Friday, November 27, 2020

Dec. 25 in Pac-Ville: Pac-Man Christmas Album (1982)

 


An old-fashioned Pacville (Pac-Ville?) Christmas story for kids, featuring Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, and Pac-Baby, plus ghosts Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde.  There was a two-season Hanna-Barbera Pac-Man TV cartoon that ran for 44 episodes, starting in 1982, but the voices on this LP seem to be completely different (Kid Stuff, the label, likely couldn't afford big-name voice actors).  My first time through this, I was editing out the pops that had escaped VinylStudio, and, between the pauses and my total unfamiliarity with the Pac-Man game or its characters (save for Pac-Man), I was totally lost.  The record seemed nonlinear to a surreal degree.

Once I'd patched things up and was able to listen in a single, unbroken run, the story of course made far more sense (plus, I'd read up on the game and could identify the characters), though the songs were still pretty lousy.  Of course, the songs were written for kids, and I'm not a kid (not the last time I checked), so my take is irrelevant--if these songs worked for kids of the early 1980s, that's all that matters--not my cranky senior assessment.  But I can't help wishing they'd opted instead for traditional carols and songs, only with the lyrics "Pac"-modified.  Such as, um... O Little Town of Pac-Ville, maybe--or... Hm.  Maybe this is harder than I thought.  We Four Ghosts (Of Pac-ville Are)?  No, that won't work.  I Saw Three Ghosts?  Nope.  "I'm out of coins, I'm out of coins, I'm out of coins, I'm out of coins.  Can you break a one? Can you break a one, etc.?" (Carol of the Pac-Bells)  "Still, still, still--Still stuck in this arcade.  Until the start of day; I just can't pull away." (Still, Still, Still ((Stuck in the Arcade))).  Or maybe O Come All Ye Pac-Ful?  No, that doesn't even make senseI guess I'll have to Pac this in.  (Ha-yuk, yuk!)

But "Pac"-altered lyrics to old favorites would have been fun, I think.  My ears find the character voices hard to handle--but, again, I'm an adult, not a kid.  Now, I've always regarded Pac-Man as a game for young adults, since I remember (back in the day) fellow sailors playing it at every opportunity.  I'm terrible at video games, so I pretty much had to stay away from Pac-Man and similar challenges, unless I simply wanted to lose a fortune in quarters (hence, my lack of familiarity with the Pac-universe.)  So, it took me until my second listen to realize, "Hey, this is for kids!  No wonder it sounds so nonlinear and bizarre."  I had never associated the game with children, especially, though I can now see that it has a lot of child appeal--especially when the icons are fashioned into cartoon characters.  The jacket art seems to take off from the TV cartoon, though there's no mention of Hanna-Barbera on the cover or label.

Despite the Disco-y music that gives the record a modern thump-thump-thump-thump sound, we know we're still in the pre-"edgy" era, cartoon-wise.  We know this, because the moral/lesson of the piece is rendered in a straightforward way, without a shred of "irony" (which, in modern usage, means sarcasm).  The lesson is clear: The spirt of Christmas is togetherness--a time when even enemies who have chased you around a CRT all year feel the call to make peace and share Pac-cookies.  At least, I think the record mentions Pac-cookies.  I can picture myself, in my days as a kid, finding comfort in the child-like character voices provided by... whoever.  No voice credits, but we know none of the actual characters played themselves.  (Or can we be sure?)

Oh, and Deck the Halls is the common wrong title for Deck the Hall.  And I guess "Pac-Mas," while cute, might have been a little too risky at the time, but I'd have loved a We Wish You a Merry Pac-Mas.

(My Lord--I just listened to the Pac-Man start-up music on YouTube, and it was instant time travel!  Oh, those period, barely modulated sine tones.)


DOWNLOAD: Pac-Man Christmas Album (Kid Stuff KSS-5029; 1982)


The Magic of Christmas
Snowflakes and Frozen Lakes
Under the Tree
Deck the Halls
An Old Fashioned Christmas
Somedays Are More Important
Friends Again
We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Pac-Man Christmas Album (Kid Stuff KSS-5029; 1982).  Written and Produced by Patrick McBride and Dana Waldon.


Lee

22 comments:

Ernie said...

Ha! Nice find, Lee. These kiddie records just don't survive, since the kids eventually quit listening to them and started using them as frisbees. I recently brought home a record of similar vintage for Rainbow Brite. I guess all the Saturday morning cartoons had tie-in albums.

