Alvin and the Chipmunks Knock offs: The Nutty Squirrels

This new series of blog posts talks about groups that were formed with the success of The Chipmunks.

That being said, The Chipmunk Song by David Seville was a huge success that everyone (as always) wanted to cash in on it.  Don Elliot and Alexander "Sascha" Burland formed The Nutty Squirrels.  The concept was like The Chipmunks except they did smooth jazz.  Their first album featured Uh-Oh parts 1 and 2.  Part 2 peaked at #14 making it a top 40 hit in 1959.

This group had a major advantage over Alvin as they got an animated series FIRST.  This began airing in syndication in 1960.  Great right?  Well not necessarily.  The only thing that featured them was the opening where they try to re-create William Tell while the song Uh-Oh part 2 played as their theme.  Titled The Nutty Squirrels Present, the series actually showed off foreign cartoons.  So yeah....it wasn't successful and by the end of the 60's, The Nutty Squirrels have fallen into obscurity.

Here is the cartoon:

And here, give a little listen to Uh-Oh part 2.