History Music / PacManFever

[[redirect:VideoGame/PacManFever2002]]

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pac_man_fever_original.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:Original version cover]]
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pacmanfeveralbum.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:Remake cover]]

''For the trope about wildly inaccurate portrayals of VideoGames, [[PacManFever click here.]]''

''Pac-Man Fever'' is the sixth release by [[http://bucknergarcia.com Buckner & Garcia]], released in 1982. Named after the title song, it was the second album from the group, and is [[OneHitWonder their most famous work ever.]]

The album became a top-ten hit, reaching #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1982, and eventually sold over a million copies. The single "Pac-Man Fever" sold 2.5 million copies as of 2008. In 1998, the duo was asked to record an unplugged version of "Pac-Man Fever" exclusively for the syndicated radio show ''Retro Rewind.'' In 2009, "Pac-Man Fever" was ranked at #98 on [=VH1's=] "Top 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80s" list.

They also inspired several copycats, including [[https://www.discogs.com/release/2717820-R-Cade-And-The-Video-Victims-Get-Victimized R. Cade and the Video Victims' album "Get Victimized!"]] (with songs about ''Ms. Pac-Man'', ''VideoGame/{{Scramble}}'', ''Frenzy'', ''Donkey Kong'', and ''Defender'', as well as songs about arcades in general, like "Change Attendant" and "Video Magic"); and "Dream Weaver" singer Gary Wright's songs about ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKU3UVUSfBs Dig Dug]]'' and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRUC0q84hCo Berzerk]]'', which he recorded under the name Digital Air. None of these were as successful as Pac-Man Fever.
----
!!Tracklist:

[[AC: Side One]]
# "[[VideoGame/PacMan Pac-Man Fever]]" (3:46)
# "[[VideoGame/{{Frogger}} Froggy's Lament]]" (3:16)
# "[[VideoGame/{{Centipede}} Ode to a Centipede]]" (5:35)
# "[[VideoGame/DonkeyKong Do the Donkey Kong]]" (4:22)

[[AC: Side Two]]
# "[[VideoGame/{{Asteroids}} Hyperspace]]" (4:05)
# "[[VideoGame/{{Defender}} The Defender]]" (4:05)
# "VideoGame/{{Mousetrap|1981}}" (3:58)
# "[[VideoGame/{{Berzerk}} Goin' Berzerk]]" (4:17)

----
!!''I got a pocket full of tropes and I'm headed to the arcade'':

* AlbumTitleDrop: "I've got Pac-Man Fever".
* AppealToNovelty: Played with; after the single "Pac-Man Fever" became a hit, Buckner and Garcia signed a record deal with Columbia/CBS Records. The duo did not want to become a novelty act, but Columbia insisted on a full album of video-game songs, which the group produced in a month.
* BookEnds: The album starts with "I got Pac-Man Fever, it's driving me crazy" and ends with "I think I'm going Berzerk, I think I'm losing my mind".
* ComeOutComeOutWhereverYouAre: "Ode to a Centipede" has the singer doing this to the centipede (at one point even using the trope phrase), bordering on StalkerWithACrush.
-->''You can't get away little centipede.''\\
''I'm right behind you.''\\
''Don't try hiding behind the mushrooms.''\\
''I see you!''
* DeathInAllDirections: "Hyperspace," based on ''VideoGame/{{Asteroids}}''
-->''Asteroids around me, don't know where to run;''\\
''I'm somewhere between the moon and the sun.''
* DescentIntoAddiction: "Pac-Man Fever" describes the player as obsessively spending all of his money on the game every day and developing callouses on his fingers.
* DissonantSerenity: "Goin' Berzerk" has traces of this, with lyrics about being trapped in a maze of killer robots juxtaposed with a gentle piano melody.
* FakeOutFadeOut: "Do The Donkey Kong", in the style of the Contours' "Do You Love Me".
* ItsAllUpstairsFromHere: "Do the Donkey Kong".
* PredatorsAreMean: "Mousetrap".
* ProtagonistTitle: Several songs feature the name of the game's lead character in the title (Pac-Man Fever, Froggy's Lament, The Defender, arguably Mousetrap). A couple (Do the Donkey Kong, Ode to a Centipede) were [[AntagonistTitle Antagonist Titles]] instead.
* {{Sampling}}: The songs sprinkle in some sound effects from the original arcade games they were based on. They were recorded from gameplay sessions on actual cabinets at a local deli, as that was the only way to rip them at the time. Allegedly, the sound of a man ordering a pastrami can faintly be heard at one point during "Pac-Man Fever", which was edited out in the 1999 remake. The sound effects were left verbatim in all of the remasters (except for "Mouse Trap", which used StockSoundEffects instead, as the original recording was lost, and ''VideoGame/MouseTrap1981'' is a rare game to begin with), and the difference in sound quality is rather jarring to say the least.
* SanitySlippageSong: "Pac-Man Fever" and "Goin' Berzerk".
-->''I think I'm goin' berzerk. I think I'm losing my mind.''\\
''I'm getting lost in the shuffle. It happens every time.''
* ShoutOut: "Froggy's Lament" is a tribute to Smilin' Ed [=McConnell=] and Froggy the Gremlin from the children's television show ''Andy's Gang''
-->''Plunk your magic twanger, Froggy!''
* StockSoundEffects: The re-release version of "Mousetrap" had to make use of stock sound effects of a cat, dog, and bird since there wasn't a functioning Mousetrap arcade game at the time of the recording to capture its sounds.
* TitleTrack: "Pac-Man Fever".

