Chipmunks on 16 Speed - Sludgefest (Full Album) 

0:00 Call Me 6:12 Walk Like An Egyptian 13:00 Heaven Is A Place On Earth 20:58 Diamond Dolls 27:17 You Keep Me Hanging On 35:28 My Sharona 43:25 Always On My Mind 50:13 Refugee

Quote from the original video's top comment: "This sounds like carbon monoxide poisoning"

Shout out to the OG dude who commented “this is the soundtrack of a 5 year old in a hot car”

a comment I remember from the original upload: "this is vaporwave for people that do heroin"

Such a shame the original was deleted, we’ll never get back the stories told by sludgemunk fans. Truly a unique community on RU-vid that will definitely take time to rebuild 😢 Stay strong sludefesters

"light the spoon dad, we're going in" A og comment from back in the day. I Haven't been the same since.

It's sad to hear Jeannette's backing vocals in Call Me considering how much the band's substance abuse publicly broke her. God only knows what she witnessed in that booth.

I was there at their infamous show in Detroit in late 1987. I was flown there with a head journalist from the paper I was aspiring to work at, as I had won a sweepstakes of sorts amongst the other interns to go with him to watch their performance. Originally we were supposed to get special reserved seating, but a group of some rather intimidating teen delinquents must have bribed their way into our spot. We ended up having to watch quite a ways towards the back in the cheap seats. They kept the crowd waiting some 45 minutes after the show was scheduled to start, and there was this air of angst and tension that I will never forget. The whole concert hall was hot, dim, with a heavy scent of beer and weed lingering in the air. Despite the place being packed to the brim, there was this terrifying silence, as if everyone was holding their breath. I will never forget the collective gasp and change in energy when the curtains finally opened. Simon stood awkwardly with his guitar strapped to his chest standing completely motionless, resembling a cardboard cutout. Theo was obviously tripping on something strong, standing behind a meager setup of a small synthesizer and a drum machine. Alvin stood between them for a moment, took in the crowd, and then clumsily stepped forward towards the mic. He looked rough. His fur was matted, his signature red hoodie stained and torn. Then, in perfect unison, Simon and Theo started playing, and the set began. As they began to play ( believe it was a cover of "Always On My Mind"), I couldn't help but be held in awe at their sound. The slow, murky, psychedelic sound of Simon's sludgy guitar. The desolate, hollow, eerie sound of Theo's synth. And the unforgettable sound of Alvin's voice, which sounded so utterly racked with emotion that even the journalist that I was with, who was anything but a sentimental guy, looked misty eyed as he watched. And when they all harmonized and sang together, it gave a feeling that I can't describe and I haven't felt since then. Like all the sadness, all the pain, all the pressure felt by young adults back then (and indeed, now) all perfectly given an identity through sound, all released at once in the form of sonically imperfect music that somehow sounded flawless. Admittedly, it was extremely difficult to hear the finer details of the band, so I hardly noticed Alvin's extremely slurred words or Theodore playing offkey. However, halfway through their set, as they were about halfway through "You Keep Me Hanging On", I will never forget what happened. Alvin stopped singing for a moment, looked to the back of the concert hall, and froze. He then continued to sing, but I swear from where I stood it looked like he was watching a ghost. Then, I swear I saw a crooked smile stretch across his face for a moment before he collapsed on stage. The entire crowd gasped as the music abruptly stopped. Simon and Theodore ran over to try and help him up. I remember seeing how pained and labored Alvin's sides looked, as if each anguished breath took a huge amount of effort. They crouched over him, trying to revive him, but Simon soon ran backstage to get more help. Theodore just stared at Alvin, a look of stone-cold, sober agony on his face. How he must have felt, seeing his own brother dying. Soon, Simon returned with a beefy roadie, who picked up Alvin and quickly ran him backstage. At that, the journalist I was with jumped up and pushed himself through the crowd, which was now going absolutely berserk. I followed him as best I could, trying to weave through the sweaty bodies of a thousand reeking, screeching teens. When I finally made it to the front, I showed my ID card to security, who were doing their best to keep the crowd back. They let me through, and as I ran up the stage and through the backdoor, I made it just in time to see the ambulance carrying Alvin speed away. Simon was gone, apparently riding in the ambulance with Alvin. But Theodore stayed behind. I will never forget how hollow his eyes were. I couldn't bare to look at him, the look of crushing agony and defeat that he had. He knew it was all over. Their fame. Their fortune. Their band. Their family. Destroyed. Forever. After I made it back to New York City with the journalist I had gone with, I resigned. I wasn't the same person after experiencing what had happened that night, and I haven't been since. I still throw on my old Chipmunks vinyl from time to time, chasing after that old feeling I felt when I heard them for the first time. But there was one thing about that night that still keeps me awake, one thing above all else that will follow me until the day that I die. As Alvin lay there on the stage, fighting for his every breath. As he was hauled away on the back of that roadie. As they drove him away inside of that ambulance. Even as he drew his last breath. He never stopped singing. Not once. And his final words? "Set me free."

