Pac-Man Fever | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | January 1982 | |||
Recorded | 1981 | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 33:24 | |||
Label | Columbia/CBS Records (1982) RC 37941 Buckner & Garcia Productions (1999) K-tel Entertainment (2002 version) | |||
Producer | Buckner & Garcia | |||
Buckner & Garcia chronology | ||||
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This article needs additional citations for verification .(February 2024) |
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Pac-Man Fever is a 1982 album recorded by Buckner & Garcia. Each song on the album is about a different arcade game, and uses sound effects from that game. The album was originally released on LP, cassette, and 8-track tape in January 1982, and was later completely re-recorded for re-release on CD in 1999 and 2002.
The title song, "Pac-Man Fever", was released as a single in December 1981 and became a top 10 hit, peaking at #9 in March 1982 on the Billboard Hot 100 [2] and earning gold certification by the RIAA for selling over one million copies; [3] the single sold 2.5 million copies in total as of 2008. [4] It had been released independently earlier in the year on the BGO Records label, before being picked up by CBS. The album's second single, "Do the Donkey Kong", peaked at #3 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. [5] Like the title track, the album went on to receive a gold certification from the RIAA, for over 500,000 records sold; [6] the album had sold 1,200,000 copies in total by the end of 1982. The duo performed both of these singles on American Bandstand on March 20, 1982, [7] and appeared later that day on Solid Gold to perform the title track. [8]
The album was completely rerecorded in 1999 for CD release because the original album is still owned by Columbia, who declined to re-release it. When Buckner & Garcia rerecorded "Mousetrap" for this release, they were unable to find a copy of the arcade game anywhere, so they instead recorded dog and cat sounds at a pet store.[ citation needed ]
No. | Title | Game | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Pac-Man Fever" | Pac-Man | 3:48 |
2. | "Froggy's Lament" | Frogger | 3:18 |
3. | "Ode to a Centipede" | Centipede | 5:37 |
4. | "Do the Donkey Kong" | Donkey Kong | 4:24 |
5. | "Hyperspace" | Asteroids | 4:07 |
6. | "The Defender" | Defender | 4:02 |
7. | "Mousetrap" | Mouse Trap | 4:01 |
8. | "Goin' Berzerk" | Berzerk | 4:17 |
"Froggy's Lament" also pays tribute to Smilin' Ed McConnell and Froggy the Gremlin from Andy's Gang with its lyrics "Hiya, kids" and "Plunk your magic twanger, Froggy!". [9]
Pac-Man, originally called Puck Man in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The player controls Pac-Man, who must eat all the dots inside an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating large flashing dots called "Power Pellets" causes the ghosts to temporarily turn blue, allowing Pac-Man to eat them for bonus points.
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Buckner & Garcia was an American musical duo consisting of Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia from Akron, Ohio. Their first recording was made in 1972, when they performed a novelty song called "Gotta Hear the Beat", which they recorded as Animal Jack. Later, in 1980, they wrote a novelty Christmas song titled "Merry Christmas in the NFL", imagining sports journalist Howard Cosell as Santa Claus. The recording was credited to Willis the Guard and fictional group Vigorish. The song reached No. 82 on the Billboard charts. In 1981, the duo wrote a faith-based country theme to back the poem "Footprints in the Sand", performed by Edgel Groves, which reached No. 1 on many Country and Easy Listening radio stations. The duo also produced an extended version of the WKRP in Cincinnati theme song released on MCA Records in 1982.
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Columbia/CBS Records' Pac-Man Fever...was No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 last week.
Pac-Man Fever went gold almost instantly with 1 million records sold.