SID Music Rabbit Hole

I recently fell into a YouTube rabbit hole looking for Commodore 64 SID music based on classic 80s hits. There are a lot of great compositions out there of various production quality. In my searching, I found this particular d64 download that was well put together that I have greatly enjoyed. I am continually impressed by what people are able to do with this wonderfully charming, old, hardware. I hope that the fun people have with it continues for many years. I look at it as just another art form and personal expression which I find to be absolutely incredible.

If you have the Versatile Commodore Emulator (VICE) installed on your computer, you can easily enjoy the music with a custom media player interface. I, personally, enjoyed it on The C64 Maxi in my living room but it will certainly run on the actual hardware as well.

https://csdb.dk/release/?id=148459

The selection can be downloaded as individual SID files or you can download a d64 image:

Balloon Country Bursts
Drogacumbia
Juanelo
Leet it 3
Marcha Imperial Peronista
Matraca 3
Mongolongo
Pop Goes the World
Ryuuju no Dengon
Se Voce Jurar
Yasashisa ni Tsutsumareta nara

The one that I thought was most fun was “Pop Goes the World” and I can’t help but wonder if it is close enough to the original production by Men Without Hats. The fun of the application on the D64 image is the interface to play each tune. It is a tape player that you can use “fast forward” or “rewind” to the next track. The counter also changes, corresponding, to each track.

For a quick listen, check out this “electrical transcription” on YouTube.

Final Thoughts

The Commodore 64 SID chip makes for some very entertaining tunes. I am not sure if I like the sounds it makes purely for the nostalgia or if there are intrinsic qualities that are more universal. Regardless of the reason, I enjoyed this very much and found it necessary to make a quick blathering about it.