A fun episode.
In this episode, the gang goes to the Decade Records recording studio to see their friend rock and roll singer, Jimmy Lewis. However when they come the studio is being haunted by the mysterious phantom. Before you can say "Jinkies" the gang has another mystery on their hands.
This episode benefits from quite a strong villain. Not only is his design quite cool, but his voice is fantastic. This is one of the creepiest and most memorable voices for a Scooby-Doo! villain. There is a little bit of a robotic feel to his voice that makes its all the creepier and more effective. This episode also benefits from some delightful comedy. The scene with Shaggy and Scooby with the milkshake machine is a wonderful little comedic skit that definitely put a big smile on my face. Though the setting of a record store may not be the most memorable location for a Scooby mystery, this episode does have the usual great background art and use of lighting that I love about this era of Scooby-Doo!
The main problem with this episode is that the mystery is incredibly easy to solve. Also with this episode focusing heavily on the Scooby and Shaggy slapstick, as well as the duo discovering the main clues, Fred, Velma and Daphne don't really do that much here and feel more like supporting characters rather than the major characters they normally are.
The desgin of the villain of this episode was clearly inspired by the rock band Kiss. The same year this episode came out, Hanna-Barbera would release a live action made for TV movie starring the famous rock band, Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978). Kiss themselves would later meet the Mystery Inc. Gang in the What's New Scooby-Doo! episode, A Scooby-Doo Halloween (2003) and the direct to video movie, Scooby-Doo! & Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery (2015).
This may not be the strongest Scooby mystery, but it is still a lot of fun.
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