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.
| Pac-Man Fever | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cover illustration of 1999 re-release | ||||
| 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 | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
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]
Track listing edit
| 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 |
Personnel edit
- Gary Garcia: vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, cowbell
- Jerry Buckner: vocals, keyboards, synthesizers
- Mike Stewart: Moog synthesizer (7, 8)
- Chris Bowman, Rick Hinkle: electric guitar
- Larry McDonald: bass guitar
- Ginny Whitaker: drums, percussion
- David "Cozy" Cole: electronic drums
"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]
References edit
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ "Pac-Man Fever". Time Magazine. April 5, 1982. Archived from the original on November 7, 2007. Retrieved October 15, 2009.
Columbia/CBS Records' Pac-Man Fever...was No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 last week.
- ^ "Popular Computing". Vol. 2. McGraw-Hill. 1982. Archived from the original on November 7, 2007. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
Pac-Man Fever went gold almost instantly with 1 million records sold.
- ^ Turow, Joseph (2008). Media Today: An Introduction to Mass Communication (3rd ed.). Taylor & Francis. p. 554. ISBN 978-0-415-96058-8. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- ^ Joel Whitburn's Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100 1959-2004
- ^ RIAA Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - Pac-Man Fever Archived 2015-09-04 at the Wayback Machine. RIAA.com. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
- ^ "American Bandstand Season 25 Episode Guide". TV.com. March 20, 1982. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
- ^ "Solid Gold Season 2 Episode Guide". TV.com. March 20, 1982. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
- ^ "Froggy's Lament" by Buckner & Garcia with commentary by Jerry Buckner