Off-Topic Tuesday: "The Super Epic Video Game Medley II: Championship Edition" by Insane Ian

I know I just announced Donkey Kong month in June, but we have one last Frogger song to do for Off-Topic Tuesday in May.

A bit of a cheat, but three minutes into this medley we have "Frogger Cross the Street", a parody of "Dancing in the Street" by Mick Jagger and David Bowie. Check it (and Ian's other medleys) out at Bandcamp.

If using a medley containing one song about Frogger was too much of a cheat for you, we give you an honorable mention of this awesome "Frogger - Main Theme" guitar cover by Project Genesis (a.k.a. @EricHeatEsparza).

On the charts May 29, 1982

40 years ago today, "Pac-Man Fever" was #93 (down 32!) on Cash Box Top 100 Singles, its final week on that chart.

Meanwhile the album was #32 (down 13) on Cash Box Top 200 Albums and peaked at #24 (up 1) on Billboard Top LPs & Tape. But keep scrolling, we're not done!

Also 40 years ago today, "Do the Donkey Kong" debuted at #109 on Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100.

Welcome to DONKEY KONG MONTH! While we watch the song on the charts, all of June's items will be related to that song and all the off-topic songs will be Donkey Kong related!

Week 33: Pac-Man Fever cell phone grip

The best laid plans. Jerry Buckner was selling these until recently. He tells me they've run their course. A Google search will still find the sale page, but I believe he forgot to take it down.

Wednesday cover: "Goin' Berzerk" by The Four Eyes

The Four Eyes are a Seattle band that licensed the song to release their cover on 1000 Rock & Role Playing CDs in 2004. I believe this means they're the first artist to cover a song from the PMF album other than "Pac-Man Fever." You can find the track (and the whole album) on Bandcamp.

Rumor has it that if you go to the band's web site and check out their Songs page, you'll find more Buckner & Garcia covers on Secret Center Sessions vols. 3 and 4.

Off-Topic Tuesday: "Frogger" by Bad Religion

For the fourth Frogger song, we have this one from their album Back to the Known, where the band says Los Angeles traffic is like "playing Frogger with my life." Listen to it on YouTube.

On the charts May 22, 1982

40 years ago today, "Pac-Man Fever" was #61 (down 22) on Cash Box Top 100 Singles.

Meanwhile the album was #25 (up 2) on Billboard Top LPs & Tape and peaked at #19 (up 1) on Cash Box Top 200 Albums.

Week 32: Pac-Man Fever: The Story Behind the Unlikely '80's Hit That Defined a World-Wide Craze by Jerry Buckner & Mike Stewart

Buckner celebrated the 40th anniversary of Pac-Man Fever early with the release of this book in both paperback and Kindle formats on 4 Nov 2019. 

His co-author, Stewart, played Moog on "Mousetrap" and "Going' Berzerk" on the original album and was the recording engineer and co-producer of the 1999 re-recorded CD. (Image from mikestewartpodcast.com.)

The book is fairly short and mainly made of anecdotes from Buckner & Garcia's Pac-Man Fever experience. But it was certainly a wild ride! It also contains links to PMF-related videos and, best of all, comes with free access to the Pac-Man Fever Vault! (Sorry, I forgot about that part when covering the Vault two weeks ago.)

You can buy it on Amazon or currently on eBay directly from Buckner for which you will also get a signed photo.

Aside: Composer Toshio Kai

The uncredited member of the "Pac-Man Fever" team. Buckner & Garcia naturally sampled Toshio Kai's opening melody from Pac-Man to begin their song. So almost all the cover versions either sample or perform it to start the song as well. Almost.

From Twitter

Wednesday Cover: "'80s Cover Medley" by Scott Andrew

Seattle, Washington artist Scott Andrew performed this medley during a live performance at the Trabant Chai Lounge on 6 May 2005. "Pac-Man Fever" is the first song of the medley. It's available on Archive.org.

Off-Topic Tuesday: "Frogger Is Killing Our Culture" by Possible Oscar

We continue Off-Topic Tuesday's Frogger month with this song by comedy band Possible Oscar about "a violent video game that is corrupting our society at breakneck speed" in 2011. There's a link in the video description to buy it.

