Christmas with the Happy Crickets is obviously a Chipmunks wannabe, with the sped-up vocals over normal instrumentation - you know the drill. But there are two things that I think make this really strange. One is song selection. I assume that the Happy Crickets would be targeted at children, so Mom and Dad would buy the record so their youngsters could enjoy it. "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph" are expected choices - kiddies would probably love the Happy Crickets singing these. But then we get to "Christmas is for the Family", "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day", and "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" - not exactly the top tunes for a kiddie record, especially when the arrangements are pretty standard. "God Rest Ye..." even has an organ. Well, whatever....
Then there is the rendition of "The Chipmunk Song", a total trip of a song for a different reason. This song is sung merely in falsetto, not in sped-up Chipmunky/Crickety voices. Why? To distinguish itself from the original? For weird legal reasons? Who knows.
So, I present an odyssey of weirdness with Christmas with the Happy Crickets. Enjoy(?)
Yes, this is really the back cover. Nothing much to do with the album, but nice information I suppose. And it is about Christmas, so there's that.
This is a truly weird record... Thanks!
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