The Silver State Chronicles

A classic never goes out of style

One of my favorite slices of Americana is “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late),” a song written by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. (a.k.a. David Seville) in 1958.  Although it was written and sung by Bagdasarian (in the form of a chipmunk voice), the singing credits are given to The Chipmunks, a fictional singing group consisting of three chipmunks by the names of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore.

The song was very successful, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles chart, becoming The Chipmunks’ first (and only), as well as David Seville’s second and final, #1 single. It has the distinction of being the only Christmas record to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles chart. The single sold 4.5 million copies, according to Ross Bagdasarian, Jr.

Between 1959–1962, the single managed to re-enter the Hot 100, peaking at #41 in 1959, #45 in 1960, and #39 in 1962. (Starting in 1963, Billboard would list re-current Christmas songs on a separate chart.)

“The Chipmunk Song” is the last Christmas song to make #1 on any US single record chart totaling performance of all available records, a record that may never be equaled.

I’m including the memorable animated video to the song from The Chipmunks 1960s animated series, as well as their live-action version from their 2007 film Alvin and The Chipmunks, as well as their popular 2007 remix of the song!  Enjoy!

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“Don’t think you have a corner on all of virtue, vision and the country.”

It’s no secret that my favorite series on this blog is Fridays for Friday, my continuing homage to one of my great heroes and role models, Mr. Jack Webb.

Well, I found this excellent verbal reprimand of some long haired liberal punks made soft by their instant orange juice very relevant today!  Enjoy!

In Webb We Trust!

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Evidently, the Colt 45 flows freely in the streets of Harlem, NY

Howard Stern took to the streets to see just what the voters in New York City had to think.  He found numerous Obama supporters uptown in Harlem, who evidently had no idea what they were talking about.  To be fair, he found one McCain supporter who was comparably clueless, too!

My personal favorite interview is the Harlem woman who insists that Obama had more facts & information and spoke well (not in so many words), but then proceeds to misstate several of Obama’s positions with conviction!

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A Two Hour Expanded Conversation with VDH!

Well, those that know me know that I am a huge fan of classicist Victor Davis Hanson, one of the genuinely brightest minds of our time!  He visits The Hugh Hewitt Show now and thenand his insights are always appreciated!  Well, Hugh talked him into an expanded interview on Wednesday, October 8, 2008, and it was fascinating!

Hugh’s conversation with Mr. Hanson covers the state of the 2008 campaign, the state of the world, the state of the war against radical Islam, and the state of the culture war here in America.  It took up 2 hours of radio time but the commercials have been removed so each part runs about 35 minutes, for a toal of 70 minutes of Hanson wisdom!

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WABC’s Curtis Sliwa Investigates…

Well, Revoltin’ Joe Biden was up to his usual antics at the big vice Presedential Debate.

To help drive home the fact that he believes himself to be an average guy, he pointed out that he hangs out at his local Home Depot, talks to working class folks about how rough they have it at a restaurant called Katie’s, and stops his friend Joey Danko at a local gas station to ask him how much it costs to fill his gas tank.  Biden notes that the hapless Danko is evidently baffled by the very concept!

While watching the debate, I thought this working class jive that Biden was preaching just didn’t pass the smell test.  Well, I was listening to the Curtis Sliwa Show on WABC radio this morning (via the miracle of the internet) and was pleased to learn that Curtis had caught the same oddities in Biden’s rap and investigated the allegations.

Curtis found out that (Clip 1) the folks at the Home Depot in Wilmington, Delaware had never seen Joe Biden in the store, (Clip 2) that Katie’s restaurant has been closed for 15 years and Biden couldn’t have discussed the recent economy with the patrons, and (Clip 3) Joey Danko sticks to his story, but insists he would never lie ‘against’ Joe Biden, which avoids the possibility that he would consider lying ‘for’ Joe Biden, I suppose.

Stay classy, Joey Danko!

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The Great One!

Newstalk Radio host and constitutional lawyer Mark Levin gets his share of nutty callers but I thought this particular brief clip from the June 11, 2008 show was laugh out loud funny. The author of the excellent Men in Black had a caller on his radio show break into a song, and The Great One reacted in top form!

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“Close cover before striking. I say, Is that heavy?”

Well, it’s no secret that I think PBS sucks. There is very little on it that I find interesting, amd much of the original PBS mandate has been exceeded by the rise of private sector cable television channels that serve educational purposes.

That being said, The History Channel or The Discovery Channel haven’t come up with anything nearly as cool as one of my great heroes and role models, Easy Reader!

Back in the 1970s, PBS had quite a few shows for children – most of which left me pretty cold. I never cared much for Sesame Street (my physical resemblance to Ernie notwithstanding), and even as a young child I never connected with Fred Rogers. PBS did deliver one hip show, though – The Electric Company. Intended for slightly older kids, the show benefited from expecting a longer attention span from its viewer, as well as a very talented cast including Rita Moreno and Morgan Freeman.

Well, Morgan contributed one of the classic EC characters – Easy Reader. Easy was one cool cat who bopped around town, and he loved reading so much that he would stop to read any sign he would see. Along the way, he would interact with other EC characters. Indeed, I confess that my lifelong love affair with reading started with the strong example of Easy Reader.

So sit back and enjoy this great clip from the show, featuring Easy Reader singing his theme song, with an assist from the lovely and talented Rita Moreno. They just don’t make them like this anymore!

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More Wisdom From The Bench

Newstalk radio host Laura Ingraham interviewed my favorite US Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia this morning. Sit back and enjoy!

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This relationship makes no sense

Leave it to the Golden Child, Barry Obama, to top himself! He can’t seem to distance himself fast enough from his 20+ year long pastor, Reverend Wright, just weeks after he vowed that he never could do such a thing!

Here’s a revealing snippet from Obama’s landmark (but quickly forgotten) speech on race a few weeks ago:

As imperfect as [Wright] may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions “the good and the bad“ of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.

I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother, a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.

My, how things can change in just a few weeks

After Wright’s whirlwind weekend media tour, Obama had heard enough and disowned Wright after all! My main question is what changed in the last few weeks? I don’t think Reverend Wright said anything this past weekend that was notably different from what he had said in many of his sermons. So, what changed, Barry?

I suppose the black community and Senator Obama’s white grandmother are looking over their shoulders these days! They may be next to get disowned!

Enjoy this neat compilation of Obama and Wright commentary on the matter prepared by the folks at the excellent Mark Levin Show:

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Orson Welles & The Mercury Theater

One of the greatest radio anthology series of the 1930s was The Mercury Theatre on the Air, featuring the talents of the New York drama company founded by Orson Welles and John Houseman.

The Mercury Theatre on the Air featured an impressive array of talent, including Agnes Moorehead, Bernard Herrmann, and George Coulouris. The show is most notable for its notorious War of the Worlds broadcast on October 30, 1938, but the troupe presented many other memorable programs.

And indeed, the premiere episode aired on July 11, 1938, presenting Bram Stoker’s classic Dracula. I’m presenting it here for your enjoyment!

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