Witch Doctor (song)

"Witch Doctor"
Single by Ross Bagdasarian
from the album The Alvin Show
B-side"Don't Whistle at Me, Baby"
ReleasedApril 1958 (1958-04)
Genre
Length2:15
LabelLiberty
Songwriter(s)Ross Bagdasarian
Producer(s)Ross Bagdasarian
Ross Bagdasarian singles chronology
"Witch Doctor"
(1958)
"The Bird on My Head"
(1958)

"Witch Doctor" is a 1958 American novelty song written and performed by Ross Bagdasarian, under his stage name David Seville. It became a number one hit and rescued Liberty Records from near-bankruptcy.[1]

In the song, the narrator asks a witch doctor for romantic advice because he has fallen in love with a girl; the witch doctor responds in a high-pitched squeaky voice with a nonsense incantation which creates an earworm: "Oo-ee-oo-ah-ah, ting-tang, walla-walla, bing-bang, oo-ee-oo-ah-ah, ting-tang, walla-walla, bang-bang".[2] The technique developed for the voice of the witch doctor was later used for the creation of the voices of Alvin and the Chipmunks.

  1. ^ "How David Seville and The Witch Doctor Rescued Liberty Records". Black Gold Brooklyn. October 11, 2017. Archived from the original on July 28, 2020.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference bronson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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