| Title | Lazy Jones |
| Developed by | Terminal Software (UK) |
| Year | 1985 |
| System | MSX |
| Sound | PSG // music by David Whittaker |
| Release format | Cassette |
| Notes | Also released for C64 (1984) (original release), ZX Spectrum (1984) & Tatung Einstein (1985) |
| Generation MSX | Lazy Jones (1985, MSX, Terminal Software) |
Contents |
Musical references
Lazy Jones has various references to songs/music from around the time of it's conception and earlier. Some references are quite clear, others are debatable. It's not sure if any of them are confirmed by David Whittaker himself.
Some of the titles of the mini-games are arguably music references as well: Star Dust could be a pointer to another well known song of Hoagy Carmichael, The Hills Are Alive to the title song of The Sound of Music, The Reflex to the Duran Duran song and The Wall to the Pink Floyd album.
The title of the game itself seems to be a direct reference to the song "Lazybones" by Hoagy Carmichael, and corresponds to the central hotel lobby tune (contrary to C64, the MSX version uses the abbreviated version (subtune #10) - see #Subtunes).
Subtunes
The table below follows the order of the subtunes of the Lazy Jones C64 SID file (HVSC/MUSICIANS/W/Whittaker_David/Lazy_Jones.sid). All music that's present in the MSX version is present in the C64 original. The C64 version features more songs however, and doesn't re-use room/game themes where the MSX does.
| #No | Reference | MSX | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Lazybones (Hoagy Carmichael) Underdog (Giorgio Moroder) (?) | Yes/no | Lazybones: ref @ 0:19 - 0:37 (& throughout). Leon Redbone version. 2nd half not on MSX |
| 02 | Yes | ||
| 03 | No | ||
| 04 | No | ||
| 05 | Yes | ||
| 06 | Yes (2x) | ||
| 07 | 99 Luftballons (Nena) | No | |
| 08 | Yes | ||
| 09 | No | ||
| 10 | Yes | Equals 1st half of subtune #01 | |
| 11 | No | Equals 2nd half of subtune #01 | |
| 12 | Yes | ||
| 13 | Smalltown Boy (Bronski Beat) (?) | Yes | |
| 14 | Post Horn Gallop (Hermann Koenig) | Yes | |
| 15 | Yes (2x) | ||
| 16 | Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Gene Page) | Yes (2x) | This is in turn based on John William's Wild Signals from the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. |
| 17 | Yes | ||
| 18 | Living on the Ceiling (Blancmange) | No | |
| 19 | Yes | ||
| 20 | Fade To Grey (Visage) | No | |
| 21 | It happened Then (Electronic Ensemble) | Yes | This tune was covered in the dance hit Kernkraft 400 by Zombie Nation in 1999. |
Rooms
Game Rooms
| Name | Resembles | C64 tune | MSX tune | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 99 Red Balloons | Pooyan | 07 | 06 | |
| Eggie Chuck | Chuckie Egg | 12 | 06 | |
| Jay Walk | Frogger | 15 | - | Not on MSX |
| Laser Jones | Space Invaders | 02 | 16 | |
| Outland | 16 | 16 | ||
| Res Q | H.E.R.O. | 04 | 08 | |
| Scoot | Joust | 06 | 12 | |
| Star Dust | 21 | 05 | ||
| The Bar | 19 | 19 | ||
| The Hills Are Alive | Defender | 05 | 13 | |
| The Reflex | Arkanoid | 13 | 05 | (Although Arkanoid was released in 1986, so...) |
| The Turk | 14 | 14 | ||
| The Wall | Snake | 03 | 21 | |
| Wafers II | - | 15 | Not on C64 | |
| Wild Wafers | 20 | 02 | ||
| Wipe Out | Breakout | 08 | 15 |
Other Rooms
| Name | (Resembles) | C64 tune | MSX tune | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hotel Lobby (overworld) | 01 | 10 | ||
| Broom Closet | 09 | 10 | ||
| Restroom | 18 | 10 | ||
| Lazy Nightmare | 17 | 17 |
Sources, references, links
- Forum discussion
- Lazy Jones @ C64-Wiki
- Lazy Jones @ Moby Games
- HVSC SID Tune Information List (STIL) (note: large file (884 KB transfer (gzipped), 3.09 MB unpacked)
- Lazy Jones SID info @ SLAY Radio (note: outdated STIL info)
- C64 Lazy Jones soundtrack on YouTube (comments)