Pac Man Fever a re-recording???

I can verify for sure that the version on Rhino's 80's box set IS the correct, original recording. I have never heard the K-Tel compilation, so I can't say on that one.

As another interesting side note, a friend of mine has an import compilation on vinyl that has the Japanese version called "Puc Man Fever" or something of that nature. The words are all in English, except they changed "pac" to "puc" because "pac" means something dirty in Japanese.

I own the K-tel CD and the version is the original version.

Chiming in a little late here, but for the record, there
is a third U.S. CD that features the original hit
recording of Buckner & Garcia's "Pac-Man Fever" - it's
not listed in Pat's book, and I assume it's not yet in
the on-line database, either (haven't joined in order to
check). In the event you don't feel like investing
$90-$100 on Rhino's "'80s Pop Culture Box", K-tel did
include the song on one additional compilation, 1990's
"Seems Like Yesterday, Vol. IV: Early 80's" (K-tel 557).
However, it's long out-of-print, and used copies used to
fetch as much as $40-$50 on eBay, just because it was the
only other place besides the "Madcap Melodies"
compilation that you could get the legit version of
"Pac-Man Fever" on CD (until the Rhino box came along in
2002, that is). Although I've been aware of this other
K-tel CD for years (and knew it was missing from Pat's
book), I got lucky this past week, and found a copy in a
local used CD store dirt cheap. If Pat wishes to add it,
the complete track list and actual timings are as
follows:

01) "Let's Groove" - EARTH, WIND & FIRE (4:02)
02) "Shining Star" - THE MANHATTANS (3:47)
03) "Keep on Loving You" - REO SPEEDWAGON (3:19)
04) "Electric Avenue" - EDDY GRANT (3:47)
05) "Sexual Healing" - MARVIN GAYE (3:58)
06) "Total Eclipse of the Heart" - BONNIE TYLER (4:43)
07) "Rock the Casbah" - THE CLASH (3:38)
08) "Open Arms" - JOURNEY (3:15)
09) "How 'Bout Us" - CHAMPAIGN (3:18)
10) "Pac-Man Fever" - BUCKNER AND GARCIA (3:46)

There were a total of six volumes in K-tel's "Seems Like
Yesterday" series, and after doing some additional
checking, it appears that for whatever reason, none were
ever listed in Pat's book, despite the inclusion of some
other rarities. (Examples: Based on the 3:18 timing, it
appears that Vol. IV above also features the rare "45
version" of "How 'Bout Us", which according to Pat's
book, has only otherwise been available on Vol. 5 of
Rhino's "Radio Daze" series; the 4:02 timing for "Let's
Groove" also seems to indicate it's the fairly
hard-to-find "45 version".) The entire series was done in
tandem w/ CBS Special Products, so all of the recordings
were the legit versions from the CBS/Sony catalog.
Amazon's web site currently lists all six volumes, but
because they're all now out-of-print, they're only
available from third-party sources. (Seems the value of
Vol. IV has gone down since the Rhino box came out - you
can now get a used copy from several sellers there for
under $10!)

On a side note, I also recently picked up the original
promo 12" single for "Pac-Man Fever" (Columbia 44-02762),
which featured the "Club Version" (actual: 5:38) and
"Instrumental" (actual: 3:52), and transferred it to CD-R
- personally, I'll take that extended club version over
the other CDs!
:-)

budaniel wrote: If Buckner & Garcia did indeed get the rights to the album back, I really wish they would release it on CD already!

I don't know the story there, but I'll say this: I do
have the Rhino box w/ "Pac-Man Fever" on it as well, and
the book that comes w/ it claims that the track still
belonged to CBS/Sony as of 2002. I've owned the original
album on cassette since '83, and have seen the
re-recorded CD that you mentioned, but never heard it. I
agree it would be nice if someone came forward and
re-issued the original on CD, though...

Hey 80smusicfreak, i have the 12" version too...the Club Version you have, it's instrumental with just the background vocal? I was bummed when I finally picked up a copy only to find the "club mix" was basically a long version of "the instrumental". Don't suppose i just happen to have a defective pressing of the 12", huh?

Nope, that sounds like the one. The 5:38 "Club Version"
is the same mix as the 3:52 "Instrumental", just extended
by 1:46, w/ additional background vocals and sound
effects from the video game itself. (I agree that the
lack of lead vocals on the 12" single certainly makes
having the 45 and/or LP version necessary as well.)

As you may have noticed in Pat's database, the version of
"Pac-Man Fever" on the two K-tel CDs is slightly shorter
than the one on the Rhino box, so I went ahead and A/B'd
them - as far as I can tell, K-tel just faded the song
about seven seconds earlier, which is what accounts for
the time difference. (I've never owned the 45, so I don't
know if there's a difference between it and the "LP
version".) Oh, and the sound quality is definitely better
on the Rhino box, too, so I guess it's just a question of
how much you wanna spend. :-) And for the record, the
"Instrumental" on the 12" single is identical to the
version on the Rhino box - minus the lead vocals, of
course - and w/ additional sound effects from the video
game overdubbed during the last :20 of the
song...

That is strange as it appears as "available" when I log in. Anyone else getting a "not available" marker?