* TheRemake: When the album was re-released on CD in 1999, Buckner and Garcia were not allowed to access their original recordings from 1982, and Sony Music refused to release the original album on CD. Therefore, the band had to redo all of the songs with modern sound-alike recordings.
** For the movie ''Film/{{Pixels}},'' Jerry Buckner, vocalist Danny Jones, and Jace Hall used the vocals from the late Gary Garcia's master recording to record a new version, "Pac-Man Fever Eat Em' Up".

* AlbumTitleDrop: "I've got Pac-Man Fever."

* BookEnds: The album starts with "I got Pac-Man Fever, it's driving me crazy" and ends with "I think I'm going Berzerk, I think I'm losing my mind."

* ItsAllUpstairsFromHere: "Do the Donkey Kong"
* PredatorsAreMean: "Mousetrap"

* SpiritualSuccessor:
** Many fans consider [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl2uM_KX_9g "Wreck-It Ralph"]] (which the band recorded for [[WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph the movie's]] soundtrack) to be this; in terms of theme and style, it's a perfect fit for a ninth track (other than the conspicuous lack of sound effects from the game).
** The song ''Mr. T'' (originally recorded back in the 1980s, but not released on an album until a few years ago) had a very similar feel to the video game songs, but replacing the video game sound effects after each chorus with sirens, gunfire, and a bad imitation of Creator/MrT himself.
** In fact, most of ''Now and Then'' is this. The songs aren't specifically about video games, but most of them are about other fads and pastimes (E.T., pogs, skateboarding, and so on).

* TitleTrack: "Pac-Man Fever"

They also inspired several copycats, including [[https://www.retroist.com/2015/01/24/retro-records-r-cade-and-the-video-victims/ R. Cade and the Video Victims' album "Get Victimized!"]] (with songs about ''Ms. Pac-Man'', ''VideoGame/{{Scramble}}'', ''Frenzy'', ''Donkey Kong'', and ''Defender'', as well as songs about arcades in general, like "Change Attendant" and "Video Magic"), and "Dream Weaver" singer Gary Wright's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcMGZFYxhLk song]] about ''VideoGame/DigDug'', which he recorded under the name Digital Air. None of these were as successful as Pac-Man Fever.

* {{Sampling}}: The songs sprinkle in some sound effects from the original arcade games they were based on. They were recorded from gameplay sessions on actual cabinets at a local deli, as that was the only way to rip them at the time. Allegedly, the sound of a man ordering a pastrami can faintly be heard at one point during "Pac-Man Fever", which was edited out in the 1999 remake. The sound effects were left verbatim in all of the remasters (except for "Mouse Trap", which used StockSoundEffects instead, as the original recording was lost, and ''VideoGame/MouseTrap'' is a rare game to begin with), and the difference in sound quality is rather jarring to say the least.

# "[[VideoGame/MouseTrap Mousetrap]]" (3:58)

* {{Sampling}}: The songs sprinkle in some sound effects from the original arcade games they were based on. They were recorded from a gameplay session on an actual cabinet at a local deli, as that was the only way to rip them at the time. Allegedly, the sound of a man ordering a pastrami can faintly be heard at one point during "Pac-Man Fever", which was edited out in the 1999 remake. The sound effects were left verbatim in all of the remasters (except for "Mouse Trap", which used StockSoundEffects instead, as the original recording was lost, and ''VideoGame/MouseTrap'' is a rare game to begin with), and the difference in sound quality is rather jarring to say the least.

* {{Sampling}}: The song sprinkles in some sound effects from the original ''VideoGame/PacMan'' arcade game. They were recorded from a gameplay session on an actual cabinet at a local deli, as that was the only way to rip them at the time. Allegedly, the sound of a man ordering a pastrami can faintly be heard at one point, which was edited out in the 1999 remake. The sound effects were left verbatim in all of the remasters (except for "Mouse Trap", which used StockSoundEffects instead, as the original recording was lost, and ''VideoGame/MouseTrap'' is a rare game to begin with), and the difference in sound quality is rather jarring to say the least.

* [[PacManFever Pac-Man Fever]]: [[ThisIndexIsNotAnExample Ironically]], this is actually averted. The games were current at the time, the sound effects are used properly, and they clearly played the games.

* {{Sampling}}: The song sprinkles in some sound effects from the original ''VideoGame/PacMan'' arcade game. They were recorded from a gameplay session on an actual cabinet at a local deli, as that was the only way to rip them at the time. Allegedly, the sound of a man ordering a pastrami can faintly be heard at one point, which was edited out in the 1999 remake. The sound effects were left verbatim in all of the remasters (except for "Mouse Trap", which used StockSoundEffects instead, as the original recording was lost, and ''Mousetrap'' is a rare game to begin with), and the difference in sound quality is rather jarring to say the least.

* {{Sampling}}: The song sprinkles in some sound effects from the original ''VideoGame/PacMan'' arcade game. They were recorded from a gameplay session on an actual cabinet at a local deli, as that was the only way to rip them at the time. Supposedly, the sound of a man ordering a pastrami can faintly be heard at one point, which was edited out in the 1999 remake. The sound effects were left verbatim in all of the remasters (except for "Mouse Trap", which used StockSoundEffects instead, as the original recording was lost, and ''Mousetrap'' is a rare game to begin with), and the difference in sound quality is rather jarring to say the least.