David Seville

He made straight comedy records under his real name, Ross Bagdasarian, but as David Seville he created the nexus between rock and roll and cartoons, and he did it with speed.

The Chipmunks came a bit later. As David Seville he put 6 hits on the top 100 in 1958 and 1959. The 2 I have are his 2 top 40 records.

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David Seville:

• Witch Doctor – How do I make her like me? David Seville has one answer in this song that went to number 1 in the spring of 1958. Seville introduces the as yet unidentified cartoon voices into his music; later the witch doctor would morph into a chipmunk called Alvin.
• The Bird On My Head – Some people, when they are despondent they eat worms. David Seville, he sits in a parking lot with a bird on his head. The bird, it doesn’t sound like a chipmunk, not exactly, nor of course should it. It does, though, have a vaguely electronic sound to it, like it’s a kid’s toy bird. From the summer of 1958.