A record featuring the tracks "Twist and Shout," "Can't Buy Me Love" and "A Hard Day's Night" was dominating the charts on this date 50 years ago. And it wasn't by The Beatles. Alvin and The Chipmunks were only around five years old at the time but they picked up plenty of steam when The Chipmunks Sing The Beatles landed in stores during August of 1964. Liberty Records reported selling more than 25,000 copies a day when the record debuted.
Imagine a similar situation today, such as Kidz Bop doing a strictly Beyoncé or Katy Perry cover album and it going to no. 1. Okay, that is totally a possibility. But at least the "kidz" on Kidz Bop records have vocal abilities, however undeveloped. The Chipmunks could represent the most annoying vocalizations in music history.
It may have been the first time a bizarre Beatles tribute album hit the market, but it certainly wasn't the last. Music Times checks out five odd mashups and tributes that stray far from the original sound of the biggest band in history.
01) Beatallica
Beatallica goes beyond just being some mashup computer project. It's a fully touring band that combines the thrash/heaviness/aggression of Metallica with the total opposite produced by The Beatles. And this project goes beyond just an album...the group has released three full-length smashups thus far. Among our favorite song titles: "The Thing That Should Not Let It Be," "Blackened The U.S.S.R." and "All You Need Is Blood."
02) Mellow Dubmarine
We love music box sets. You never realize how much psychedelic music came out of Malaysia during the '60s until you go out and look for it. Someone at Recall Records realized that in the 30 years since The Beatles had broken up, the reggae scene had turned out quite a few covers of the group. There's no huge names such as Bob Marley or Burning Spear on this collection but you will be treated to skanking covers of "Let It Be" from performers such as The Soulettes, The Mohawks and Nicky Thomas.
03) The Grey Album
One of the more interesting mashup albums of all time is also technically a tribute to The Beatles. Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton took the recently released Black Album from Jay Z and mashed it up with The Beatles "White Album" to create The Grey Album. The record took the world by storm, both in terms of critical praise (including support from Jay, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr), but more so because EMI got flustered although Burton wasn't aiming to make money from its release.
04) The Beastles
It turns out that 2004 was a good year for taking hip-hop and mashing it up with The Beatles. Bob "dj BC" Cronin took the band's classic music and set it to The Beastie Boys instead. Sure, the titles weren't quite as humorous as those used by Beatallica, but the tracks such as "Whatcha Want Lady"—combining "Lady Madonna" and "So What'cha Want"—successfully bring the two acts together. Cronin would end up releasing three sets of Beatles/Beastie mashups.
05) Sgt. Petsound's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Ask any music critic for a Top 10 albums of all times list and inevitably both Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds will be featured (they're ranked no. 1 and 2 respectively by Rolling Stone). Bull of Heaven member Clayton Counts took on the project of mashing them up track-for-track, resulting in some horrifying mutants, such as "God Only Knows What I'd Be Within You." In all seriousness however, this is the most challenging album, probably because Counts held himself to tougher restrictions than other mashup artists featured.
