Can-Can

Can-Can

Composer Jacques Offenbach Released 1858-10-21 Title Origin Official

Can-Can is the common name for The Infernal Galop, a song from scene II of Jacques Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld. Can-can is actually not a title at all, but a type of high-energy music hall dance that's physically demanding, traditionally performed by a chorus line of female dancers who wear costumes with long skirts, petticoats, and black stockings. The main features of the dance are the lifting and manipulation of the skirts, with high kicking and suggestive, provocative body movements.

With the song now being in the public domain, it has found itself in a wide variety of games where an uptempo song is necessary.

Games

Mr. Do (ARC)

Mr. Do (ARC)

Arranger Nakajima Released 1982-10-?? Format UNK Loops Yes

The song is used as the stage theme. It's not present in the TRS-80 CoCo port.

The song was arranged by the game's sound designer, known as "Nakajima".

Mr. Dig (C64)

Mr. Dig (C64)

Arranger Rita Jay Released 1984-??-?? Format SID Loops Yes

The song is used as the stage theme. It's not present in the TRS-80 CoCo port.

Mr. Dig (A8)

Mr. Dig (A8)

Arranger Rita Jay Released 1984-??-?? Format POKEY Loops Yes

Super Mario Land (GB)

Super Mario Land (GB)

Arranger Hirokazu Tanaka Released 1989-04-21 Format GBS

Plays when you're invincible.

Little Ninja Brothers (NES)

Little Ninja Brothers (NES)

Arranger Akinori Sawa Released 1989-05-26 Format NSF

Parodius Da! Shinwa kara Owarai E (ARC)

Parodius Da! Shinwa kara Owarai E (ARC)

Arranger Kazuki Muraoka Released 1990-04-25 Format VGM Loops Yes

A rendition of the song plays during the third stage's boss fight. The official soundtrack calls this version "Hot Lips' Theme" (ホット・リップスのテーマ).

Lemmings (AMI)

Lemmings (AMI)

Arranger Tim Wright Released 1991-02-14 Format UNK

The song appears in Lemmings, and is usually the first of them to be played in the game.

Lemmings (DOS)

Lemmings (DOS)

Arranger Tim Wright, Tony Williams Released 1991-05-?? Length 0:51.6 (OPL2), 0:52.72 (Tandy) Format UNK Loops Yes

Tony Williams arranged all the DOS music. The song's internal name is "CanCan".

Lemmings (SNES)

Lemmings (SNES)

Arranger Masaki Komatsu Released 1991-12-18 Format SPC

Lemmings (TGCD)

Lemmings (TGCD)

Arranger Kohei Tanaka Released 1992-11-28 Length 1:31 Format CD

Lemmings & Oh No! More Lemmings (DOS)

Lemmings & Oh No! More Lemmings (DOS)

Arranger Tim Wright, Colin Anderson Released 1992-??-?? Length 1:05 Format CD

Pac-Attack (SNES)

Pac-Attack (SNES)

Arranger Hiromi Shibano Released 1993-10-?? Length 0:58 Format SPC Loops Yes

The song plays when the blocks get near the top of the screen.

Pac-Attack (GEN)

Pac-Attack (GEN)

Arranger Hiromi Shibano, Takaki Horigome Released 1993-??-?? Length 0:57 Format VGM Loops Yes

The song plays when the blocks get near the top of the screen.

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Pac-Attack (GB)

Pac-Attack (GB)

Arranger Inu Released 1994-12-09 Format GBS Loops Yes

The song plays when the blocks get near the top of the screen.

Pac-Attack (GG)

Pac-Attack (GG)

Arranger Masakatsu Maekawa Released 1994-??-?? Format GBS Loops Yes

The song plays when the blocks get near the top of the screen.

Pac-Attack (CDI)

Pac-Attack (CDI)

Arranger Chris Thorne Released 1995-??-?? Format GRN

The song is sound 2 in normal.grn. It plays when the blocks get near the top of the screen.

Lemmings (W16)

Lemmings (W16)

Arranger Unknown Released 1995-06-06 Length 0:54 Format MIDI

The song's file name is "CANCANP.MID".

Squirrel King (GEN)

Squirrel King (GEN)

Arranger Yishen Liao Released 1995-??-?? Length 0:59 Format VGM Loops Yes

Squirrel King was reskinned as Super Mario World probably in the same year as the original game. Among visual changes, the title screen music was switched to a rendition of Can-Can.

Valiant Hearts: The Great War (W64)

Valiant Hearts: The Great War (W64)

Released 2014-06-25

Links

• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpheus_in_the_Underworld - Wikipedia.
• youtube.com/watch?v=GZxUJXqbxYs - Performed by an orchestra.