Back in the 1980s, arcade favorites like “Pac-Man” and “Space Invaders” spawned novelty tunes that became minor radio hits. But only in the computer-crazed ’90s could a song featured on a video game make the virtual leap from CD-ROM to the radio charts.
Performed by 23-year-old newcomer Julie Eisenhower (not Richard Nixon’s daughter, but yes, related to Ike), “Shadoan” is a breezy ballad reminiscent of Disney themes such as “A Whole New World.” The arrangers for “Shadoan,” as it turns out, are a trio of musicians who worked on “Pocahontas” and “Beauty and the Beast,” among other Disney projects.
“Shadoan” may not shatter any barriers artistically. Its lyrics sound like a cross between the U.S. Army jingle and an unabashed plug for the game:
Around every turn waits the next surprise
Your chance to be greater than you realized.
But on the marketing front, the song breaks entirely new ground that could turn a certain purple dinosaur green with envy. Because the cut originates from the action-adventure video game “Kingdom II Shadoan,” significant radio time amounts to free advertising — and could well boost game sales.
“We look at the song as a commercial for the CD-ROM game, just as Celine Dion singing the theme from `Titanic’ is a three-minute commercial for the movie,” said Howard Rosen, a promoter from Van Nuys, Calif., working on the “Shadoan” project. “It’s the cheapest form of promotion in any venue.”
For now, its musical success is modest. “Shadoan” has failed to crack Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart, most likely because it hasn’t been released in the usual musical formats. But a single may be in the works, according to the game’s creator, Rick Dyer.
The song did appear in the Gavin Report, a radio industry trade magazine. In Gavin’s adult contemporary charts for mid-sized stations, “Shadoan” climbed to No. 27 last month, nosing out heavyweights such as Elton John, Amy Grant, Barbra Streisand and Billy Joel. It peaked at No. 25, but “then it had a bad hair day,” Rosen said. “It started to slow up. But the people who are playing the record are still enjoying success with it.”
Rosen, who has been working on “Shadoan” for more than a year, certainly knows his hype. As promotions vice president at Casablanca Records, he helped turn novelty acts such as Kiss and the Village People into superstars. He’s also worked with Elton John, Aerosmith and Lionel Ritchie.
Since forming an independent promotion company in the ’80s, Rosen’s client list has included the Rolling Stones, Fiona Apple, Eric Clapton and Chumbawamba. On the kiddie front, he also coordinated the marketing campaign for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Now Rosen is turning his attention to managing Eisenhower and finishing her new demo tape, which he plans to shop to major record labels. On the CD-ROM, Eisenhower does a capable job singing the part of Princess Calace; imagine the typical cartoon heroine filtered through Celine Dion.
” `Shadoan’ is not really what Julie is,” Rosen insisted. “I would say Julie’s style is modern adult contemporary/Top 40. It’s really the preferred flavor, what the public is looking for, like Joan Osborne and Alanis Morissette. That’s the format she wants to fit into.”
Like many video game compositions, “Shadoan” began as an electronic keyboard piece. Rosen continued: “The initial reaction to the song was so good, Rick Dyer said, `What can we do to improve it?’ I said, `Let’s go to real instruments and musicians,’ and we did.”
Rosen enlisted session musicians whose credits include Streisand and Supertramp, and the arrangement team of Brian and Doug Besterman and Martin Erskin. Eisenhower was discovered by Dyer’s Methodist minister, who heard her sing “All I Ask of You” from “The Phantom of the Opera” at a wedding he was officiating.
“We were looking for that Disney voice, and I commented to my minister one Sunday that I had a hard time finding that voice, and was disappointed,” Dyer said. “He went on and described this person who sang at a wedding, that when she sang you could hear a pin drop.”
A multimillionaire who made and lost a fortune before hitting age 30, Dyer, now 42, is known among video game aficionados as the creator of “Dragon’s Lair” — one of three games in the Smithsonian Institution, along with “Pong” and “Pac-Man.”
He’s taking something of a risk with “Kingdom II Shadoan,” pricing it at $19.95, well below the going rate for other video games. To date, he’s manufactured about 80,000 units and has enjoyed tremendous exposure. In addition to the song’s airplay, the game has won numerous awards, including MacWorld 1988’s “Best of Show” and a Parent’s Choice Approval Award from the New England MacIntosh User Group.
“Kingdom II Shadoan” features more than 70,000 hand-painted animation cells and 30 scored pieces of music, including Eisenhower’s cut. The object of the game is to reunite five pieces of a magic amulet in a J.R.R. Tolkien-type setting.
