Followed by an inferior re-recording of the greatest goddamned album ever recorded.
Pac-Man Fever LP
Pac-Man Fever CD
This is a for real 10. I'm too old to be into hipster kitsch silliness, and I don't pretend to like things just because they're from a bygone era and seem ridiculous and laughable to today's knowing, jaded youth people. I like what I like cuz I like it - oh yeah! And that includes the album Pac-Man Fever by Buckner & Garcia.
My father purchased the album for me when I was nine years old. At the time I was a videogame fiend and extremely excited about this brand new album of songs devoted to some of my favorite games. But I found a few of the tunes a bit lacking. "Do The Donkey Kong" seemed more suited to Bob Seger than an album in my collection, and "Ode To A Centipede" was too sad sounding! So sad sounding! But here I am, 18 years later, and I f-oldin' love every song on here. It's ludicrous that a bunch of novelty songs should be this catchy and well written. Why would a song about Berzerk sound like a gorgeous love ballad? Why would a song about Frogger sound as nouveau-thinking as Kraftwerk? And why for the love of Jesus' smelly vaginer does "Ode To A Centipede" sound so SAD? SO VERY SAD!!!!!
But I'm not alone in realizing the genius of these pop songs. I was playing the record tonight as my fiancee cleaned the apartment, and I noticed her singing along with pretty much every song once she'd heard the chorus once and knew how it went. She even laughed at the "Do ya have Nikes for all of 'em?" line in "Ode To A Centipede"! Quite simply, Buckner & Garcia knew what they were doing. The songs, driven by synth and guitar, cover a ridiculous variety of moods while maintaining intelligent pop melody throughout. And they incorporate the videogame sounds into the songs in such a way that the bleeps and bloops become an integral part of each song's mood. It's very bizarre how they pull it off, but it works so MAGICALLY!
Keep in mind that the record was made for children and thus sounds a lot faker and synthier than a decent adult album should, but this was the early '80s so you shouldn't be surprised to hear this kind of production. What you SHOULD be surprised about is how you can't get any of the GODDAMNED SONGS OUT OF YOUR HEAD!!!! Why didn't they record a follow-up?
Oh, that's right. Self-respect.
Recently, Buckner and Garcia did put out a followup called Now and Then which you can get on mp3.com. It contains unplugged versions of "Pac Man Fever" and "E.T. I Love You", along with some other songs they've done over the years, one of which is called "Pog Wild" and is a song they wrote about the Pog craze of the mid-90s. IT'S A SONG ABOUT POGS!!! How amazing is that?
Oh, one more thing, if you're gonna buy Pac Man Fever, make sure you get the original 1982 vinyl recording because the CD is a really crappy "re-recorded" version. CBS owns the rights to the original masters and won't release the original recording on CD (bastards!). If you listen REALLY CLOSELY on the vinyl version to the very beginning of "Pac Man Fever" you can hear somebody ordering a pastrami sandwich.
Btw, I feel like shit for doing this but I also want to use this space to plug my new album, just cos it's probably the only place on the net where it's really appropriate. It's called "Shakestation" and the group is Super Madrigal Bros. and it's full of authentic 14th and 15th and 16th century medieval music pieces rearranged and melted down into regal, nostalgic, psychedelic, kitschy 8-bit versions of themselves. All of the sounds were sampled from late 70s/early 80s 4- and 8-bit machines and anyways just go to www.supermadrigalbros.com or www.darla.com if you haven't already turned away!
I also wanted to say how much I've enjoyed this site. I find myself spending less time looking at hirsute chubby girl porn so that I can browse the excellent reviews and comments found here. I just wish you were still doing the Bribery Reviews - I have some horrible stuff that would be worth the 4 bucks just to see a review of it in print! Anyway, keep up the good work!
I was living in Sierra Vista, AZ. when I first heard "Pac-Man Fever", by Buckner & Garcia. (For the longest time, I thought their names were "Buck & Garfield".)
I was a ripe old 5 1/2 years old, and I was just entering the craze of video games.
-Later on, I heard the entire LP of "Pac-Man Fever". I just loved the title track, along with "Hyperspace", "Froggy's Lament", and "Do the Donkey Kong". I admit, I couldn't hang with "The Defender". Going on with growing up, however, I outgrew video games, and became an adult.
-Being in music, I recently auditioned for an '80s cover band, and I got to thinking, "Whatever happened to those songs?" So I hunted them up on the Internet, and lo & behold! There they were, on Amazon.com. I listened to the samplers, and the memories came follding back, like a sweet alcoholic bliss, before the barfing.
I am debating about writing to Buckner & Garcia, and asking them if they'd be pissed off if I wrote a "follow-up" LP to theirs. What do you think???
I I got a copy of The Shining and I'm heading towards the TV
I don't have a lot of interest, but a special guest appeals to me
He's got a bald head on his shoulders and a snowplow full of care
He's gonna get killed with an axe just as soon as he gets there
Because he's Scatman Crothers! (Scatman Crothers!)
Drivin' me crazy! (Drivin' me crazy!)
Scatman Crothers! (Scatman Crothers!)
Goin' out of my mind! (Goin' out of my mind!)
