| "Witch Doctor" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:DS_witchdoctor.jpg) | ||||
| Single by Ross Bagdasarian | ||||
| from the album The Alvin Show | ||||
| B-side | "Don't Whistle at Me, Baby" | |||
| Released | April 1958 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:15 | |||
| Label | Liberty | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Ross Bagdasarian | |||
| Producer(s) | Ross Bagdasarian | |||
| Ross Bagdasarian singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"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.
- ^ "How David Seville and The Witch Doctor Rescued Liberty Records". Black Gold Brooklyn. October 11, 2017. Archived from the original on July 28, 2020.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
bronsonwas invoked but never defined (see the help page).