Songfacts®:

• This novelty tune was written in 1939 by two men of Armenian origin: Ross Bagdasarian and his cousin, the writer William Saroyan. Bagdasarian later had two #1 hits in 1958 as David Seville with "Witch Doctor" and "The Chipmunk Song." Saroyan is not known to have penned any other pop songs. He is best known for his short stories such as The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze (1934), which idealized the hopes and sentiments of the "little man." One of his plays was The Time of Your Life (1939) which included Bagdasarian in the Broadway cast. In fact the two cousins wrote this song on the post-Broadway tour bus of the play.
• This was produced by Mitch Miller, whose innovative use of harpsichord greatly enhanced this dialect song.
• Rosemary Clooney thought this had cheap lyrics and was just an "Armenian novelty song." She also disliked having to sing it in a mock Italian accent. Mitch Miller had to threaten to terminate her just signed contract with Columbia Records before she agreed to record it. Within weeks of her finally relenting, she found herself with one of the biggest-selling hits in the country. She continued to dislike it, but acknowledged it was the song that made her a household name.
• Clooney later used the same Italian accent for her 1954 hit "Mambo Italiano."
• Among other artists who covered are Ella Fitzgerald, Kay Starr and Della Reese.