New York, NY. (Top40 Charts/ Greeting Cats Music) - Since the 25th anniversary of Pac-Man in
America in 2005, Greeting Cats
Music (www.greetingcats.com/PAC-MAN) has released a series of Pac-Man inspired music in collaboration with unique artists spanning different genres.
The latest release, "Pac-Man Desperado" was penned by Bill Bressler, an established composer well known for radio and TV commercial jingles including one of New York City's Duane Reade drug store promotions.
"Pac-Man Desperado" breaks away from typical game inspired music. Fans have described it as "Doritos Chips meet Pac-Man" for its Latin flavor and are clamoring for more.
In response, Greeting Cats Music is currently developing a techno version with Spanish lyrics. Those who love challenging collaborative projects and can sing in Spanish are encouraged to contact Greeting Cats Music. Love and passion for Pac-Man and understanding what it represents in our pop culture are all required to apply.
"You never know ... we might be able to fill Madison Square Garden or the Tokyo Dome with fans of both Pac-Man games and music," says one of the Greeting Cats.
Pac-Man and Greeting Cats Music go way back. When the founder of Greeting Cats Music, Manabu Nagaoka and award winning director, Todd Lincoln, were producing a music video for a Japanese pop idol group, Judy and Mary, NAMCO, the creator of Pac-Man generously gave them the permission to use Pac-Man in the video. The video became a sensational success and turned out to be the last video made by Judy and Mary. They used the popular video as the backdrop to their last concert at the Tokyo Dome.
Years later, a representative from NAMCO and Nagaoka got together in a Korean restaurant in New York and brainstormed what they could do together for Pac-Man's 25th Anniversary. The rest is history.
The first release, "Pac-Man Jam 25th Anniversary Limited Edition" was born.
TAXI, one of the world's leading Independent A&R companies, wrote:
"Pac-Man Jam is an electronica with retro synths a la the Postal Service meets Devo. The merge of old school synth sounds, the Pac-Man game samples and the Devo sounding vocals is a bizarre yet winning combination."
The "Pac-Man Jam" track is absolutely the coolest tribute song to Pac-Man I have ever heard. It is definitely one of those songs that gets stuck in your head all day," says RetroBlast magazine.
The composer, Ben Jones, or "DogFace" to his friends call him, is a principal member of the renowned three-person art collective, Paper Rad (check out www.paperrad.org). Jones' works have been showcased at numerous prestigious galleries and museums, including the Deitch Projects, the Contemporary Museum in Honolulu, the Tate Britain in London, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and the Institute of Contemporary Art in London. The ArtReview held an exhibit featuring Jones as part of the 25 Emerging US Artists at Phillips de Pury & Company East Gallery, New York. "Pac-Man Jam" is his first solo recording.
The Following year, Greeting Cats Music released "Pac-Man Industries" by Stuart Argabright and "Pac-Man Mission by Paul Geluso were released.
Stuart Argabright, one of New York's legendary music producers, created "Pac-Man Industries." Argabright, most known for his hit song, "The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight" (Streetwise/upRoar 1984), has been a pioneer in creating hybrids of electronic and acoustic music, forming innovative groups and releasing records under the names of Ike Yard, Black Rain, Death Comet Crew, among others since coming to NYC in 1978. He has served as Music Director for artist Robert Longo, collaborating with actress Sean Young and dancer Bill T Jones, as well as working extensively with author William Gibson.
The third composition, "Pac-Man Mission", was produced by Paul Geluso. Geluso earned his Masters Degree in Music at the New York University. For the past eight years, he has been composing electro-acoustic music and sound scores for j mandle performance, a New York based experimental arts organization that creates site specific performances in unexpected locations with the intention to heighten the public's perception of its everyday environment. His electronic music compositions have been presented at major institutions in New York City including The New Museum of Contemporary Art, Cooper- Hewitt School of Design, The Storefront for Art and Architecture and Gale Gates.
G4 says: "They also have one helluva wacky collection of 'cats' on their MySpace site at www.myspace.com/greetingcatsmusic where all tunes are streaming. You gotta see it to believe it."
Pac-Man is a registered trademark of NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc., and is used with permission.
