TV's Virtual Bands
November 3rd 2010 04:00
While the series was based on four 'real' artists, the same could not be said for other 'adaptations' - created by TV moguls in partnership with record producers and studio performers to turn a 'quick buck'.
Alvin and the Chipmunks were probably the first virtual band to appear.
Centered around the 'front-munk' Alvin, his two brothers Simon and Theodore, and their manager/father Dave Seville, their voices were created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., who accelerated the recording of his voice to create the distinctive sound; the process earned him two Grammys in 1959 for engineering.
The success of the Chipmunks spurred on another group, the Nutty Squirrels followed much later by one of the all time great TV bands - The Archies - who were the first virtual band to appear in worldwide pop charts.
As legend has it, The Monkees rejected their manager's suggestion in 1969 that they play the song "Sugar Sugar." - at which time he took the song, and created a group who could be easily managed; basing it on the Archie comic that was popular at the time, he created the Archies.
Then of course there were others including Josie and the Pussycats, The Cattanooga Cats, The Impossibles, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids, Jabberjaw and the occassion rendition from the gang in the Mystery Mobile - Scooby Doo.
Whether I've missed a few along the way or whether cruelly you actually do include The Monkees or in fact their primate counterparts - The Evolution Revolution - is up to you - but do tell . . .
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