Another titan of the game industry, George “The Fat Man” Sanger, joins us live at MAGWest! George has done so much to shape the course of game audio in America that the best we can hope for is scratching the surface with this post. During his career he’s worked on numerous games, alongside his legendary group of cowboy composers under the moniker “Team Fat” which consisted of himself, Dave Govett, Joe McDermott and K. Weston Phelan.
A short list of projects that George and Team Fat worked on: Thin Ice for Intellivision, Maniac Mansion and Rad Gravity for NES, Zombies Ate My Neighbors on SNES, a litany of computer games including Loom, The 7th Guest, The 11th Hour, Wing Commander I and II, Ultima Underworld, Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon, Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo, Pajama Sam 3, and many other games. He’s done work for so many companies it’ll be faster to just link to his Wikipedia or Mobygames pages.
His influence in PC game music is especially strong. He’s created think tanks and collaborated with audio companies which led to the adoption of hardware like the MT-32, General MIDI, and even redbook audio as data on CD-ROM games like the 7th Guest. In the 1990s, he was also one of the first to bring American VGM composers together through “Project Barbecue”, an early precursor to events like GameSoundCon, MAGWest and others.
We loved every minute of talking with George and hearing his hilarious stories; from his humble beginnings, to his lengthy career and accomplishments, to his work with Team Fat. He is a larger than life character in a suit and cowboy hat and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
If you haven’t got your fill of George yet, check out a few more things:
- Team Fat Bandcamp page – buy some of their classic albums!
- George’s website – Learn more about the man himself
And a few plugs from George for good measure
- The 7th Guest VR
- Soups On – Remade music from 7th Guest and 11th Hour in a 4 vinyl set (fully funded Kickstarter)
Pixelated Audio and the Fat Man
Music composed by George Sanger or other members of Team Fat (Dave Govett, Joe McDermott, K. Weston Phelan) unless otherwise stated
- 0:00:00 (Bedding) Swing Commander (Rec Room) ver 1.7 – Wing Commander Remastered (MT-32) – Dave Govett and George Sanger
- 0:05:39 Surfin on Thin Ice – Intellivision Lives! (GC)
- Based on “Carnival of the Penguins” for the 1983/1986 Intellivision game “Thin Ice” – George Sanger
- 0:13:49 (Excerpt) Main Music – Capture the Flag (Atari 8-bit)
- 0:15:08 (Excerpt) Surfin on Thin Ice (Live) – Intellivision Lives! (GC)
- 0:18:02 Planet Theme – Rad Gravity (NES)
- 0:22:19 Title Theme – Rad Gravity (NES)
- 0:23:31 Go Get ‘Em! – Wing Commander Remastered (MT-32) – Dave Govett and George Sanger
- 0:26:22 (Excerpt) Main Theme – Loom (MT-32)
- Based on “Pas de trois – Intrada” originally by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, transcribed by George Sanger and Gary Hammond
- 0:27:32 Main Theme – SSN-21 Seawolf (MT-32)
- 0:34:33 Putt in Tunisia – Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon Remastered
- 0:48:28 Bedspread – The 7th Guest Remastered
- 0:54:00 I R Sam or Sam’s House – Pajama Sam 3 Remastered
- 1:01:51 Train: The Lost Puzzle Piece (Unused) – The 7th Guest Remastered
- 1:06:57 Zombie Panic – Zombies Ate My Neighbors (SNES) – Joe McDermott and George Sanger
- 1:18:13 Dave’s Theme – Maniac Mansion (NES) – David Hayes and David Warhol
- 1:21:53 Welcome to the Zoo (Final) – Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo Remastered – George Sanger and Team Fat
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:24:19 — 136.5MB)