the other sellers listed.) Nobody’s Cinderella is reduced to only 99 cents.
LuvU4Ever (Free)
This Christmas, Noelle faces the biggest decision of her life.
LuvU4Ever. That’s what was engraved on the gold heart David gave her when he proposed. They’ve shared 10 years of joy in what she thought was a forever love.
I told you never to call me at home.
Can nine little words destroy her forever love? What will Noelle do? Will she walk away? Or dish out some payback? Or will she choose love?
Available at All Romance Ebooks * Amazon Kindle (Amazon has NOT price matched so it’s still showing 99 cents there.) * iBooks * Kobo * Nook (Nook has NOT price matched either so it’s still showing 99 cents.) * Smashwords and other ebook sellers.
Nobody’s Cinderella (Reduced from $3.99 to 99 cents)
Darcy Benton is the oldest cliche in the world—a woman in love with her boss. Other than that, she’s no-nonsense, practical, mature, and sober. She’s just the kind of woman Chase Whitaker wants as head of accounting for his company. She’s definitely not the kind of woman he wants in his bed.
Enter Darcy’s meddling, matchmaking best friend who has a plan to transform Darcy into a hottie designed to attract Chase’s interest. All it takes? A couple of little lies…and a wish on a Christmas star. Darcy should have heeded that old advice: be careful what you wish for.
Available at All Romance Ebooks * Amazon Kindle * iBooks * Kobo * Nook * Smashwords and other ebook sellers.
Wishing you all the happiest of Holidays and a glorious New Year!
Post Script
Joan Reeves is a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author of Contemporary Romance. Available as ebooks and audiobooks, her romance novels all have the same underlying theme: “It’s never too late to live happily ever after.” Joan lives her happily ever after with her hero, her husband, in the Lone Star State. Sign up for WordPlay, Joan’s email list/newsletter for readers and receive a free book.