This was really their Pinkerton

I saw Simon at his lowest after Sludgefest 94. This was after the infamous eye gouging incident between him and his boyfriend, but before his glass eye. Theodore almost lost it playing Heaven is a Place on Earth, it was the last thing they all practiced before Alvin's suicide-by-cop. Their manager Dave didn't even give them a week to grieve.

People always ragged on them for being “just a cover band,” but the fans knew what they had. It melted their brains together as one waving, drugged out crowd. Back in ‘89 I remember the flair of their albeit poorly planned tours, but that was the fun of it. The smell of wood glue in people’s hair, Alvin getting into fights in a cross faded rage, the grunge of it all. I met my wife there. Rest in hell Simon, I wish you could’ve seen your daughter’s career skyrocket before cancer took you from us.

Genuinely the hardest album opening of all time.

RIP Alvin. Saw him live only once. Cleveland, 81. Will never forget that sound. So young. Full of piss and vinegar. The smile he had when he walked up to the mic and told the group of us that he was gonna “blow your fucking minds” - it would have been cocky if he hasn’t backed it up. Mom threw all my records away after Grenada (she was an old school hippie, hated that I joined the army after high school). Forgot about the Chipmunks until I saw the news reports about the overdose. Friend was able to copy me an old cassette. A copy of a copy. Shit was scratchy as hell. Sound quality was garbage. But god, it was just what I remembered. Their early stuff was so packed with promise. The righteous anger of youth. I know it’s their later sound that gets all the praise, when they started experimenting (in every sense of the word), but for me? I still remember that grin before he rocked our world.

Played this for my wife and she says, "If I'd walked in the room and you were listening to this I wouldn't have batted an eye. Sounds like everything else you listen to."

To quote a unknown commenter on the original Sludgefest upload: "This is the musical equivalent of Garfield Minus Garfield"

Saw them back in 85 when they were still doing small clubs. They were late, and the crowd was getting impatient. The tension kept getting higher and higher. As soon as Theodores drums came in on Call Me, the stage lit up and Alvins guitar gave a loud roar of perfect disortion. It was like magic the way the crowd instantly was fixated on the bands every move. Simon had a nasty spat with a bouncer that night while he was crowd surfing midway through their set. He hit the bouncer square in the head with his bass, blood was gushing everywhere. As soon as the bouncer landed a punch on Simon, Theodore and Alvin went straight to his rescue. It was pure chaos on that stage. The crowd was chanting “Fuck This Shit” as there was no more music playing. They walked off stage in pure blackness. It’s believed Simon did a shot of heroin in the janitors closet backstage to ease the pain. They eventually came back onstage, to hundreds chanting and roaring. They went straight into Walk Like an Egyptian and they sounded better than ever. Man I miss those days. A lot has changed since Alvin’s overdose, and Theodore doing life for murdering Eleanor. Simon’s been doing great giving back to the community, giving speeches on the dangers of drug use. You can tell in his eyes he still misses rocking out with his two buddies on that stage. They had the whole world in their hands. A damn shame.

Hi everyone - just want to write and thank you all for supporting the original version of this masterpiece. I re-uploaded for no other reason than for my friends and I to continue to listen to it together, and I'm glad its getting the attention it deserves. Cheers!

As of June 15th, 2023, Theodore has been found dead at only the age of 35. The troubled chipmunk was found dead in his Chicago home and his death was most likely a painkiller overdose. It was a well known fact that Theodore was a pill popper. I still can't believe that we lost another one of the chipmunks. Fly high Theodore, Hopefully you can finally reunite with Alvin 🕊🕊🕊🕊

It continuously baffles me how unironically good this is. Bold, exposed, passionate, dark. I mean wtf, man.

Man, does anyone remember the multitude of comments on the original upload of this video detailing Alvin and the Chipmunks' drug filled sprial downhill? All of that morbid creativity is lost now that the original video is deleted. Kinda sad to see.

One of the greatest, saddest, most surreal musical moments of my life was at one of their shows at a dingy club outside of Seattle once in the mid 80s. The hype had been building around the band for a while but it was obvious that things were going off the rails very quickly, a sad indication that their musical genius was destined to die on the vine before they were ever able to achieve any real mainstream success. It was a cold rainy night, and nobody was really sure if the band was even going to show up, as they seemed to have been in the middle of a particularly volatile period during those weeks. Nonetheless everyone was curious and excited to see how the night would transpire. About 30 minutes after they were set to hit the stage Alvin stumbles out alone, wearing a red sequin dress and high heels, with heavy mascara literally melting all the way down his cheeks, and a half empty bottle of Hennessy swinging loosely from his right hand. He proceeded to do a solo rendition of Diamond Dolls, to a mixture of boos, laughter, but mostly stunned silence from the modest crowd before chucking his bottle against the stage wall and marching off while giving a giant middle finger to the audience. Afterwards when the crowd had mostly left I made my way towards the back of the club where a kid was sitting scribbling in a notebook. He was in scraggly jeans and had shoulder length, matted blonde hair. Couldn’t have been more than 16 or 17 years old. I had just lit a cigarette and he asked if he could bum one. I obliged, and we chatted for a few minutes. “That was wild, huh?” I said, to which he replies “it’s all fucked up man”. He said he had been a fan for a while, wasn’t terribly surprised at what we saw, and in fact found it quite amusing. He was working on his own lyrics and was excited about getting his band off the ground. Incredibly sweet, down to earth kid, though you could tell he had the weight of the world on his shoulders even at such a young age. Said our goodbyes. Come to find out later - that dude? Kurt. Fucking. Cobain. I shit you not. He never really talked about the chipmunks influence on him publicly, but when I listen to early Nirvana now I can’t not hear it. What a night.

