Ross S. Bagdasarian (; January 27, 1919 – January 16, 1972), also known by his stage name David Seville, was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor best known for creating the cartoon band Alvin and the Chipmunks. Initially a stage and film actor, he rose to prominence in 1958 with the songs "Witch Doctor" and "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)", which both became Billboard number-one singles. He produced and directed The Alvin Show, which aired on CBS in 1961–62.

Early life

Bagdasarian was born on January 27, 1919, in Fresno, California to an Armenian-American family. His father was a grape grower.

Bagdasarian graduated from Fresno High School in 1937. He went to New York to work with his cousin Saroyan, intending to become an actor. When World War II started, he enlisted and served four years as a control tower operator and rose to the rank of a staff sergeant (SSgt) in the Army Air Forces.

After the war, he returned to Fresno, married Armenouhi "Armen" Kulhanjian, and they tried for a time to be grape growers. They were unsuccessful, and they moved to Los Angeles, where he started a career as a songwriter. It launched Clooney's career, reaching number one on Billboard charts and was number four on

Billboard year-end top 30 singles of 1951. The song sold some 750,000 records in a month. In 1954, Bagdasarian wrote "Hey, Brother, Pour the Wine", a hit for Dean Martin. although Alfi & Harry was just one person, Bagdasarian himself. It reached No. 44 on the Billboard chart and was a bigger hit in the United Kingdom reaching No. 15.

In 1956, he wrote an instrumental "Armen's Theme" named after his wife. The executives at Liberty Records suggested that he adopt a pseudonym as they thought his name was too difficult to pronounce.

Dave Seville and the Chipmunks

thumb|right|Bagdasarian pictured in the 1950s

Bagdasarian's rise to prominence came with the song "Witch Doctor" in 1958, Their debut song, "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" was released on November 17, 1958, and became a number one hit by New Years Day. The song sold 4 million records in the first few months. Bagdasarian won the first two as David Seville. The song was the 23rd most-performed Christmas song of the 20th century.

Shana Alexander, writing for Life magazine in 1959, noted that Bagdasarian was the first case in the "annals of popular music that one man has served as writer, composer, publisher, conductor and multiple vocalist of a hit record, thereby directing all possible revenues from the song back into his pocket." Alexander also found it remarkable that Bagdasarian "can neither read nor write music nor play any musical instrument in the accepted sense of the word." Bagdasarian owned Chipmunk Enterprises, which sponsored Chipmunk-related sales. By 1963, some 15 companies were using or planned to use Alvin figures. By that year, Billboard magazine estimated the total income from the Chipmunks' record sales (including overseas sales) and record club sales to be around $20 million ($ adjusted for inflation in dollars).

In the following years, the Chipmunks released several hit songs: "Alvin's Harmonica" (1959), "Ragtime Cowboy Joe" (1959), "Alvin's Orchestra" (1960), "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" (1960), "The Alvin Twist" (1962), and the album The Chipmunks Sing the Beatles Hits in 1964 during the British Invasion. They had three children: Carol Askine (b. 1947), an actress; Ross Jr. (b. 1949); and Adam Serak (b. 1954), a fiction writer.

Bagdasarian willed the Chipmunks franchise to his wife and three children.

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Bibliography

  • History area on TheChipmunks.com with some photos and stories about Ross Bagdasarian
  • [ Allmusic Entry]
  • David Seville Review at Rockabilly