On January 6, 1992 — 19 years ago today — New Zealand rock star Steve Gilpin passed away in an Australian hospital after a two-month long coma caused by an automobile accident. Gilpin was the co-author and singer of what is believed to be the first pop song about videogames.
Gilpin was the lead vocalist in Mi-Sex (that’s “my sex,” not “me sex”), a new wave band that enjoyed success in Australia and New Zealand in the late 70s and early 80s, but is mostly unknown elsewhere. Mi-Sex is most remembered for its 1979 single “Computer Games,” which is believed to be the first pop song about videogames, beating out Buckner & Garcia’s “Pac-Man Fever” by about three years.