Can’t believe they were all so young when this album came out. The Chipmunks were only 24 when they released this project, I remember the buzz circling around them years prior when they were supposedly the next big pop band. Dave’s death, Theodore’s near overdose death, and his own addiction to painkillers must’ve really hit Alvin hard because he sings so raw and passionately. R.I.P Alvin, wish you were still around to see Simon be a successful solo artist and Theodore being a family man 😔

I've been tripping for the past few weeks because I couldn't find the original upload. It's still so strange that the original was deleted

This is unironically some of the best post punk ever released

The slowed-down tempo adds such a doomsday grittiness to all of these songs. Love it.

it's so weird because the instrumental are obviously incredibly modified but the vocals are now untouched and they are singing perfectly in tune it's almost ethereal in a way

I swear, "Heaven is a Place on Earth" chills me every time

I actually ran into Theodore in 1996! I was 17, working at a grocery store in Cleveland. I was restocking shelves when I noticed a familiar face in the wonder bread aisle, Theodore!Thank Dave I was able to build the nerves to talk to him. He was super nice, talked about his music a little bit, and even signed my back Jean pocket. Safe to say to haven’t worn those jeans since. So Thanks to Theodore for making a young sludgepunks life!!!!!

Glad that people still listen to sludgefest in 2023, only been listening to it since 2022 but I still want this album to be listened by many people

Diamond Dolls is a throwaway song from the Chipettes movie from the 80’s that barely anyone remembers, there is absolutely no reason it should be such a banger

Listened to this near the end of a 4 hour car ride across part of California, it must have been 95 degrees out. The cars AC was broken. Absolutely surreal experience.

I remember Simon breaking down while doing the Heaven is a Place on Earth tribute for Theodore after the overdose. It’d already been years later, but Simon cried like he found him yesterday. I remember he couldn’t keep singing. I remember the fans filling it in for him - we’re all joined together so he could have a moment. Alvin kept his head down while he played, but I know that he felt the same. I don’t know, man. That was their brother. I heard the 911 call on the news.

I remember seeing the Chipmunks back in '95. They were opening for Acid Bath that night. It was this little club in the middle of nowhere in Lousiana. The electricy was terrible and the band's amps kept going off the entire night. And they ROCKED. Alvin kept throwing his guitar in the air and catching it, playing with feedback, playing solos with his teeth. Theodore kept doing lines of coke midsong without ever stopping the beat. Absolutely amazing. The high point of the night was when Simon ran off stage during a long jam and went to the nearby bayou. And he came back with an alligator. He threw it in the middle of the stage and wrestled it a bit. They closed with Diamond Dolls, and Alvin kept bringing the mic to the alligator for it to do the backing vocals. Absolutely timeless. Acid Bath almost didn't go on stage because they knew they couldn't top that, and the alligator bit Dax Riggs on the leg. I'll never forget that night. RIP Alvin.

I managed to catch their final show by a slim margin. I must have bought the last ticket before they sold out it was close. Wow just wow. We’d got glimpses of the rot setting in the band over the years with alvin’s overdose in 87 but I don’t think we expected it to end like that. Everything was just.. wrong, like the atmosphere was poison and distrust. Alvin was clearly on something he could barely stand and slurred out his words, but you know his spark was clearly still there. Behind the haze you could hear the magic in his voice that was their in the beginning. Simon and Theodore were uneasy the entire time just watching Alvin the entire time. Theodore looked drunk. They didn’t even make it halfway through the album due to Alvin’s infamous breakdown on stage. I remember it like it was yesterday. He just stopped singing and sank to his knees and raised his eyes to heaven and wept. It was dead silence in the venue nobody said a thing and after a minute he walked offstage without a single word. Simon and Theodore tried to continue the song without him but without Alvin it wasn’t the same. They gave up and didn’t even bother singing diamond dolls, they couldn’t, not in the state they were in. Learning about alvin’s suicide the next day shook me to the core. I’d seen him. He looked almost sober in that moment and I’ll never forget it.

