Classical Gas

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For the properties of a gas in classical physics, see ideal gas.

"Classical Gas" is an instrumental piece written by Mason Williams. The title of the song was originally "Classical Gasoline" but was changed to "Classical Gas" by the music copyist. On the original recording, Williams plays guitar and is accompanied by an orchestral backing. It was released in February 1968 from the album The Mason Williams Phonograph Record. In August 1968 it reached the top 5 in the American charts and went on to sell over a million copies. Williams re-recorded the tune as a solo guitar piece on his 1970 album Hand Made. He also recorded a version with Mannheim Steamroller in 1987.

[edit] Awards

In 1968 the piece won three Grammy awards: Best Instrumental Composition, Best Contemporary-Pop Performance, Instrumental, and Best Instrumental Arrangement.

In 1998 Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) awarded Williams a special Citation of Achievement. The piece has logged over five million broadcast performances to become BMI's all-time number-one instrumental composition for radio air play.

[edit] Miscellanea

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Used as the theme music for Granada Television's watchdog broadcast "This is your right" running from 1972 to 1986.
Used in the 1980s by Channel 4 during their NFL results presentation.
In the 1970s and 1980s, several local area television news programs in the United States used it as their theme song. [1] The song also forms the basis for an identically-titled television news theme, published by a now-defunct company called Telesound. [2]
NASA used it as the background music for the Apollo 4 mission film.
This song is played in the 2003 movie Cheaper By The Dozen, in a series of scenes when the family are looking for their son Mark, who ran away.
The complete list of artists to release a copy of Classical Gas can be found on the Classical Gas Website.
There is a common misconception that Eric Clapton performed this song. Clapton to date has never recorded "Classical Gas". The misconception comes from the fact that Eric Clapton performed the Soundtrack to the movie The Story of Us; however, the version of "Classical Gas" on the soundtrack is from Mason Williams' 1971 album Handmade.
In The Simpsons episode "Last Exit to Springfield", Lenny asks Lisa, who is playing a guitar, to play Classical Gas, which she does.
Used in TV show Frasier in episode titled "The Great Crane Robbery."