by Peter Moore

Number Nine – Kōji Kondō; Super Mario Brothers

Christmas is now hurtling towards us at a pace. We’re up to ninth day of December, the ninth day of this Vibe Box advent calendar, and in little more than a fortnight we’ll be fetching the presents out from beneath the spiky branches of the tree.

But enough of the sentimental claptrap, and back to the music. Scrolling back through the first few entries, I’ve noticed a distinct prominence of the letter ‘B’ in here. I started off with Blur, progressed to Brendan Benson, thrown in a bit of Bowie, Blind Blake and, just on Sunday, I posted one of Jeff Buckley’s most famous songs.

I suppose at the inner core of any man there is a mysterious schism: the point where his likes and dislikes split and the core of his personality is formed. Well, for marketers around the world, the mystery at the heart of my character has been exposed. It’s the letter B. Come and get me when you’re ready.

So, despite the fact that I have The Beatles, Badly Drawn Boy, The Beach Boys and Bob Dylan to go, today I’ve decided to fly in the face of my primeval inclinations. Today’s a silly little one.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the name Kōji Kondō doesn’t ring any bells, but I’d bet that a high proportion of you are familiar with his music. Kondō’s name is shackled for eternity to that of the Nintendo video games company from Japan, as the individual responsible for the memorable soundtracks to a flurry of their most famous titles. The best of these include Super Mario Brothers, The Legend of Zelda and his first ever release, Duck Hunt (which could, perhaps, be rebranded today as ‘Duck Chaney’).

And in this age of rampant capitalism, when presents trump piety every time, who’s to say that the soundtrack to Super Mario Brothers isn’t a more accurate soundtrack to the festive season. Enjoy.

(For those of you who fancy an alternative version on guitar, you can find a rather amusing one here)