From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sun Jan 27, 2002  2:29 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : David Seville
 
DAVID SEVILLE

Born Ross Bagdasarian, 27 January 1919, Fresno, California
Died 16 January 1972, Beverly Hills, California

Singer / songwriter / actor.
The son of an Armenian-born California grape farmer, Seville entered
show business as a struggling actor. At age 19 he left for New York
City to appear in his cousin William Saroyan's play "The Time Of Your
Life". As an actor, Seville would later appear in such films as Billy
Wilder's "Stalag 17" (1953) and Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window" (1954).
After a four-year stint in the US Air Force in the mid-Forties, Seville
married and settled in Los Angeles. Turning to songwriting, he had
several early successes, most notably "Come On-A My House", a
million-selling smash by Rosemary Clooney (1951). With his own
orchestra he had a # 42 pop hit, with the often recorded "Armen's
Theme" (1956). After buying an expensive tape recorder in 1957 and
experimenting with the speed control, Seville discovered that he could
produce what sounded like multiple voices. Manipulating the tape speed,
he sang "Witch Doctor" as a duet between his normal and accelerated
voice. Reluctantly released in 1958 by the almost bankrupt Liberty
Records, the song shot to # 1 on the pop and R&B charts.
Employing the same method, Seville soon invented a trio called The
Chipmunks, Simon, Theodore and Alvin, their names taken from those
of Liberty executives. Their first record, the Christmas novelty "The
Chipmunk Song" sold 3,500,000 copies in five weeks (late 1958 - early
1959). Needless to say, it was another # 1 for Seville. More Chipmunks
hits followed, as well as a cartoon show ("The Alvin Show"), well into the
sixties. Shortly before his death (cause: heart attack), Seville retired his
Chipmunks and moved towards mainstream rock music. Seville's son, Ross
Bagdasarian, Jr., a Stanford law graduate, resurrected The Chipmunks in
1977 and successfully marketed a string of Chipmunks projects.
"Witch Doctor" reached the British Top 10 in 1999 via a version by the
group The Cartoons.

"Witch Doctor" is available on the Various Artists CD "Radio Gold, Vol. 3"
(Ace 557).