Wednesday cover: "Pac-Man Fieber" by Gerald Mann (Germany)

This is the international cover version that classic video game fans in general have known about the longest, as photos of the front of the 45's picture sleeve showed up on the early Web.

You can see that, similar to the Finnish and Australian releases, Atari sponsored this version of the song to promote their Atari 2600 version of the game. Nikolaus Esche was hired to translate the lyrics. The B-side is a song Mann co-wrote. (Photos courtesy Discogs.com.)

But the best part is they made an official music video!

Wednesday cover: "Pac-Man-kuume" by Tijamaria (Finland)

Another international cover from 1983, this time with all-original music and vocals. And unlike the original, this one features no arcade samples, just synthesized effects.

This one also is a promotion for the Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man, as can be seen by the back cover. My working theory is that Atari licensed the song in territories where the original song wasn't released, like Finland and Australia. (Photos courtesy Ville Ranki.)

They then found local artists to perform the song in the native language. (Or, in the case of Australia, they just used the original.) Unfortunately, I've found no confirmation of this theory beyond the existence of the records.

Getting back to this release, the B-side is a love song whose title doesn't translate well I'm told. The orange sticker basically says "sample record / not for sale."

Wednesday cover: "Pac-Man Fever" by Green Notes (Philippines)

Remember the international releases of "Pac-Man Fever"? Not all were mere repackagings of the Buckner & Garcia version. Some were done by native artists. This one from the Philippines, however, is rather odd. It uses the "instrumental" version of the Buckner & Garcia track and has a new vocalist, presumably the lead of the Green Notes, sing the lead. Unfortunately, it seems they possibly only did one take, as it's a little rough.

I've never seen a copy of this 45 with a sleeve. (Maybe a generic one.) It is extremely hard to find on eBay and isn't even listed on discogs.com. The few I've seen photos of also appear to be in rough shape, making me wonder if all surviving copies came out of jukeboxes.

You can also find the song on the Filipino release of Hooked on Disco, which is also very hard to find. You'll note that actually mixed up the artist credits on the back and miscredit it to the Echoes. The other song by the Echoes has a female lead, however, so I presume the Green Notes credit from the 45 is the correct one. Oh, and the B side of the 45 is a song called "Lift Off."

Week 37: Columbia Hall of Fame 45

In 1983, Columbia issued a dual-hit 45 as part of their Hall of Fame series with "Pac-Man Fever" on one side and "Do the Donkey Kong" on the other. (All photos courtesy Discogs.com.)

It was reissued in 1987 with a different label and sleeve.

The Collectables label, the largest independently-owned reissue record label in the U.S., re-issued the 45 yet again later, although the exact date is apparently unknown.

Week 34: "Do the Donkey Kong" single

Columbia chose this as the album's second single. Of the album's games, Donkey Kong was certainly the biggest hit after Pac-Man at the time. But it just didn't make the impact "Pac-Man Fever" did. Buckner estimated it sold 200k-300k. A far cry from the 1 million of "Pac-Man Fever."

"Do the Donkey Kong" 45 picture sleeve, side 1

"Do the Donkey Kong" 45 picture sleeve, side 2

Only sold as a 45, it came in an attractive picture sleeve featuring the Donkey Kong logo and screenshot. Notably, the 45 has a ™ after the game name and a Nintendo trademark notice at the bottom. The "Pac-Man Fever" single had neither. (For Midway, in that case.)

"Do the Donkey Kong" side 1

"Do the Donkey Kong (Instrumental)" side 2

Side 1 is an abbreviated version (3:16) of the album track (4:32). The song only consists of two verses and choruses, a keyboard solo, and then repeated adlibs on the chorus, so it's simply a matter of fading early. The album version of the song features a false ending fade out inspired by "Do You Love Me" by the Contours. But side 1 of the 45 fades even before that point. You can find it on YouTube.

Side 2 features an exclusive instrumental version of "Do the Donkey Kong". Today it'd be called a karaoke version. And THIS version fades out where the false ending is on the album version. This version was not currently on YouTube, so I believe my upload is a 52 Weeks of Pac-Man Fever exclusive.

Week 23: "Puc-Man Fever" by Buckner & Garcia

You might have noticed I left this international picture sleeve off last week. It gets special consideration for a couple reasons. First off, it's technically Buckner & Garcia covering their own song.

I seem to have misplaced the e-mail that told the story, but my memory is that Columbia wanted to release the song in Japan, where Pac-Man had originated. Except there, it was Puck Man. You can see Wikipedia for the oft-repeated story of why it was changed. (Flyer from The Arcade Flyer Archive.)