On the charts May 15, 1982

40 years ago today, "Pac-Man Fever" was #97 (down 11) on the Billboard Hot 100, its final week on that chart. It was also #39 (down 21) on Cash Box Top 100 Singles.

Meanwhile the album was #27 (up 8) on Billboard Top LPs & Tape and #20 (up 3) on Cash Box Top 200 Albums.

Week 31: Pac-Man: Birth of an Icon by Arjan Terpstra & Tim Lapetino

 This book, by Terpstra (@Ranja72) and Laptenio (@lapetino), is a complete history of Pac-Man. From its creation in Japan -- including the history of Namco -- to coming to America -- including the history of Midway and Bally -- to Pac-Man Fever (both the song and the craze) and beyond.

So, you're thinking, "big deal, they cover the song." Yes, but there's more than that. The Collector's Edition also comes with an exclusive, yellow vinyl 45 of "Pac-Man Fever" by Buckner & Garcia. This is the first time the 1999 re-recording has appeared on vinyl. The B-side is the commentary track from the Pac-Man Fever 30th Anniversary Edition album, also appearing on vinyl for the first time.

The Collector's Edition is limited to 2000 copies, but apparently hasn't sold out yet. (The ones hand-signed by Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani have, however.) You can get it at the Cook and Becker website.

Wednesday cover: "Pacman Fever" by Iron Butter

Iron Butter released this grindcore cover of "Pac-Man Fever" on their EP, For The Mysophiliacs, in 2006. The song appears to no longer be online for free, so here's a sample.

The EP cover is censored not because I'm prudish, but because I don't want the hassle of how putting nudity here might affect the blog. If you want the uncensored cover, you can find it on Discogs.

Off-Topic Tuesday: "Moves Like Frogger" by Insane Ian

The second Frogger song for May is a parody of "Moves Like Jagger" by Insane Ian, who's been featured before. Enjoy the video at YouTube. If you'd like to buy the song, see the links in the description. (Also, the "real video" mentioned there didn't get made, so this is the only one for the song.)

On the charts May 8, 1982

40 years ago today, "Pac-Man Fever" was #86 (down 51!) on the Billboard Hot 100 and #18 (down 2) on Cash Box Top 100 Singles. In Canada, "Pac-Man Fever" was #27 (down 11) on RPM's 50 Singles chart. This was the single's final week on the RPM chart.

Meanwhile the album was #35 (up 12) on Billboard Top LPs & Tape and #23 (up 4) on Cash Box Top 200 Albums.

Week 30: Pac-Man Fever Vault

We've spent most of our time looking back, but this month's items are all things that are currently available. They may sound a little like ads, but trust me, no one's paying me to do this. I just want to make you aware of some current, cool Pac-Man Fever-related stuff.

Run by Jerry Buckner, this site contains unique items not found anywhere else, like early demos of "Centipede" and "Defender." Plus full downloads of the PMF and PMF 30th anniversary albums. Well worth the $4.99, IMHO! Find it at www.pacmanfevervault.com.

Wednesday cover: "Pac Man Fever" by Sprites

This cover was exclusive to Little Darla Has A Treat For You, V.25: Endless Summer 2007-08, published by Darla Records. According to Wikipedia, the Sprites were "an independent new wave/indie pop music group from Maryland."

You can listen to the cover on YouTube and buy it at Darla Records.

Off-Topic Tuesday: "Frogger! The Frogger Musical" by Paul & Storm

Today starts Frogger Tuesdays. Every Off-topic Tuesday in May will feature a Frogger song. Well, I may have to fudge a little on the fifth Tuesday.

Paul & Storm created today's track in response to a Masters of Song Fu writing contest to do three styles in one song. You can listen on YouTube and buy at paulandstorm.com.

On the charts May 1, 1982

Forty years ago today (1982), "Pac-Man Fever" held at #35 for a second week on the Billboard Hot 100 and was #16 (down 2) on Cash Box Top 100 Singles. And in Canada, it was #16 (down 4) on RPM's 50 Singles chart.

Meanwhile the album was #47 (up 5) on Billboard Top LPs & Tape and #27 (up 5) on Cash Box Top 200 Albums.