Drivin' Me Cray-zay

by Chris Baker

"I've got a callous on my finger

and my shoulder's hurtin' too

I'm gonna eat 'em all up

just as soon as they turn blue"

Pac-Man Fever

The recording duo Buckner & Garcia brought us the hit single "Pac-Man Fever", a follow-up track "Do the Donkey Kong", and a whole album of songs about video games back in 1982.

To those of us who were too young for disco and new wave, this was important stuff--songs about our lifestyle by grown ups who understood. Back then, if you were spoiled enough to have a game console, a color TV, a bean bag chair, AND the Buckner & Garcia album in your room, then you had the 4th grade equivalent of a Space Age Bachelor Pad.

Novelty songs? Maybe so, but these fellas cared about the games a lot more than the Beach Boys cared about surfing.

Buckner & Garcia have just rereleased the Pac-Man Fever album. I caught up with Jerry Buckner via email.

What was your favorite game?

Actually I can't recall the exact name but it was made by Mattel for it's Intellivision series. It was a WW2 flying game. You loaded your fuel and bombs and then headed out across the English Channel on your bombing mission into occupied France. You had to dodge enemy flack and fighter planes. It could get very intense. I would still love to play it even today..[The game in question is B17 Bomber, one of the much-ballyhooed "Intellivoice" releases of 1981--ed..]

"Doin' the Centipede" doesn't sound as enthusiastic as "Froggy's Lament" or "Goin' Berserk" do. Did you love all the games you sang about equally, or were some tunes just there to pad out the album?

Well I can't say we were overly enthused about all of the games but we certainly were excited about recording the album. We wanted the songs to really sound great. We were pop songwriters and we wanted each song to sound like a hit on it's own. We didn't want to rely on just the sound effects. We know the appeal of the album was the theme of video games but I think the songs came out pretty good.

Did you ever get into any of the Pac-Man sequels? Ms. Pac-Man? Pac-Man Jr.? Professor Pac-Man? Pac-Land? Super Pac-Man? Baby Pac-Man? Pac-Mania? Pac-Attack?

No. I was never that good at any of the Pac-Man games because I am very impatient. Gary was a lot better than me. I guess he's really proud of that...

And what's up with all those Saturday morning cartoons based on video games? They cornered the market for a while there.

I don't remember much about it but I'm sure it did well. I was always a big fan of Clutch Cargo. You remember that show. The only thing that moved on the characters was their mouths. What a strange cartoon. Can you imagine pitching a cartoon show to CBS, with characters that don't move?

There's a line in Pac-Man Fever about having "a pattern to the ninth key." Do you think it was wise to boast openly about possessing such sensitive information? Aren't you worried that it could fall into the hands of the Red Chinese?

There is no reason to worry about any Chinese spies. We are going to great lengths to protect the secret Pac-Man patterns. We have put them in a special place that no one including the Chinese would ever dare look...we slipped them into a pair of Al Roker's underwear.

Was Pac-Man Fever [the illness, not the song] limited to a specific time and place? Or is it still possible to get, say, "Tekken Tag Fever" or "Jet Grind Radio Fever"?

I would guess not. There are certain things that come along in life and they just burst onto the scene because they are so different. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders...they all captured the attention of everyone in the early 80's. The whole concept of video games was something no one had ever experienced. People of all ages were feeding quarters into the machines night and day. The entire country went crazy for them. Although the new games do well you don't see that kind of excitement.

Do you ever play the old games anymore?

I have some of the games and play systems but to tell you the truth I just don't have the time to play. I stay very busy with various projects that keep me running day and night. Once in a while I go to Dave & Busters and play the soccer coin game to win tickets.

Do people still play retrogames out of nostalgia, or because they are genuinely enjoyable?

I guess they're like most people who want a little bit of the past. Playing video games was a big part of their lives growing up. It's fun to go back and feel that again. Plus I think they were great games that have held up well over the years.

Read more about the retrogame craze PLUS some retrogame links and other fun stuff

Visit Buckner & Garcia's website, where you can purchase your own copy of the Pac-Man Fever album. NOW ON CD!

Click here for the complete lyrics to the Pac-Man Fever album.