Witch Doctor (song)

Ross Bagdasarian, a Broadway actor who had been a pianist in Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 film Rear Window, wrote the song, inspired by a book titled Duel with a Witch Doctor on his bookshelf. Bagdasarian had spent $200, a significant sum at that time, on a specialized tape recorder; while experimenting with the device, he had an idea of recording his voice at a different speed to create a dialogue between himself and the witch doctor. He sang in his own voice as normal, and then overdubbed the song with the voice of the "witch doctor", which is in fact his own voice sung slowly but recorded at half speed on the tape recorder, then played back at normal speed (the voice was therefore sped up to become a high-pitched, squeaky one). The same technique used to create the voice of the witch doctor was used in Bagdasarian's next song "The Bird on My Head", and then more significantly the highly successful Alvin and the Chipmunks, beginning with "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" released for Christmas 1958. The Big Bopper parodied both songs on "The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor"; this song was originally released as a single, but it was its flip-side "Chantilly Lace" that became the hit. ==Chart performance==

"Witch Doctor" peaked at on the Billboard Top 100, the predecessor to the Billboard Hot 100. The single was considered a major surprise hit on the chart, where it became Ross Bagdasarian and Liberty Records' first single, and stayed in the position for three weeks. The single also peaked at on the Billboard R&B chart even though it is not a R&B song – this is due to the R&B chart being a trade category at the time, reflecting the popularity of the song with African-American radio stations and customers. The single had sold 1.4 million copies in the United States by December 1958. Charts ==Cover versions==

Alvin and the Chipmunks versions The song has gained further popularity due to multiple covers performed by Alvin and the Chipmunks, another Ross Bagdasarian creation. The first was for their 1960 album Sing Again with The Chipmunks, which would be released as a single and adapted into a musical segment in The Alvin Show, which in turn was included on the eponymous soundtrack of the animated series. In 1983, they performed the song on the Alvin and the Chipmunks episode "The Chipmunk Story" and for their 1984 album Songs from our TV Shows. The Chipmunk Adventure also features the song, this time sung by Mrs. Miller. The song was used for the opening of the 1990 TV special ''Rockin' Through the Decades'', with each verse being sung by one of the Chipmunks in the style of a different artist. In 2007, a DeeTown remix cover featuring Chris Classic was recorded for the live-action/CGI film Alvin and the Chipmunks. This version reached No. 62 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2008. Cartoons version Danish band Cartoons covered "Witch Doctor" for their 1998 debut album, Toonage. Released on October 26, 1998, their version charted well in Europe, reaching the Top 40 in several countries, and peaking at on the UK Singles Chart in March 1999. • Mexican actor and comedian Manuel "El Loco" Valdés performed a Spanish version of the song for the 1958 film Two Ghosts and a Girl, where he plays various stereotypical roles of African, German, Spanish, Russian and Chinese people. The performance was very well received by the Mexican public and is considered a classic of Mexican comedy. Manuel Valdés would reinterpret the song in other productions throughout his career, including the 2007 animated film La Leyenda de la Nahuala. • New wave band Devo recorded a version for the soundtrack of The Rugrats Movie. The verses were changed to be about how monkeys have more fun than humans. == References ==