Even as abusive as Dave was, you can tell they missed him. I knew a guy who saw one of their last shows in 99, he said halfway through the set, Alvin just broke into tears. He walked off stage, then came back a 15 minutes later with the cocaine still matted into his lip fur. Apparently Alvin could play just fine while high, which really goes to show how often he got high.

“Western culture quietly hit its musical high water mark on the 13th November 2015. No one knew but everything that happened before only led up to this moment and everything after could only be a footnote to its transcendent glory.” -Comment from the original video

Genuinely, hearing the original songs after these versions is so jarring. These are genuinely so much better. The vocal performance is so fucking powerful, and the purposeful, almost melting sound of the vocals adds so much heart to the mix. I genuinely wish more music like this existed. People recommend other genres that are similar, but in my experience the vocals are usually too "growly" and the instrumentation is far more harsh. Those things aren't bad, I love those qualities in music, but it just doesn't have that drawn-out, passionate sound this has.

I was actually at the infamous Sludgefest 09 tour. Theodore was a wreck before he died. He left to take a shit during Diamond Dolls and he didn't come back. I still remember when Simon and Alvin got the news. It was terrifying, man. They broke down on stage, Simon was saying he wished he had stolen Theodore's pills before the show like he wanted to. Terrible, man. I'm scarred.

This is like the best concussion I've ever had.

It's such a shame that Alvin Microwaved himself.

rip to all the creative writing projects in the original video -- here's to hoping they all get reposted

David, Alvin, Simon, and Theodore Seville. David was a doting father and his three sons were... They weren't creative, lyrically, but they were amazing vocalists and with their respective instruments. They weren't really ever gonna go anywhere, they were a local cover band. But their music helped pay the rent and that was enough until tragedy struck in 1972 when David died unexpectedly of a heart attack. The boys were lost. Their original music took a much darker turn, as did their cover songs. Simon developed a heroin habit at some point in the late '70s. In 1983 the Seville boys were destitute and desperate. They put everything they had left into a cover album, "Sludgefest." They hoped their new, dark, edgy sound might help them overcome the... Frankly ridiculous idea of a cover album taking off. But their longshot worked. It peaked at #7 on the US charts. The Chipmunks, as they had started to call themselves, went from the edge of homelessness and ruin to stardom overnight. It's not as fun and lighthearted as their much earlier covers (recordings of which are almost impossible to find, unfortunately) or as refined as their later albums. But their first hit album really was lightning in a bottle. Listening to it again really brings me back. This music is dark but it helped me get through some dark times in my life. Damn tragic what happened to the Chipmunks in '88, God rest their souls. Thank you for uploading this, i really needed to hear this again.

In the original video someone has commented something like "This is what I imagine these song would sound like through the old speakers of an abandoned mall" and I keep returning to sludgefest because I cant keep this image out of my head. Thank you very much for reuploading it

That guitar tone in Call Me is a dead ringer for Nirvana era grunge. It's incredible how good this silly concept can be. It legitimately transforms all of the songs into something completely new with this amazing depressed hatred vibe. I love sludgefest so much, thank you for reuploading.

The year is 1989, you find yourself at an underground club at night, and the people that are all around you are nothing but junkies, punks, and low-level degenerates. While at this club, the lights move towards the stage. There, three chipmunks appear onstage. They all appear to be in various disheveled states, with the one in the red looking the worst out of the bunch. Before you could say anything, these three chipmunks begin performing a barrage of tunes that you could only describe as "oddly euphoric." As they play, the club begins to decline into musical chaos, with all the attendees divulging into a limbo of music.

Thank you so much for uploading this. Really the definitive edition. So sad we've lost all those great comments. My favourite being 'this is the sound track of a herion overdose'.

GG Allin opened up for these guys on a small eastern European tour in the early '80s. Back then, GG was pretty milquetoast and didn't have much of a stage presence but every night after his set, he'd study the Chipmunks onstage antics and he would actually take notes on a notepad. He basically stole their live show and made a more toned-down, family friendly version of it in order to reach a wider audience.

why isn't there more music intentionally sounding like this? slow tempo, heavy sludgy guitars, and clean melodic vocals

Entering this comment sections feels like entering a cult meeting

As someone who has experienced high levels of carbon monoxide poisoning this is exactly what it sounded like. Great memories!

I cant believe they forced Alvin into the studio after he shot up his girlfriend with that fatal overdose. They had to shove him into the record label's company car just as they shoved her stretcher into the ambulance. This recording perfectly captured the guilt he was trapped with inside the mic booth. The chambers of his heart being eaten alive. Not knowing by the time he finished laying this track down, she would be dead, and he would be laying her casket down as well.

The bass drums in walk like a egyptian are devastating

This album sounds like several times as a young child when I had difficulty waking up from strange nightmares. I wouldn't be fully awake, but in a swirly, weird place in-between consciousness and subconsciousness, my brain frantically trying to pull me out of the dread and hopelessness of the nightmare and back to my bed and cozy blankets.

