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, bing-bang".
History
Ross Bagdasarian in the 50s
Ross Bagdasarian, a Broadway actor who had been a pianist in Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 masterpiece 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;[12] 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).[5][6] Bagdasarian recorded the music first, and then experimented with the process for creating the singing voice for two months before recording it in the studio.[5][13] It was said that when Si Waronker from the financially-troubled Liberty Records label heard the resulting song, they released it to reach the shops within 24 hours.[14]
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.[6] Initially released under David Seville alone, "Witch Doctor" was also released under the name of David Seville and the Chipmunks and re-recorded under the name Alvin and the Chipmunks. The technique was also imitated by other recording artists, such as Sheb Wooley in "The Purple People Eater".[13]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.[15]
Chart performance
"Witch Doctor" peaked at No.1 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 No.1 single, and stayed in the position for three weeks. The single also peaked at No.1 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.[16] The single had sold 1.4 million copies in the United States by December 1958.[17]Billboard ranked it as the No. 4 song for 1958.[18]
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.[24]
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 No.2 on the UK Singles Chart in March 1999.[25]
Music video
The accompanying music video for the group's version features both live-action and 2D animation, and depicts them (as "the Cartoons", as shown on the title card) visiting a witch doctor. Lead singer Toonie urges the rest to see him, but they are all reluctant. He asks the witch doctor to give them the "magic words" (i. e. the famous nonsensical lyric), which the latter does, after which the group enters the house and follows the witch doctor into a TV and out the back, where they fall off a cliff but miraculously land unharmed on the ground. They all get into a ship shaped like a giant microphone, called "Toontanic" (based on the Titanic), and fly through the sky, underwater and in space. At this point, the video starts showing sexual themes, contrasting the cartoon theme. The rod-shaped spaceship flies into a hole, and then, bumps into a sphere, appearing to imitate a sperm fertilizing an egg. The witch doctor transforms into Elvis Presley, drops them off atop a building with a sign that reads "Toonie-Wood", declares his love for the band and says goodbye before leaving the place.[26]
English trombonist and singer Don Lang recorded a version similar to Ross Bagdasarian's recording. This cover reached No. 5 on the UK chart in June 1958.[45]
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.[46]
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.[47]
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