Melvin and the Squirrels were a band pretending to be squirrels in response to the "rodent invasion" of the 1960s. The band has high pitched voices, and is known to have a sung a rendition of "Yankee Doodle" in which Melvin replaced the word "macaroni" with "Rice A Roni". The one human band member shouts "MELVIN!"
Behind the laughter[]
- The band references cartoon group of singing chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks. In addition to the similar names and designs, both bands use artificially high pitched voices, a troublemaking rodent (Alvin/Melvin), and a human member who shouts the troublemaker's name in anger.
- Possibly also a reference to the group Shirley and Squirrely (with Melvin as a later addition), who had some limited success in the 1970s and early 1980s, with their biggest hit (comparatively speaking) being the ode to CB radios, "Hey, Shirley (This is Squirrely)".