To this day the Chipmunks remain one of the most influential bands in history. It’s a testament to their legacy that nearly every song in their discography has been covered by other artists. Despite the myriad problems with drug abuse, the Munks were beloved in the international music community for the essence of pure musical genius they continually displayed. RIP Alvin and Theodore.

Shout out to the OG dude who commented “this is what Cleveland Ohio sounds like”

Heaven is a Place in Earth sounds like the opening song to a post-apocalyptic dystopian movie where the protagonist is walking across a drug-laden barren wasteland.

diamond dolls is genuinely so haunting. wish i'd been around to see them play live

This is the soundtrack to sitting outside the hospital and staring at a buzzing, flickering overhead streetlight at 3:17 am having a cigarette after just learning you have lung cancer.

Cool that you reuploaded it, since the only other upload uses the extended Bandcamp edition. However we can never get back those amazing fan lore comments 😢

I cant believe i cried listening to this shit lmao, Heaven is a place on earth completely destroyed me for some reason The fact the songs are stretched so long makes the emotions depicted ten times stronger because the build up is so much more intense

Heaven is a Place on Earth is freaking me out. Nightmare fuel.

when i was helping with cleaning out my grandmother's house when she passed i found a copy of chipmunk punk along with a bunch of other LPs in the attic. upon closer inspection it was covered in black mold. fitting.

Simon is such a criminally underrated bassist.

No joke the songs are actually so good it’s so unexpected

I remember finding a low-quality recording of Sludgefest ‘03 on LimeWire way back in the day and being both shocked, yet intrigued at how radically different the Chipmunks had become since Dave’s death on 9/11. I haven’t seen it in 20 years, but the image of Alvin lighting an American flag on fire and then pissing on it is still burnt into my retinas. Sometimes I wonder what their next album might’ve been like had Alvin been around to bring it to fruition, but I honestly can’t imagine a world in which this isn’t the Chipmunks’ magnum opus. Rest easy, Alvin. Hopefully you’re aware that people are finally starting to appreciate the fruits of your labor.

That Walk like an Egyptian track is eerie as hell

Found a cassette in a second-hand shop here in Denmark recently, it was someone having recorded one of their live performances of "Walk Like an Egyptian" and like half of "Call Me", thought it sounded cool, so a bit of searching led me here, glad to see a lot of their work has been reuploaded with high quality on RU-vid. Kinda weird though, for such a band that seemingly only ever got big in North America I would never have expected to find any physical media of theirs in a European store, especially an unofficial recording. Sad to hear about how the band split up, and Alvin's death, it's a tragic story.

Knew Simon back in high-school. Quiet, shy, kept to himself. He'd spend hours alone in the music room, using the shitty, beat-up stratocaster the music teacher had lying around, and record riffs using his stepmom's tape recorder. One day, he gave me a hastily recorded cassette tape containing a rough demo that would become this album. From the moment I popped in my deck, I was hooked. It was like the audio form of Crack. I Damn near worn that tape out from playing it so much. Within a year or two, they were signed to Dave's record label and already had a growing audience. He wanted to go to college and earn a music degree, but his manager convinced him to perform full time instead. Not a day goes by where I don't think of what could've been if I had just intervened and told him to go to college instead. Maybe he'd still be with us. Fly high, Simon ❤️

“Heaven is a place on earth” takes on a sardonic quality in this format that is a wonderful juxtaposition to the original. I love it so much.

I can't believe I didn't notice the passing of the original sludgefest until almost a year later. RIP in peace you little melting freaks...

Played this in two different browser windows 3 seconds apart. Gave it an echo effect that makes it even better.

Heaven is a place on earth and keep me hanging on are the most soul crushing yet powerful songs of the album

my aunt was a groupie and was w/ them when they were touring. alvin always seem like he was angry, but he didn’t know why he was angry. simon was the most levelheaded, the pr man before prmen existed, she said. theodore was lucid like he was there but he didn’t KNOW he was there; he let my mom mess with his drums. she said that the energy in the room was all fucked, like there was people there but was there really? (whatever that means).

My dad was there on one of their later tours back in the 90’s. Apparently they were a total wreck. At one of the venues, Alvin would lock himself in the green room with whatever substance he could get his hands on. Theodore had gone missing half way through the set, only to be found a day later by a near by donut shop’s alleyway passed out in a dumpster. Simon was sober, but he was a nervous wreck, lashing out at the venue’s staff. I suppose it was early signs of his inevitable psychotic breakdown. I found the Sludgefest record in my dad’s closet with each of their faces scratched out. It’s a shame how things turned out, but their music will still love on.

I had to go to hospital for an invasive surgical procedure a couple of years ago. I had nil-by-mouth for 48 hours and an extremely strong sedative cocktail which included temazepam and fentanyl (yes, really). I was getting lift home still very high and we stopped off for a snack - I stayed in the car and somehow stumbled across the original RU-vid vid. It was so perfect. I have to say it blew my mind. The synergy of how I felt was just perfect with the music. Nothing was more beautiful than listening to Refugee and watching sunlight coming through the leaves of a willow tree.. there is no way to describe how significant and beautiful everything felt in that moment in the Sainsbury car park, on an industrial estate on the M27. When I hear this album it's like being right back in that opioid, post surgery haze.

