Here's One For History Books - Mario Theme Added to National Recording Registry
The main theme from Super Mario Bros. has been recognized as one of the most influential songs in music history.
Over the years, some songs and musical themes rise to the status of phenomenons that transform our culture. The US Library of Congress has been collecting such recordings for more than 10 years, honoring the merits of their creators. We are pleased to announce that this year's list of new items includes, for the first time ever, a song from a video game.
The choice turned out to be quite natural, since the first piece of music from a video game included in the list is a classic of the genre, recognized not only by gamers. We are talking about the main theme from Super Mario Bros. from 1985, composed by Koji Kondo.
Historic moment
This is a historic moment for the series of video games about the brave plumber and a confirmation of the historic status of Nintendo's game. It's also an important event from the perspective of the entire game industry - as Mario was made equal to such stars as Madonna, John Lennon, Led Zeppelin and Eurythmics.
The statement from the Library of Congress reads:
"Perhaps the most recognizable video game theme in history, Koji Kondo's main motif for the 1985 Nintendo classic, Super Mario Bros., helped establish the game's legendary status and proved that the five-channel Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) sound chip was capable of vast musical complexity and creativity.
Kondo's score laid the groundwork for an entire generation of chiptune musicians and has been performed by orchestras around the globe, befitting its status as one of the most beloved musical compositions of the last 40 years."
The unique distinction came a few days after the American premiere of the long-awaited animated movie and a month after the spectacular opening of the Super Nintendo World in Hollywood (a theme park dedicated to the Japanese company's games).
This is just another stage in the changes the game industry is undergoing, transforming itself before the eyes of outsiders into one of the most popular art forms.
National Recording Registry, maintained by the U.S. Library of Congress, each year expands the list of recordings of high cultural, historical and aesthetic value to include 25 new works, albums or musical themes, Works created at least 10 years earlier are considered.
They are given protection and long-term archiving in order to preserve them intact for future generations.
