[2] The inspiration for the album came when KMET DJ Chuck Taylor played the 12″ version of the Blondie song "Call Me" at 45 instead of 331⁄3 RPM and announced, in jest, that it was the Chipmunks' latest single.

So many requests came for this "new" Chipmunks release, that Ross Bagdasarian Jr. and his collaborator Steve Vining rushed to record this album.

Previous Chipmunk activity ceased in 1972 with the untimely death of franchise creator/producer Ross Bagdasarian Sr. (also known as David Seville) from a heart attack.

Though this release followed a long dormancy record-wise, the characters had returned to public view via Saturday morning repeats of the cartoon series The Alvin Show on NBC in 1979.

The album sparked a second run of the characters and led to another Saturday morning cartoon series, Alvin and the Chipmunks, which began in 1983 and also aired on NBC.

For those who don't remember The Chipmunks, beware, though the selections offered here may be appealing a cross-section of modern hits ranging from the Knack's My Sharona to Billy Joel's You May Be Right you may find the vocals strange.

This time, the Chipmunks do their own versions of corporate new wave, with helium-toned voices chirping the words to hits by the Cars, the Knack, Billy Joel, Tom Petty and others.

Smash Hits wrote, "we feel a duty to warn you of an album that has recently wormed its way into the racks of your local discerie, a phonographic item entitled 'Chipmunk Punk' by (you guessed it) The Chipmunks.

Since their original emergence in The Fifties, this trio of furry dopey looking crltters—Alvin, Simon end Theodore—have squeaked their high-pitched way into the hearts of all right thinking four-year-olds via children's radio programmes on both sides of the Atlantic.

For starters, it doesn't have an awful lot to do with punk, consisting as it does of various screeching cover versions of tunes made famous by The Knack, Tom Petty, Blondie and Queen(?).