David Seville

about

Rostom Sipan Bagdasarian (January 27, 1919 – January 16, 1972), American pianist, songwriter, actor, and record producer was born in Fresno, California, and was of Armenian ethnic descent. During his professional life he was better known by the stage name David Seville, which he used on his recordings featuring The Chipmunks. His first musical success was Rosemary Clooney's "Come on-a My House", which he based the lyrics on dialogue from his famous cousin William Saroyan's novel The Human Comedy. He had a moderate hit in 1956 under the name Alfi & Harry with the novelty record "The Trouble With Harry." As David Seville, he had another #1 record in his song, "The Witch Doctor", which was also his first experiment with the technique of speeding up the playback of an audio track to get the "most-distinctive" higher pitched squeaky comical sound. This success led to his recording of "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" with The Chipmunks. Bagdasarian also appeared in minor film roles, including Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954), in which he plays an obsessed, piano-playing songwriter who composes, plays, and sings a song called "Lisa." Bagdasarian's dialogue is not clearly heard, and he appears only in long shots, but he is the only other person seen during Hitchcock's notorious cameo appearance. He also had bit parts in The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), Viva Zapata! (1952), Destination Gobi (1953), Stalag 17 (1953), Alaska Seas (1954), The Proud and Profane (1956

top songs

albums

Witch Doctor

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Halloween Hits, Bangs and Spooky Sounds

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101 R&B Hits Of The 50's

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Alvin and the Chipmunks (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

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Witch Doctor (Remastered)

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The 50's Vol. 1

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Just Novelty Songs

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Golden Age of Rock 'N' Roll Special Novelty Edition

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Remastered Classics, Vol. 251, David Seville and the Chipmunks

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Doo Wop Dance Gold Vol 2

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The Best of 50´s

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Ultimate Kids Halloween Party Album

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