Buckner & Garcia was an American musical duo consisting of Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia from

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

. Their first recording was made in 1972, when they performed a

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and wit ...

called "Gotta Hear the Beat", which they recorded as Animal Jack. Later, in 1980, they wrote a novelty Christmas song titled "Merry Christmas in the NFL", imagining sports journalist

Howard Cosell Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

as Santa Claus. The recording was credited to Willis the Guard (a character performed by Atlanta radio personality Bob Carr) and fictional group Vigorish. The song reached No. 82 on the

Billboard charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

. In 1981, the duo wrote a faith-based

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

theme to back the poem " Footprints in the Sand", performed by Edgel Groves, which reached No. 1 on many Country and Easy Listening radio stations. The duo also produced an extended version of the ''

WKRP in Cincinnati ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' is an American sitcom television series about the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based upon his experiences working ...

'' theme song released on MCA Records in 1982. However, the duo is best known for their hit novelty song " Pac-Man Fever", released in 1981 on a local record label, BGO Records. Shortly after the duo signed a record deal with Columbia/

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

and the record was released nationally. An album of the same name quickly followed based entirely of video game songs. The single and album both received gold records for combined sales of over two and a half million copies worldwide. The duo later followed up that single with "Do the Donkey Kong", which only made the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

Charts, peaking at No. 103.

History

The duo's intended follow-up to "Pac-Man Fever" was "

E.T. ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (or simply ''E.T.'') is a 1982 American science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dub ...

, I Love You", which was delayed for release by the label in favor of Neil Diamond's unauthorized " Heartlight". They released a re-recorded version of the song on their 1999 album ''Now & Then''. The Starlight Children's Chorus recorded a cover version on their album '' E.T., I Love You & Other Extra Terrestrial Songs for Children''. In 1985, Anne Murray's recording of "On and On", a song written by Jerry Buckner, became a top 10 hit on the Country/Easy Listening charts. In the mid-1990s,

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

declined to re-release the ''Pac-Man Fever'' album to CD for reasons unknown. To meet the growing demand for a reissue of the album, the band released a re-recorded version on CD in 1999. When the duo re-formed the band in 1999 to re-record the album, Danny Jones became the group's drummer, Whitaker having died in the interim. Stewart returned as bassist; none of the other band members returned. The duo followed this up with ''Now & Then'', an album that included four new songs including a new recording of "E.T., I Love You". The pair continued to collaborate, including writing and performing on many original songs for the national restaurant chain Waffle House jukeboxes, several of which were released on a pair of albums. In 2009, "Pac-Man Fever" ranked at No. 98 on VH1's "Top 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80s" list. On June 10, 2010, the duo released a song titled "Keepin' the Dream Alive", with part of the proceeds being donated to aid the All-American Soap Box Derby in their hometown of Akron. On September 9, 2011, Buckner & Garcia revealed its new song on

Whiskey Media Whiskey Media was an American online media company founded independently by ''CNET'' co-founder Shelby Bonnie in 2008. It was the parent company of Tested, Screened, and Anime Vice, and the former parent company of ''Giant Bomb'' and Comic Vine. W ...

's Big Live Live Show: Live 2, called "Found Me the Bomb", which is about the gaming website

Giant Bomb ''Giant Bomb'' is an American video game website and wiki that includes personality-driven gaming videos, commentary, news, and reviews, created by former ''GameSpot'' editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis. The website was voted by '' Time' ...

. The song was made after an interview in June 2011, in which Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia called in during a live Pac-Man tournament Giant Bomb was having. Ryan Davis jokingly said during a podcast that the duo should make a song about them and then to his shock one day he received an mp3 containing the new song. The song was distributed free on giantbomb.com and also appeared on the Rock Band Network. On November 17, 2011, Gary Garcia died unexpectedly at his home in

Englewood, Florida Englewood is a census-designated place (CDP) in Charlotte and Sarasota counties in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 20,800. The Sarasota County portion of Englewood is part of the North Port–Saras ...

, at age 63. Buckner later worked with Jamie Houston to write the song "Wreck It, Wreck-It Ralph!" for the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

film ''

Wreck-It Ralph ''Wreck-It Ralph'' is a 2012 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 52nd Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Rich Moore (in his feature director ...

'' (2012).

Jerry Buckner

Following Gary Garcia's death in 2011, Jerry continued on as a songwriter, keyboardist, and arranger. His songs have been recorded by

Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian singer. Her albums, consisting primarily of pop, country, and adult contemporary music, have sold over 55 million copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray was the fir ...

("On and On"), Bertie Higgins ("The Wall"),

Bobby Vinton Stanley Robert "Bobby" Vinton (born April 16, 1935) is a American former singer and occasional actor, who also hosted his own self-titled TV show in the late 1970s. As a teen idol, he became known as "The Polish Prince", as his music paid trib ...

