Witch Doctor - David Seville

How many Chipmunk vocal effect songs can you handle in a week? At LEAST one more? But of course!

Here are the helium infused origins of Alvin and the Chipmunks- only not yet the chipmunks. Ross Bagdasarian Sr. was a singer-songwriter-producer-actor-chipmunk enthusiast (probably) who, under the name David Seville, penned a novelty number titled Witch Doctor.

The song utilized a VM tape recorder which allowed Bagdasarian to shift the recording and playback speeds to create the distinctive high pitched vocal effect we all know so well. This wasn't the first time manipulation like this had been employed, however the use of the VM allowed a new clarity of voice to come through lacking in early muddier and distorted experiments.

Despite the Chipmunk voice, Bagdasarian wouldn't invent (and thus market songs via the characters) till later that year with 'The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late).' A re-recorded version of Witch Doctor featuring all-helium-all-the-time would come later.

And now you know how Alvin, Simon and Theodore got their bit part start in the high pitched and only mildly racist (in a cuddly don't know any better sorta way) chorus of Witch Doctor.

Bridget the Midget - Ray Stevens

Bridget the Midget is a song to listen to while feeling conflicted, giggling, and silently mouthing 'What The Fuck?' to the nearest person.

The song reached #2 in the UK and #50 in the States. I'll be honest, I don't know what that means.

Happy Sunday.

They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa! - Napoleon XIV

Would you believe this was a Top 5 hit when it first came out?

Napoleon XIV is Jerry Samuels, a record producer and songwriter chiefly active throughout the 1960's. In 1966 Samuels was working as a recording engineer at Associated Recording Studios in New York. It was during this period, using both experimental techniques and technology, that he recorded They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!

Amongst these new techniques was a machine called the Variable Frequency Oscillator (or VFO) which allowed Samuel to create the sped up Chipmunk-esque vocal pitch changes with out actually changing the tempo of the song.

The track also features what's one of the first uses of a drum loop. Apparently the unnamed percussionist couldn't hold a beat for much longer than seven seconds. To get around this, Samuels took those seven seconds, chopped them up, and looped it into the backing track appearing in the final song. On top of this he added hand claps (he'd initially tried to convince the musicians to take off their trousers and slap their thighs, but no dice) and the creeping VFO effected klaxons which signal the choruses.

Finally Samuels recorded lyrics he'd written over nine months (apparently he couldn't decide if the song was actually good or just a sick joke). The song might be about a man who's lost his wife, or about a man who's lost his dog, but it's definitely about a man who's lost his mind.

The song's structure is fairly simple, but through it's repetition allows the listener to descend into ever increasing anxiety. Novelty song though it is, it perfectly captures the feeling of unpleasant thought spirals that everyone is held victim to at one point or another; and the slow, steady overtake of unease that this results in. It's the scratched record ticking away at the back of you skull.

Not bad for a song built on Chipmunk voices and tambourines.