It was the summer of '86 when I first met the boys. Being hired as their local guide we toured through the canals of Amsterdam and had a generally good time. They still were their happy chipper alter ego's known as the Chipmunks. Their cover albums started to get some traction that faithful summer and fame seemed hot on their heels. On his third day in my wonderful capital, Alvin asked me to procure him some special fungus. The mood didn't really sour on that sweltering day yet there was a tension I could not fully explain. At 2AM everything changed. Theodore had been staring into the lake for the better part of an hour, he stood up and just let himself fall forward into the dark waters. The boys being the compatriots they were jumped in after him. As their caretaker for the trip I couldn't stay behind and eventually got them all back to shore. Laying on that grass panting from the experience they stared into the cloudless night sky... A year later they came back to Amsterdam but they were beyond my capabilities of procurement. They went into the water as the Chipmunks yet came out as the Sludgemunks. RIP to a real one.

Listening to this on RU-vid's 2X Speed is an experience, man. DEEP tones.

Favorite original comment from the old upload was “ This is the soundtrack to being a 4 year old locked in a hot car”

I was at a club in ‘88, just before the “Call Me” US tour in January ‘89. I remember my friend telling me about some chipmunks playing that night, and how much we “gotta see ‘em, man.” Not that I knew this at the time, but this was 5 months after Alvin’s girlfriend died of the infamous overdose that started his downward spiral. But all I knew was that these 3 mangy critters’ band, made up of a Vocalist, Guitarist, and DJ, had enveloped the entire hardcore punk club in the dreamlike soundscape of “refugee”. I can vividly remember the acid kicking in while I looked at alvin grip the microphone like he was trying to hold it back from stabbing him. You could see his sweat-drenched fur glisten in the stage lights has he belted his way through “Diamond Dolls”. The trio managed to make their way through a rare near-flawless performance of “Call Me” (Theodore only messing up the guitar line once, to a disapproving scowl from simon and dave, who’s ominous shadow loomed over the band from just backstage the whole set.) The trio had the entire venue, which was packed far too full with what I would guess to be around 300 people that night, completely entranced. No one expected what would happen next, as Alvin completely broke down at the end of the 7 minute performance of “Heaven is a Place on Earth” I still remember hearing Alvin’s desperate, somber shouts turning into cries for help before he just completely broke into tears after the end of the last verse. Somehow, I swear the entire club went dead silent. The only sound was Alvin’s sobs and the haunting instrumental. Dave walked backstage, and anyone could tell he was a mix of embarrassed and furious. I always wondered how much that performance had to do with his eventual death. Theodore stared at alvin with a deep pity. Later interviews with people close to the band said he was in the car with Alvin and his girlfriend when alvin shot her up with that old needle. Simon, on the other hand, had only disgust in his eyes. The older brother looked at his younger sibling, reduced to a pathetic mess in some backwoods Oregon club. He said in a ‘03 interview that, looking back, he regretted how hard he pushed Alvin, but that “…the few studio sessions we could get him to come to after he killed dave made some of the best god damn vocal performances I ever heard.” The ending of that performance kept me away from the chipmunks for a while after that. After Sludgefest ‘99 became a special on MTV, I called up that old friend to ask what had happened to “that third chipmunk”. He told me about Alvin’s suicide and that he had stopped listening after that. I drove over to his parent’s house, where he still lived, to grab his original ‘87 run “Chipmunks” demo. Listening to it brought me right back to all those feelings during that one night in November 1988, which made me fall down the rabbit hole of Chipmunk fandom until I ended up right back here.

Simon here. I miss the band, especially after Alvin died after OD'ing on a mixture of Tranq and hard liquor. I remember we played at a bar in '85.. We had bottles thrown at us, and I just saw Alvin throw down the guitar and chuck a fuckin' big-ass whiskey bottle at the crowd, hit a guy in the face too. I also remember, in '89, we had got done making the album, and we went on a tour for it. One guy crowdsurfed onto the stage and proceeded to smoke PCP. Watched as the guards beat him and threw him off stage. After Alvin had died in '05, and Theodore went off to be a politician, I was left to do whatever the fuck I wanted, so I started my own solo project: Chimpanzee on 3 Ketamine. Or atleast, just started it. The first CO3K song will come out 2025. Fly high Al, you were my best buddy.

Those comments were amazing. What a lose

RIP original Sludgefest, I miss you all so much

My uncle saw the Chipmunks at this dive bar in Jersey back in 86. In what looked like a condemned building that was illegally operating and run by a biker gang. Alvin took almost 40 minutes to get to stage after show time. He walked on stage with rubber tubing tied on his left arm while nodding out, but once they started playing, he said you couldn't even tell Alvin was wired. He said it was the best show he's ever been too.