Puck Man flyer from Japan

I'm not sure how the jump was made from "Puck Man" to "Puc-Man". Most likely it was simply a miscommunication or a lack of research. But regardless, it at least sounds the same regardless of the spelling.

 

As you can imagine, neither Buckner nor Garcia spoke Japanese, so they couldn't re-record the entire song. But they could redo all the parts where the game was named. In fact, Garcia only had to redo the choruses! Did you ever notice "Pac-Man" is only said in the chorus?

So -- again, going from memory -- they flew out to California and Garcia redid the choruses. They also had to have a different set of backup singers redo the backup vocals. Drop all those new vocals in place of the old ones and voila: "Puc-Man Fever"!

I believe they did go to the trouble of also having the new backup singers redo the, "To the right", just before the guitar solo, just so it all sounded consistent. Judge for yourself, but then come back, because we're not done!

Another technicality is that this isn't really a picture sleeve. The actual sleeve containing the 45 is fairly plain. But there's a two-sided insert with the graphic on the front. From my understanding, this wasn't uncommon for Japanese 45s.

Finally, let's talk about the B-side. You might have noticed it said "Mousetrap" on the insert's front. It also says that on the insert's back and on the record! But it lies. (Well, maybe.) The second song is actually the instrumental version of "Do the Donkey Kong"!!!

Now perhaps not all the "Puc-Man Fever" 45s are like this. Some may actually have "Mousetrap" on the B-side. But my copy doesn't. Discogs does list both a regular version and a mispress with "Do the Donkey Kong", but I don't know how much research has been done.

So, there you go. More than you ever wanted to know about "Puc-Man Fever".

What's that? You want to hear the "Do the Donkey Kong" instrumental? Sorry, I'm saving that for DtDK month in June!

Week 22: International picture sleeve 45s

While the standard American 45 (see week 2) came in an unassuming sleeve, that wasn't so for several foreign markets. We're only going to cover the Buckner & Garcia versions of the song this week, starting with Australia... (Scans from eBay.)

Then Italy. You'll notice this one has "Froggy's Lament" on the B-side instead of the instrumental version of "Pac-Man Fever". (Scan from eBay.)

Then Netherlands. (Photos by me.)

Then Brazil. (Scan from Discogs.)

And finally South Africa. (Scans from Discogs.)

Week 9: Picture disc

One interesting thing Columbia did was release the Pac-Man Fever 45 in a picture disc format. Well, maybe it shouldn't be called a disc because it's actually square. It came in a clear plastic cover so you could see the photo through the sleeve.

Both sides are identical photos of a Pac-Man game in progress. To fit the square format, the score is missing. The tracks are identical to the regular 45, the song with vocals on the A side and the instrumental on the B side. Except for the copyright notice, which is present on both sides, there are no markings on the record, so it's easy to lose track of which side is which.

Week 8: Country version

After the launch of the album, someone in the band or at Buie/Geller thought a country version of "Pac-Man Fever" would be a hit. Having already worked with Edgel Groves on "Footprints in the Sand", the duo asked him to record it.

After the country version of "Pac-Man Fever" was recorded, however, CBS Records got wind of it and nixed it. They were worried it would eat into sales of the original. Despite this, some 45 copies were pressed locally on the Starstruck label.

Remember in week 4 we told you we'd see Edgel Groves' name again? Yes, he's the same one that helped create the patterns included on the album's sleeve.

The country version of "Pac-Man Fever" is actually faster than the original, having been played at about 200 bpm as opposed to the original's 150 bpm. This makes the country version almost exactly one minute faster.

Just like the original, the country version 45 comes with an instrumental version on the B side. But nobody has ever put it online! Until now!!! Enjoy!

Week 2: Columbia 45

After great success in the Atlanta market, Columbia/CBS Records signed a deal with Buckner & Garcia for the "Pac-Man Fever" song. They released it nationwide on 45 in December 1981 using the same tracks as the BGO 45.

Pac-Man Fever Columbia 45, side 1

Pac-Man Fever Columbia 45, side 2

Week 1: BGO Single (Where it began!)

In October 1981, after Buie/Geller failed to get a major record label interested in Buckner & Garcia's new song about the video game craze, they published it on their own label. BG-1001 was "Pac-Man Fever" with the instrumental version on the B side. The 45 was only released in the Atlanta area. Despite this, copies are not overly hard to find today thanks to sites like eBay and Discogs.

"Pac-Man Fever" BGO single, side A

"Pac-Man Fever (Inst.)" BGO single, Side B