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Yes, I was amazed by the condition of this one, though it turned out to have a bunch of annoying "bumps" that had to be removed. There was some residue on the vinyl (cookie remnants?). But I was thankful I could get a decent file out of this. The children who owned this must have gotten bored pretty quickly. Only one visible needle dig, and even that wasn't very catastrophic.

And this is the first time I heard of Rainbow Brite!

Ernie said...

Rainbow Brite, Strawberry Shortcake, The Pink Panther, Scooby Doo, all cartoons that were about the same vintage and I think they all had Christmas albums. I think there wereSuperman/Batman and Six Million Dollar Man ones, too, but that was a few years earlier.

Scott1669 said...

WOW!!!! I have 'Buckner and Garcia's' Pac Man Fever that I remember purchasing as a kid in the early 80's when stand up video games first hit the streets in Arcades!!!! This is a GREAT addition to that....

Thank you again for the greatness Lee!!!!

Scott1669

Lee Hartsfeld said...

The latter would have been SPC things--at least Batman and the SMDM.

I was tempted to bid on a Six Million Dollar Man holiday side at YouTube, but it already had a bid on it, and I wasn't about to spend real money on it...

I imagine Steve Austin had to save Santa from something. Something to fill up two sides of a 45 with. The record was probably more exciting than the show. Charlton Comics had the rights to the comic book series.

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Scott,

My pleasure! And I vaguely remember that single. I had it up on YouTube, ready to listen to it, then I got distracted by something else.

I'll have to revisit that single...

Scott1669 said...

Here is a link to the 12" that I have......It is way to long then it needs to be.......I have the album that I think in my GenX head is greatness with Defender and Donkey Kong songs that I can share if wanted.....
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mQw3z6S4dJO2CNQ3DsB8WRNgXEYG5O8p/view?usp=sharing

Lee Hartsfeld said...

An album--cool! But I'm getting an "access denied" message. Is there some code I can enter? Or do I simply request access, using the button?

Buster said...

I think my boys might have had this record way back when. I know they had some of the Kid Stuff LPs, which I recall being uniformly dreadful.

I suspect that the plot of this record didn't make much sense because the writer spent all of 10 minutes on it.

Lee Hartsfeld said...

That may well be! The plot is kind of an afterthought...

rev.b said...

I've bazoogols of Christmas music. I was hoping to come across something this year I hadn't come across before and here you are to fill the bill. Thx again Lee, hope this finds you distanced and well.

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Rev. B,

Glad to be of service! So far, I've managed to evade the bug. You stay well, too!

Scott1669 said...

Oh sorry.....forgot to add 'Anyone with the Link' option. Should be good now.

Diane said...

Wow, Lee, this is Pac-tacular! I have never even seen this album, and you know how thrift-crazed I am. I suspect that few have survived because most parental units disposed of 'em ASAP. Who could blame them? But it's a great archival find, and I'm thrilled to have your cleaned-up download.

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Scott,

Thanks!

Diane,

Yes, I can imagine parents eagerly pitching this thing. I hesitated to note how totally annoying it is, since it was for kids, and maybe they didn't find it so tedious. Then again... It's amazing how close I can to NOT spotting it. It was in a small box in the last flea market booth I visited. I flipped through the LPs, not expecting a great find, and then this pops up for a buck!

A man for whom Christ died said...

Oh my word, I too, had the Buckner and Garcia complete album (of course, didn't know who did it 'til now LOL), along with another Pac Man story album, I believe it was more of an everyday story, dunno who put it out though. I may have to download this one (at least temporarily), for (in the words of a friend from my time in LA) grins and giggles, LOL! Thanks for the memories, Lee and company, love and praying for y'all!

Romans 11:33-36 KJB

Josh
Podcast: http://www.jeremiah616.sermon.net
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A man for whom Christ died said...

Oops, I meant, Pac-Man, sorry.

Alan said...

Hi Lee! I’ve been visiting your blog since 2012, especially during the holidays, and it’s become one of my Christmas traditions. I hope you’ve been doing well during 2020.

I actually had this Pac-Man record as a kid, but don’t remember anything about it. I may still have it somewhere.

From one multi-cat household to another, here’s wishing you a happy and safe holiday season!

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Thanks, Alan! Warm Christmas wishes to you, too! Let's hope next Christmas is COVID-free!

Michael said...

Thanks for sharing! Is there any chance you can re-upload this file for download? It is no longer available. :(

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Michael,

Hi, I just revived the file. Enjoy!

Michael said...

Thank you! I appreciate it!! :)