Simon and I dated briefly in the late '70s, before his group really started getting serious. 'Dated,' in the way that most closeted early-college boys in the '70s did. He was my first boyfriend and I was his. I never liked Theo and Al, and they didn't like me much neither. Theo pushed me out of nearly every party Simon ever tried to take me to, and their shows? Forget about it. Simon was a bit of a pushover, but I loved that about him. We ended up splitting because my parents found out about us, and I had to transfer out of our 'liberal' college. I heard whispers throughout their career, backroom drugs, abusive assholes who took advantage of Simon's desperation. Everyday it haunts me to think that if I'd just dropped out of college and convinced Simon to not continue on with this band, maybe he'd still be here. Maybe we would've gotten married, when that law passed. I've been with a few people since then, but Simon still lives on in my heart. I can't replace him. Miss you forever. I'm your Hick forever.

The album cover is low-key nightmare fuel

I remember kicking it in my dorm room when I heard the commotion in the hallway. They were gonna be performing at Ralph's that night, Michelle had heard. I remember us all pregaming with Sunny D and either Vodka or Steel Reserve, and making the hike across town. Just after we got past security, I ran into the bathroom to take a leak, and I ran into Ted. I snuck past to the urinal, but Ted was singularly focused on pounding the stall door, calling out for Alvin b/c the opener had 3 more songs. Ted borrowed a quarter to shim open the door where he found Alvin, pants down, having nodded off. Just when I was finished washing my hands, Ted asked me to help Alvin get to the greenroom. We got his pants on, put his arm's over our shoulders, and hoofed it over. Ted gave me his drink ticket and told me to not mention it, and yelled for Simon to come out. You don't need me to tell you about the show being magical like some boomer, you wouldn't be here if you hadn't heard a dozen stories like that already. But it was. I'm still amazed Alvin collected himself to get on stage like that, becoming a conduit to the horror of existence. Michelle got invited backstage after flashing her tits. Sometimes I wish I'd said something before her life turned like that.

Chipmunks (soon Chipmunkson16speed as they are known today) were a local American post punk band that formed in the middle of the early 70s. They started out as a regular school band that would perform mainly rock based covers of several famous artists from the time. The band consisted of 3 friends named Simon, The Vocalist and frontman of the group (he also played the guitar). Alvin, The Coca-Cola obsessed bassist who would honestly fit more as the frontman with his attitude and all attracting several school girls to him. Theodore, The really funny drummer. After a few years mainly just gigging out on their own in Theodores garage. They got a chance to play at the school dance. This gig was so good that they got a quick mention in the paper, which caught the attention of an indie label manager named Ian. That Christmas they released one single, Christmas don’t be late (B-Side: Have yourself a merry little Christmas) this single was an instant hit. Known for its twist on Christmas music. Turning Happy jolly tunes into Melancholic masterpieces. On the singles B-Side the group would map out the rest of their career. The track was inspired by an incident on the first day of December where Frank Sinatra’s “Have yourself a merry little Christmas” was accidentally played on 16 speed. After 30 seconds of the song playing at this speed the network discovered the error and instead played it at its regular tempo. This however gave Simon an idea. After the record was released the band changed its name to Chipmunkson16speed, And recorded another single. Was it as popular as the last one? No. But it still got high enough on the charts to convince the boys to quit school and start recording their first album. After years of picking up inspiration from the Post punk movement, writing songs, Getting the right sound. The album was released. It was an instant classic, with the group gaining millions of fans. The main single “Call Me” even peaked at the charts for about a week!. However, Alvin seemed to be getting more attention then Simon (since all of the boys sang at-least one song in the album). And he became the frontman of the group. With Simon just being a songwriter and a guitarist. After another hit album and a successful tour. Ian, who was overwhelmed with the groups success. Removed the groups contract. Note: I had to eat breakfast so I have to edit the rest instead of typing it in one go From then the group basically went their own ways, Simon would marry the band’s honorary member Jeanette, Alvin would get addicted to drugs and get married with a model, Theodore ended up getting addicted to meth. Pretty easy to see who’s doing the best, -It’s fucking Simon-. However during the mid to late 80’s Alvin would gain interest in reforming the band after meeting up with his friend Dave. Who had coincidentally started a record label. He was able to convince Theodore, but Simon wasn’t willing to rejoin the band. He argued that he had a family and that if he rejoined the band he would become disconnected from his son that he loved so much. However eventually Alvin offered a deal. The deal was that Simon would get all the bands money. Tours, the albums. All of the money would go to him. Simon reluctantly accepted this deal. The comeback albums production was hellish to say the least. Alvin always showed up drunk, along with Theodore if you add drugs to the mix. Dave and Simon where the only sensible people working on the album, but even Dave was slowly getting addicted to Alcohol. After the album released, Simon and Theodore revealed their desire to quit. Alvin did not take this lightly and forced Dave to make the band tour so they “could get their spirits back up”. Dave didn’t hesitate to agree. Which would’ve made sense since the album had become their most successful yet. But it doesn’t because most of the group having a burning desire to leave the band and go back to their normal lives. But the band toured and it went as expected. Horribly, during the first show in Britain. Alvin got drunk and shat himself. Embarrassed. He stage dived into the crowd and left through the front door. After Call me was over Simon and Theodore investigated, He was found in a nearby bar. Dead……. The band split up after this. Simon, Despite what he experienced. Lived happily ever after with his family. Theodore on the other hand died of drug overdose in 1990. After his death the album your listening to right now came out. It was part one of a 2 part compilation. Showcasing the bands greatest beats from their catalogue. Most coming from the comeback album (well at-least in this part). Both parts of the extended 2015 release remain untouched on RU-vid. The first part of the original compilation still exists (your listening to it right now) however part 2 is lost.