Scatman Crothers! (Scatman Crothers!)
Goin' out of my mind! (Goin' out of my mind!)
At the time, nobody knew quite what to make of Buckner & Garcia's full-length musical tribute to African-American film actors, but over the years Black Man Fever became something of a c
Hang on! I just had another wonderful "Pac-Man Fever" memory flood over me! I first heard the record over at family friend Mark Springsteen's house, as he owned the original single. Never a very lyrical child, I was at the time actually more fond of the b-side - "Pac-Man Fever (Instrumental)." So a few weeks later my father bought me the single, and I couldn't wait to introduce my older brother to the exciting phenomenon. Being a brain surgeon even at such a young age, I put on the b-side. So this is what my brother heard:
*Pac-Man Noise*
Fake drums
Dun-da dun dun duh, Dun-da dun dun duh, Dun-da dun dun duh, Dun-da dun dun duh
Dun-da dun dun duh, Dun-da dun dun duh, Dun-da dun dun duh, Dun-da dun dun duh
Dun-da dun dun duh, Dun-da dun dun duh, Dun-da dun dun duh, Dun-da dun dun duh
Dun-da dun dun duh, Dun-da dun dun duh, Dun-da dun dun duh, Dun-da dun dun duh
Nee nee nee nee nee nee nee nee
"Pac-Man Fever!"
Nee nee nee nee nee nee nee nee
"Drivin' me crazy!"
Nee nee nee nee nee nee nee nee
"Pac-Man Fever!"
Nee nee nee nee nee nee nee nee
"Goin' out of my mind!"
Nee nee nee nee nee nee nee nee
"Pac-Man Fever!"
Nee nee nee nee nee nee nee nee
"Goin' out of my mind!"
*Fake drums and Pac-Man Noise*
Dun-da dun dun duh, Dun-da dun dun duh, Dun-da dun dun duh, Dun-da dun dun duh
Dun-da dun dun duh, Dun-da dun dun - and I think this was about the time he called me a fuckin' tard and walked out of the room. But you see, it's true what I was saying before; it's impossible to hear Buckner & Garcia and remain unchanged by the experience.
The bastards in the BMW who work for CBS Records have for years refused to release the top-selling Pac-Man Fever LP in the new-fangled digital format all the kids are talking about, so finally in 1999 Jerry & Gary took it upon themselves to re-record the entire album for the CD generation. See? Degeneration! (That was hilarious) Now please understand -- there are very, very few artists who could re-record a near-perfect album 16 years after the fact and have it come within a hair's width of the original version. This is why, for example, the Beatles didn't get back together in 1983 to re-record Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The thrill of creative discovery would have been long gone, they'd have had to shake John's rotting skeleton against the mic during his songs, and it would have been possible for them to get excited about songs that they'd played and heard a billion times before. Such is very obviously the case with Pac-Man Fever '99.
They DO try. The entire first side is in fact a pretty close copy of the original version (even most of the same sound effects are used), but the vocals seem a little bored (particularly in "Froggy's Lament") and there are a few minor differences that don't improve on anything (the "Pac-Man Fever" response vocals are all on one note rather than going south for the "-er"; the "Do The Donkey Kong" keyboard solo has a less circusy tone and the extended coda finds the singer pleading "Come on!" earlier in each repetition than in the original). All and still, it's hard to complain about side one. The K-Tel mixdown seems a bit emptier than the Columbia big-money production, but that may just be due to the 'improvements' in recording technology over the period.
Side two is a different matter altogether. Although the overriding melodies and performances are still mostly similar to the original versions, there are some really lame updates that kinda stink up the joint. First of all, the "Hyperspace" sound effect is much higher and more awkward than the original, and the group vocals in the chorus now sound like three rhythm-deaf teenagers talking into a flanger pedal. Next, they've deleted a key low note at the beginning of each "The Defender" verse, effectively converting the song from an emotional release into a blandly cheerful Elton John craptone. Thirdly, they've pumped up and altered the guitar 'lick' in "Mousetrap," making it sound less like a twisted, ugly new wave child's song than a dopey electric blues child's song. Finally, they fuck the turd out of "Goin' Berzerk"'s previously ass-gorgeous piano intro -- replacing the entire thing with some generic Phil Collinsy AOR flapdashery. The song itself is still pretty, but they totally kill the mood with that puss-ass intro and its accompanying puss-ass keyboard tone! You hear me??? "Puss-Ass"!!!
So it's settled. You can't repeat genius (especially on a K-Tel budget), and old people are less good than young people. Especially The Killers, with that song about "Mr. Zippity-Doo-Dah" or "Dr. Optimism" or whatever. Their singer totally sounds like Ozzy Osbourne, BTW, IMHO. LOL! BRB! SOG?
Also, for some reason I'd never noticed how every chorus on Pac-Man Fever is repeated 600,000,000 times. In this way, Buckner & Garcia forsoothingly anticipated Metallica's St. Anger recording of many years hence.
One other question, while we're having a rap session here -- why is Chevy Chase such an asshole? Everything I can find about him online is just about what a self-centered, mean, babyish, nerdy, offensive, unfunny prick he is! Do you know him? Why is he like that?