("The Wall"), and

Seiko , commonly known as Seiko ( , ), is a Japanese maker of watches, clocks, electronic devices, semiconductors, jewelry, and optical products. Founded in 1881 by Kintarō Hattori in Tokyo, Seiko introduced one of the first quartz watches and the ...

("So in Love with You"). He has scored original music for television and motion picture soundtracks along with jingles for a variety of commercial clients including

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

, Papa John’s,

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...

and Waffle House. In 2012, Buckner co-produced and performed the title track to the hit

movie ''

'', which received numerous awards, including Critics' Choice for “Best Movie”, Annie awards for “Best Movie” and “Best Soundtrack” and was nominated for an Oscar. Original members of the duo's band consisted of Ginny Whitaker ( drums), Larry McDonald (

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

), Chris Bowman (

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

and rhythm guitar), Rick Hinkle (lead and rhythm guitar on "Pac-Man Fever", "Mousetrap" and "Goin' Berserk"), Mike Stewart ( Moog synthesizer on "Mousetrap" and "Goin' Berserk"), and David "Cozy" Cole (

syndrum The Pollard Syndrum is the first commercially available electronic drum, invented by Joe Pollard and Mark Barton in 1976. There were 3 major types: The Syndrum 1, the Syndrum TwinDrum, and the Syndrum Quad, the last being the most famous. At the t ...

on ''Pac-Man Fever''). Steve Carlisle and Sharon Scott provided background vocals on "Pac-Man Fever".

Albums and track list

'' Pac-Man Fever''

#"Pac-Man Fever" ('' Pac-Man'') #"Froggy's Lament" (''

Frogger is a 1981 arcade action game developed by Konami and manufactured by Sega. In North America, it was released by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct a series of frogs to their homes by crossing a busy road and a hazardous rive ...

'') #"Ode to a Centipede" ('' Centipede'') #"Do the Donkey Kong" (''

Donkey Kong is a video game franchise created by Shigeru Miyamoto and owned by Nintendo. It follows the adventures of a gorilla named Donkey Kong (character), Donkey Kong and his clan of other Ape, apes and monkeys. The franchise primarily consists of plat ...

'') #"Hyperspace" (''

Asteroids An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

'') #"The Defender" ('' Defender'') #"Mousetrap" (''

Mouse Trap A mousetrap is a specialized type of animal trap designed primarily to catch and, usually, kill mice. Mousetraps are usually set in an indoor location where there is a suspected infestation of rodents. Larger traps are designed to catch other s ...

'') #"Goin' Berzerk" ('' Berzerk'')

''Now & Then''

#"Do the Funky Broadway" #"Pogwild" (

Pogs Milk caps is a children's game played with flat circular cardboard milk caps. Players make a stack of these caps, and take turns to drop a heavier "slammer" object onto it, causing the caps to be disrupted. Each player keeps any face-up caps and ...

) #"It's Allright" #"Hostage" #"E.T., I Love You" #"E.T., I Love You" (Karaoke Version) #"Pac-Man Fever" (Karaoke Version) #"Pac-Man Fever" (Unplugged Version)

''Now & Then'' (rerelease)

#"Hostage" #"E.T., I Love You" #"Mr. T" #"I Gotta Hear the Beat" #"Loose in the Streets"

Band members

''Pac-Man Fever'' (1981‒1982) *Gary Garcia - lead vocals,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

*Jerry Buckner - keyboards,

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

*Chris Bowman - guitar *Larry McDonald - bass *Ginny Whitaker - drums *David "Cozy" Cole -

(on "Pac-Man Fever") *Rick Hinkle - guitar (on "Pac-Man Fever", "Mousetrap" and "Goin' Berzerk") *Steve Carlisle - background vocals (on "Pac-Man Fever") *Sharon Scott - background vocals (on "Pac-Man Fever") *Mike Stewart - Moog synthesizer (on "Mousetrap" and "Goin' Berzerk") 1982‒1999 *Gary Garcia - lead vocals, guitar *Jerry Buckner - keyboards, background vocals *Chris Bowman - guitar *Mike Stewart - bass, keyboards *Ginny Whitaker - drums 1999‒2011 *Gary Garcia - lead vocals, guitar *Jerry Buckner - keyboards, background vocals *Mike Stewart - bass, guitar, keyboards, background vocals *Danny Jones - drums, background vocals Wreck-It, Wreck-It Ralph (2012) *Danny Jones - lead vocals, drums *Jerry Buckner - keyboards, background vocals *Chris Bowman - guitar *Mike Stewart - bass, keyboards

References

External links

*
Full discography, including singles
*
retroCRUSH Interview transcriptCreative Loafing article and interviewRe-release of Now and Then, with new tracksBuckner & Garcia – Pac-Man Fever (1982, Vinyl)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buckner and Garcia American musical duos Musical groups established in 1980 Musical groups disestablished in 2011 Rock music groups from Ohio Columbia Records artists Musical groups from Akron, Ohio Video game musicians