Pac-Man Fever (song)

"Pac-Man Fever" is a novelty song created by Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia, which was released on Columbia Records in 1981. It later appeared on their 1982 album of the same name, which featured an additional seven other songs based on other video games.
==Lyrics==
[Pac-Man Start Music]
[sound effects playing]
I got a pocket full of quarters, and I'm headed to the arcade.I don't have a lot of money, but I'm bringing ev'rything I made.I've got a callus on my finger, and my shoulder's hurting too.I'm gonna eat them all up, just as soon as they turn blue.
'Cause I've got Pac-Man fever;Pac-Man fever.It's driving me crazy.Driving me crazy.I've got Pac-Man fever;Pac-Man fever.I'm going out of my mind.Going out of my mind.I've got Pac-Man fever;Pac-Man fever.I'm going out of my mindGoing out of my mind.
I've got all the patterns down, up until the ninth key.I've got Speedy on my tail, and I know it's either him or me.So I'm heading out the back door and in the other sideGonna eat the cherries up and take them all for a ride.
'Cause I've got Pac-Man fever;Pac-Man fever.It's driving me crazy.Driving me crazy.I've got Pac-Man fever;Pac-Man fever.I'm going out of my mind.Going out of my mind.I've got Pac-Man fever;Pac-Man fever.I'm going out of my mindGoing out of my mind.
[Pac-Man Death Sound]
I'm gonna fake it to the left, and move to the right;'Cause Pokey's too slow, and Blinky's out of sight.
[Instrumental Break]
Now I've got them on the run, and I'm looking for the high score;So it's once around the block, And I'll slide back out the side door.I'm really cookin' now, eating everything in sight.All my money's gone, so I'll be back tomorow night.
'Cause I've got Pac-Man fever;Pac-Man fever.It's driving me crazy.Driving me crazy.I've got Pac-Man fever;Pac-Man fever.I'm going out of my mind.Going out of my mind.I've got Pac-Man fever;Pac-Man fever.I'm going out of my mindGoing out of my mind.
[Repeat and fade]
==Album tracklist==
#"Pac-Man Fever"
#"Froggy's Lament" - based on Konami's Frogger
#"Ode to a Centipede" - based on Atari's Centipede
#"Do the Donkey Kong" - based on Nintendo's Donkey Kong
#"Hyperspace" - based on Atari's Asteroids
#"The Defender" - based on Williams Electronics' Defender
#"Mousetrap" - based on Exidy's Mouse Trap
#"Goin' Berzerk" - based on Stern's Berzerk
==Alternate releases==
*A variant was released in Asian territories (including Japan) in the early 1980s titled "Puc-Man Fever". This version re-recorded lines saying "Pac-Man" to "Puckman" (based on the original Japanese title of the game); ironically, Puckman was still pronounced as Pac-Man in Japan, making this change rather useless.
**The Japanese release includes "Mousetrap", though does not feature the other songs (ironically, Mouse Trap as a game was never released in Japan). A Hong Kong version (under the "Puc-Man Fever" name) features all eight tracks.
*A German cover was released by Gerald Mann under the name "Pac-Man Fieber" in 1982. This version also received a music video, which uses the costumes also used for Atarinational Pac-Man Day.
*In 1998, the "Pac-Man Fever" song was re-recorded by Buckner and Garcia for radio syndication; a somewhat common practice at the time to avoid expensive licensing of the original song masters. The re-recorded copy features noticeably different instrumentation, particularly in the guitar solo. In 1999, the accompanying album was also re-recorded and released on CD; reportedly due to Buckner and Garcia being unable to license the masters at all for CD release.
**The 1999 recording was published in several additional compilations and formats up until the 2020s, including a 2012 re-release of "The Amazing Adventures of Pac-Man".
**In 2021, Jerry Buckner appears to have re-acquired the rights to the original recording masters, leading to the original copies being officially republished on platforms such as YouTube.https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx8MTfjdgOLGhCRbofBOjrgS9II5I0L7o
*An alternate "Pokémon Fever" version of Pac-Man Fever was produced (by Buckner and Garcia themselves) around 1999-2000. It is unknown what purpose it was intended for, though the song was never officially released. The instrumentation is based on the 1999 re-recorded version.
**As its name implies, it replaces the Pac-Man lyrics with Pokémon verses. Notably, however, many of these lyrics are completely wrong in relation to Pokémon; claiming the game is about "Cyber Cops from 2029", among other bizarre mistakes.
*In 2015, a remix of the original song called "Pac-Man Fever (Eat 'Em Up) 2015" featuring Jace Hall was released and featured in the trailer for the movie Pixels.
*In 2020, Japanese artist Dian made a cover of the song for Pac-Man's 40th anniversary. It is included in the Join The Pac - Pac-Man 40th Anniversary album.
*A rewritten version titled "NiFTy Fever" was released in 2021 by Jerry Buckner. Based on (and themed after) the controversial "NFT" technology, it received highly negative coverage from the press, and did not gain much attention.https://www.kotaku.com.au/2021/04/no-one-asked-for-this-nft-version-of-80s-hit-pac-man-fever/
*The "Collector's Edition" of the 2021 "Pac-Man: Birth of an Icon" history book includes a reproduction Pac-Man Fever single (on a 7" vinyl record).
==Trivia==
*In 1985, a group known as Thomas Jackson Publishing sued Buckner and Garcia over Pac-Man Fever; claiming that the song was plagiarized from a song of theirs known as just "Pac-Man".https://casetext.com/case/thomas-jackson-pub-inc-v-buckner This "Pac-Man" song does seem to exist, as it has three registries in the U.S. Copyright Office; however, no recordings of it have ever been found, so its exact similarities (if any) are unknown.
*The song was used in an Australian advertisement for the Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man.
*In the German version, one line refers to the ghosts as Macky, Micky, Mucky and Mocky; these are "alternate" ghost names which, while official, are very rarely used.
*A video game titled Pac-Man Fever was released in 2002, though did not feature its namesake song in the game. The game reportedly was intended to use the song, though negotiations with Buckner and Garcia fell through.https://twitter.com/InstantArcade/status/1304963983519019010
*The original album cover shows a zoomed-in screenshot of the original Pac-Man arcade game. Curiously, Clyde appears to be beneath Blinky in the screenshot; only visible by a single row of pixels.
**CD and digital releases often use recreated covers with vector graphics. One CD release uses graphics modeled after the unofficial Paul Neave Pac-Man Flash port.
==Gallery==
Pacman-fever-single-cover.jpg|Cover of the single release.
Puckman-fever-album-cover.jpg|"Puc-Man Fever" cover.
==References==
Category:Music
Category:Merchandise