''Pac-Man Fever'' is a 1982 album recorded by

Buckner & Garcia 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 Ja ...

. It is also the name of the first song on that album. Each song on the album is about a different classic

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...

, and uses sound effects from that game. The album was originally released in LP,

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...

, and

8-track tape The 8-track tape (formally Stereo 8; commonly called eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, and eight-track) is a magnetic tape sound recording technology that was popular from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, when the compact cassette, wh ...

formats, 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 and earning gold certification by the RIAA for selling over 1 million copies; the single sold 2.5 million copies in total as of 2008. 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 #103 on ''Billboards Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. Like the title song, the album itself went on to receive a

gold certification Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

from the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

, for over 500,000 records sold; the album sold 1,200,000 copies in total by the end of 1982. The duo performed both of these singles on ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...

'' on March 20, 1982, as well as appearing later that day on '' Solid Gold'', singing "Pac-Man Fever". The album was completely rerecorded in 1999 for CD release because the original album is still owned by Columbia and they reportedly declined to release it on CD. When Buckner & Garcia rerecorded "Mousetrap" for this release, they were unable to find a copy of the arcade game anywhere (as it was a rare game from the get-go and had failed due to it being seen as a ''Pac Man'' clone), so they recorded the dog and cat sounds at a pet store.

Track listing

Personnel

*Gary Garcia: vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, percussion (cowbell) *Jerry Buckner: vocals, keyboards, synthesizers *Mike Stewart:

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

on tracks 7 and 8 *Chris Bowman, Rick Hinkle: rhythm and lead guitar *Larry McDonald: bass *Ginny Whitaker: drums, percussion *David "Cozy" Cole: electronic drums "Froggy's Lament" also pays tribute to

Smilin' Ed McConnell Smilin' Ed McConnell (born James McConnell; 1882 – July 23, 1954) was a radio personality, best known as the host of the children's radio and television series, ''Smilin' Ed's Gang'', closely identified with its sponsor, Buster Brown shoes ...

and

Froggy the Gremlin Froggy the Gremlin was a character created by Smilin' Ed McConnell and brought to radio in the 1940s and television in 1950s on the ''Smilin' Ed McConnell, Smilin' Ed's Gang'' show, and later ''Andy's Gang'' TV show, hosted by actor Andy Devine af ...

from ''

Andy's Gang ''Andy's Gang'' was a children's television program broadcast on NBC from August 20, 1955, to December 31, 1960, hosted by the actor Andy Devine. It was the successor to the radio and television program ''Smilin' Ed McConnell and His Buster Brown G ...

'' with its lyrics "Hiya, kids" and "Plunk your magic twanger, Froggy!".

References

External links

Buckner & Garcia
{{Authority control 1982 debut albums Columbia Records albums Pac-Man Novelty albums Albums about video games de:Buckner & Garcia