Lounge birthday songs question

[PaulKTF]

What's the point of the King and King Kat birthday songs? Woudln't the kids be having their parties in the main show room? So the birthday group woudln't be in the side room to hear the King/King Kat birthday songs anyway, right?

[captslappy]

Because the lounge could be rented out for private functions for a special price and no other customers were allowed in there. We never did it but I saw private parties in there. King was the only one to have a bithday song. He was also the only one that had a Christmas show.

[PaulKTF]

Because the lounge could be rented out for private functions for a special price and no other customers were allowed in there. We never did it but I saw private parties in there. King was the only one to have a bithday song. He was also the only one that had a Christmas show.

Ah! That explains it. I learn something new every day 'round these parts! Thanks.

[captslappy]

Yep. This was before the bankrupcy that they did that. I remember going to PTT one time and they had the lounge closed for a private party and I didn't get to see King at all that visit. I was really dissappointed.

[PaulKTF]

If they'd been smarter, they could've done adults-only parties with Dolli. heh.

[captslappy]

Honestly, I don't know how long that concept lasted. Later on, the lounge and caberets were made into TV rooms for adult. King was put in the game room and eventually put in the show room on his own stage near the main one. Honestly, after about 1985 or 86 I was out of PTT and just going to Showbiz. The Chuck E. Cheese character was at those stores at the walk around and that was pretty much my last exposure to CEC in any form until high school.

[jonathansullivan]

I remember Birthday Parties happening in the Lounge. I always thought they were primarily walk-in parties.

[captslappy]

Might have been. I just recall on one particular time that the lounge was reserved and I couldn't go in there because of it. This may have been done for a short time only. I'm not sure I actually recall seeing King perform a bday song. I just know he had them because I have a reel with christmas and bday songs both. King Kat did do a birthday song. I seem to remember it being set to Billy Jean. I haven't listened to that in awhile. I was unaware of the King Kat change over til this board. He was another one I didn't see.

[PaulKTF]

Might have been. I just recall on one particular time that the lounge was reserved and I couldn't go in there because of it. This may have been done for a short time only. I'm not sure I actually recall seeing King perform a bday song. I just know he had them because I have a reel with christmas and bday songs both. King Kat did do a birthday song. I seem to remember it being set to Billy Jean. I haven't listened to that in awhile. I was unaware of the King Kat change over til this board. He was another one I didn't see.

The King birthday songs are pretty good from what I've heard of them on Radio Showbiz. King Kat's Billie Jean Birthday however; is just awful.

[captslappy]

As is the rest of King Kat.

[PaulKTF]

As is the rest of King Kat.

Well... yes. :) They picked a couple really weird MJ songs, and the voice actor doing the intros is horrible. I like the costume, though.

[captslappy]

Yes, they did "Thriller" and "Billy Jean" (as a bday) but not "Beat It". Go figure. They also did songs from when he was a little boy like "Ben". His voice on the "Thriller" album and how he sang when he was a child are like 2 different voices. It didn't match even though they were both the real MJ. Like the Beach Bowzers, King Kat was a very poorly thought out and thrown together retrofit to cheaply get a new character together at a bad time for the company. "King Kat" doesn't really say Michael Jackson to me. Michael Katson (a rumored original name for the character) would have been so much more appropriate. Also, he was rumored to have been slated to be called "The Glove". I've seen no evidence of that though. Over all King Kat is a very forgetable character that could have really worked if he was thought out a bit better. My impression of it can be summed up this way: What do you get when you combine a Beagle and the King and throw in Pasqually's wig? King Kat.

[PaulKTF]

If they were smarter they'd have focused excusivly on songs from Off The Wall and Thriller. In fact; they could've just done 6 songs from Thriller and left it at that; and kept people entertained considering how well Thriller was selling at the time.

[captslappy]

That's all it was. Just a cheap attempt to capitalize on MJ's success with "Thriller" at that time. That may have explained why it was just thrown together so fast.

[PaulKTF]

That's all it was. Just a cheap attempt to capitalize on MJ's success with "Thriller" at that time. That may have explained why it was just thrown together so fast.

By that point; the writing was already on the wall as far as the company's future (or lack thereof), right? If Showbiz hadn't came in and bought them out, they would've been done by 1985.

[Kevin]

So the King had his own show tapes? Does that mean he would come on/off automatically? The CEC I went to growing up had a King in their side room (which did later become a TV room - boring!), but he was always token operated.

[captslappy]

King always had seperate tapes and his own computer. There were 3 variations to the eprom basically. The first was coin operated. He'd do a skit for a token. The software remained the same but the coin box was replaced by a green "Free show" button. All a token box is is a switch basically. Then he went to a timer eprom where he'd do what fans incorrectly call "random movements". These are actually a looped sequence of programmed moves to make the character look around the room instead of closing their eyes and going to sleep. The character didn't require a tokenbox or button to be turned on. He'd do a show every few minutes automatically just like the main stage. Finally, the King's computer was connected to the main stage computer and a signal was sent during intermissions to make him turn on if no birthday shows were selected. King would perform while the main stage was idle.