Don't You Wonder Sometimes...

“I will sit right down/Waiting for the gift of sound and vision.”

— David Bowie

“I’ve got Pac Man Fever/It’s driving me crazy.”

 — Buckner & Garcia

There are many approaches to creative work. You can be like David Bowie, hanging out with Iggy Pop in Berlin, but occasionally disappearing to spend time alone in his electric blue room, with the “pale blinds drawn all day” as he waits for the gift of sound and vision. The result: Low, revered as a classic art rock album that has proven to be enormously influential.

Alternatively, you can be like Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia, a jingle-writing duo who got hooked on the Pac Man video game and decided to write a tune about it. After “Pac Man Fever” became a regional hit in Atlanta, Georgia, Buckner & Garcia were contracted by Columbia Records to write and record a whole album’s worth of tunes celebrating the likes of “Donkey Kong”, “Centipede”, and “Frogger”, among others. The Pac Man Fever album was a hit and has become a classic ‘80s pop culture moment.

There you have it: creativity by muse and creativity on demand. I am a fan of both methods. When meditating in the blue room doesn’t work for you, gobbling up some Pac Man ghosts might do the trick.

~217~