This album is the soundtrack of laying on the couch, staring at the ceiling fan spin, and desperately waiting for your meds to numb your lumbar pain

For some reason, "Heaven is a Place On Earth" has this vibe of a memory to it to me. Like a feeling that you'll never get back to what it used to be. (Which I guess is the same feeling as the storytellers) But, for some reason, it reminded me of high school. I just graduated in May, so my mind is still getting used to the fact that 75% of the people I used to see every weekday, I may never see again. It reminded me that maybe my best days are over, and that I'm going down a dark, desolate path. ...I may need therapy.

One of my fav comments from the original posting of this, and I'm paraphrasing, was "My Sharona is what plays when your stalker has finally tracked you down cross-country" - not my comment, but an absolutely accurate observation from its original author. Additionally, another observer opined, "Call Me sounds like a Nick Cave song".

back in 77’ I went with a girl who invited me out to one of their concerts in Bakersfield California, When we went there there was a total slugfest , Alvin throwing his shit across the concert hall , Simon shooting up herion in the girls bathroom with one of security guards , Theodore was the only one playing . In the end my girl was getting a train ran on her and Alvin smears his shit all over her. Safe to say when I went home I took a cold shower . I’ll honestly never forget that day.

This is the definitive version of the album. Thanks for reuploading it.

God, I miss the chipmunks. I actually got to meet Theodore when i was running a Thornton's back in '95. The dates are a bit fuzzy, but it had to be before their second breakup because he was still clean, and it couldn't have been after Alvin's sex scandal because they mostly stayed in california after that. He seemed nice enough, but you could tell something was wrong. He had this look in his eyes. The only other time I've ever seen it was at my father's memorial. His skin looked like wax. His eyes were glassy and he seemed almost like he was moving in slow motion. I tried to ask him about his brothers and the band before he left, but he just stared. I think he mumbled something about Dave. It's no wonder he killed Eleanor. You don't come back from wherever he went. Nobody does.

This should be the ONLY version of “heaven is a place on earth”. I’m constantly singing it exactly like this version 😂

this version of heaven is a place on earth is so existential but it comforts me in a strange way

I had no idea this was taken down, thank you for preserving it.

"We're the ones on the run, We're the girls with the diamond dolls (diamond dolls) It's a ravenous world, and the ceiling is very tall..." In all seriousness, it's mad how cool these lyrics are when they are sung weird. This is making me question a lot about what art even is...

Man this hits hard, frfr, i will check some alvins work EDIT: OMG HE DIED?????

Ladies and gentlemen, we gather here today to remember and celebrate the life of Alvin, a true musical genius whose haunting melodies touched the hearts and souls of everyone fortunate enough to hear his music. Alvin was a central figure in the underground world of music, and his contributions in Sludgefest left an indelible mark on our lives. Alvin was not just a musician; he was a visionary. His music had a unique ability to transport us to otherworldly realms, to evoke emotions we never knew existed, and to tell stories that transcended time and space. He wove haunting melodies that could stir the deepest parts of our being, leaving us with a sense of wonder and introspection. His performances in Sludgefest were legendary, and those who witnessed them will never forget the profound impact he had on our lives. Alvin's music was a source of inspiration for countless artists and music lovers alike. His willingness to push the boundaries of conventional sound and experiment with unconventional instruments set him apart as a true innovator. We will remember Alvin not only for his extraordinary talent but also for his humility and kindness. He was a generous soul who encouraged and mentored aspiring musicians, always ready to share his knowledge and passion for music. His legacy extends beyond his compositions; it lives on in the countless lives he touched and the artists he inspired. As we say our final goodbyes to Alvin, let us remember the haunting melodies he gifted to the world. His music will continue to inspire us, reminding us that art has the power to transcend the ordinary and elevate our spirits. Alvin may be gone, but his music and his memory will forever haunt our hearts and souls, guiding us through the journey of life with a sense of wonder and inspiration.

After many years, I've come back to listen to this again. Listening to sludge versions of pop classics sounds more uplifting and happy than the originals. Diamond Dolls and You Keep Me Hanging On are my repeats.