The Witch Doctor

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No, I’ve never had the pleasure or displeasure to meet an actual “witch doctor.” It referred to a healer who treated people’s ailments that had been caused by witchcraft. I mention it because there was a novelty song titled “The Witch Doctor” sung by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. and the recording was released in 1958 under the name of David Seville. Now perhaps this name might ring a bell for some. Seville was a character that Bagdasarian portrayed and this character was the dad to the popular Chipmunks – Alvin, Simon and Theodore. Does this ring a bell for anyone? The song tells the story about a guy who cannot get the woman he loves to return his affections and goes to a witch doctor for advice. What the witch doctor said to him was "Oo ee oo ah ah ting tang walla walla bing bang". This became a sort of catchy phrase and when we kids got to hear it we would be constantly repeating it and it could drive anyone batty. Believe it or not this song has also been done in several languages such as Spanish. Hope I got you all singing that song now.