Wednesday, December 25, 2002
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Wednesday, December 25, 2002 |
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Of Pavarotti and The Chipmunks By MICHAEL
BOYLAN The schedule for putting out papers is different this week, so I'm not writing this column at the usual time. I think it is very important for writers to follow certain habits, such as writing in a comfortable space, at a comfortable time. When I'm doing some creative writing and going really well, I'll use the same pen until I'm not as "creatively juicy." But now, it is Saturday morning and I must pretend it is Monday. How's that for cruel? That's like pretending Christmas is Arbor Day. Anyway, I still think I have a good column here, so enjoy. Recently, I heard "The Christmas Song" by The Chipmunks and heard that the person singing and supplying the voices was a young, and apparently struggling, Luciano Pavarotti. Though you can't tell because the sound has been sped up, Alvin, Simon and Theodore are all tenors. I can just imagine Pavarotti in the studio singing about wanting a hula hoop in his amazing voice and then the producers speeding up the sound to make the chipmunk voices. Every little giggle by Theodore was really a deep, hearty laugh by Luciano. Each time The Chipmnks said "Ok" to Dave, Pavarotti let out his booming agreement. Interestingly enough, the character of Dave, The Chipmunk's owner and producer, was really played by a parrot named Flaps. Flaps' owner was the producer of all the Chipmunks' albums and his name was of course, Alvin. By tweaking the sound of Flaps' shrill shrieks of "Alvin," the producer came up with the voice of the legendary Dave. O.K., the last part may not be true but the Pavarotti thing is. I swear. As proof, I contacted Pavarotti and interviewed him about this period in his life. Mike: Mr. Pavarotti, thank you for talking with me. Pavarotti: (deep booming voice) Call me Lucy, please Mike: I'd rather not. So, you provided the voice for The Chipminks at the beginning of their career? Pavarotti: Yes. At the time, I was singing showtunes in a strange bar in California, where the men were better looking than the women. I was not making a lot of money and I hadn't eaten a good meal in weeks. Mike: What did you weigh back then? Pavarotti: A buck 50. Mike: (whistles like he can't believe it) Pavarotti: A producer came backstage after my set one night and asked me to come down to his studio the next day. He wanted to record some Christmas songs because if one was a hit, it would be a hit forever and the money would come in each year. I sang "Adeste Fideles," which I have made a hit in my own voice recently, and a couple of others. We were in the studio for hours. During a break, one of the producers, who had been huffing some model glue, started playing with the knobs during playback. He sped up my voice during "Jingle Bells" and the rest is history. Mike: Incredible. Did you play The Chipmunks on television as well? Pavarotti: No. By the time the networks wanted The Chipmunks for TV, the producer realized that he could speed up his own voice and it would sound similar. I went back to Italy with my annual royalties for The Chipmunks Christmas song, devoted my life back to Opera and became what I am today. (pause) And I'm not telling you what I weigh. Mike: I understand. Mr. Pavarotti, Lucy, thanks for your time. So you see. I'm not lying. Luciano Pavarotti got his start as a bunch of cute, giggling, singing rodents. Merry Christmas. |
