David Seville is the adoptive father of the fictional singing group known as Alvin and the Chipmunks. The character was created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. Bagdasarian had used the name “David Seville” as his stage name prior to the creation of the Chipmunks, while writing and recording novelty records in the 1950s. Bagdasarian would go on to create The Alvin Show, based on the Alvin and the Chipmunks group, where he voiced the fictional character David Seville. (More from Wikipedia)
Rosemary Clooney had a long singing career in the years leading up to the rock and roll revolution. Her breakthrough hit, “Come on-a My House” in 1951 was co-written by two Armenian American cousins, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Saroyan and Ross Bagdasarian. Bagdasarian, under his stage name David Seville went on to great fame by experimenting with recordings using speeded-up vocals. The first result was a #1 hit in the summer of 1958 called “Witch Doctor” – remember “Ooo eee, ooo ah ah ting tang, walla walla, bing bang, ooo eee, ooo ah ah ting tang, walla walla, bing bang”? He is best known of course for creating Alvin and the Chipmunks, whose popularity continues to the present day.
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In June 1958, the Big Bopper was going to record a new song called “Purple People Eater Meets Witch Doctor”, featuring two characters from popular novelty songs of the day: the David Seville song “Witch Doctor” that was mentioned already, and the Sheb Wooley hit “The Purple People Eater” about the “one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater” who wants to be a “singer in a rock and roll band”. (Both of these characters used sped-up vocals in the songs).
(June 2013/1)
