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Dum...can you hear it?...dum dum dum dum...can you feel it?...dum dum dum dum...is
your adrenaline coursing right now?...dum dum dum dum repeat. If you ever saw
wrestling back in the day and can hear the same music in my head as I do in
typing this out...it's the opening of Warrior Wildfire for the Ultimate Warrior.
With this I start my column this week on something near and dear to
me....wrestling themes.
This may sound like a blatant plug but I do so to make a point. As many of you
who know me from the wrestling chats or the boards...or better yet my first
column...you know I have an online radio station called Pro Wrestling and More (http://www.pwam.2ya.com).
I took my love of professional wrestling themes and decided to make a station
out of it. It continues to be my hope that in addition to wrestling
fans...others will come and enjoy it as well. I have done it now for 4 years
plus and love bringing good music to the masses so it is with joy I write this
now.
Getting to the meat of this article...first, forgive me for excluding some
people...not done out of neglect or exclusion, only for brevity of article.
Music has been used in wrestling for a very long time...origins as to who came
out to music first is a debated topic with the majority going to Gorgeous George
but no one can say for sure. I can't tell you how excited I would get if I heard
Rush's Tom Sawyer or Ted Nugent's Stranglehold and knew the Von Erichs were
coming or hearing Lynyrd Skynyrd's Freebird and knew the Freebirds were coming
out. For the longest time, popular music was used for the superstars...you knew
you made it if you came out to entrance music because at the time, everyone back
in the day didn't have music to come out to the way they do now.
I remember hearing Slade's Run Runaway and thinking 'This is the music that was
used during Joe Pedicino's Pro Wrestling This Week show during the top 10
section of the show I gotta get this song!'. I also remember hearing the
Pretenders' Message of Love and thinking when the WWF used some of the
instrumental for their replay segments. So many juicy fragments of music used
not enough time for them all. To give you a brief overview or I'd be here all
day :), here are:
20 songs with
artists I will always remember
Tom Sawyer - Rush and Stranglehold - Ted Nugent - Von Erichs
Bad to the Bone - George Thorogood - The Handsome Halfbreed Gino Hernandez
Still of the Night - Whitesnake - Hollywood John Tatum and Jack Victory
Freebird - Lynyrd Skynyrd and Badstreet USA and When the Love Comes Down -
Michael Hayes /The Fabulous Freebirds
Boy from New York City - Manhattan Transfer - Boogie Woogie Man Jimmy Valiant
Rock and Roll is King - ELO and Boogie Woogie Dance Hall - The Rock and Roll
Express
Run Runaway - Slade and Party all the Time - Eddie Murphy - Pro Wrestling This
Week TV Show
Real American - Rick Derringer - Windham and Rotundo
Perfect Strangers - Deep Purple - Shane Douglas
We are Family - Sister Sledge - Iceman King Parsons
Sexy Boy - Shawn Michaels or Sherri Martel
Slow Chemical - Finger Eleven - Kane
Exodus - Exodus Soundtrack - Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig
Sirius - Alan Parsons Project - Ricky Steamboat
Chase -Giorgio Mordor - Midnight Express
Best of all time
Also Sprach Zarusthra - 2001 A Space Odyssey - Ric Flair
Some wrestlers would sing their own theme
songs...Michael Hayes, The Nasty Boys in WCW, the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers,
Shawn Michaels, and John Cena most notably come to mind. For just one match, the
Rockers sang their own theme song used in only one match on a TV match vs the
Rougeaus. Other that would be memorable were Men on a Mission who actually sang
on the way to the ring and my favorites; Ron 'The Truth' Killings (I bought both
of his CDs and enjoyed them both, and the 'Rapmaster' P.N. News who not only
would sing his entrance in but also sang his way out.
In time though, due to musicians and music companies
wanting a bit more of the pie...each fed would go to a different source for
music. If any of you have seen the WWE DVDs or WWE 24/7, you will notice songs
changed from its' original airings for just the reason mentioned
earlier...almost like the 'Why WKRP in Cincinnati took forever to be put out on
DVD' reason. WWF/E would use Jim Johnston for their music and would have a
successful music library made out of it all. At the time...the only place you
could really have your own copy of the superstars' music was to subscribe to
their fan club and in time, you could buy many of their WWF/E: Volume # 's and
enjoy to your hearts content. WCW on the other hand would use production music
from companies like Bruton or Aircraft Music...just to name a couple. That music
was a little harder to find and in some cases near impossible (I am looking for
Lex Luger's 1st NWA theme btw :) )...although WWF/E would also use production
music as well but would rely on James Johnston for most of their themes. Solluna
when they were around released two CD's...World Wrestling Theme Library Vol. 1
and 2. They took the more popular production themes like Jeff Hardy's or the
NWO's and compiled them but other than that...finding great wrestling music can
be very difficult unless you know just what and where to look for it. If anyone
has any questions as to names of songs or where to possibly find them, email me
and I will try to help you out.
I could continue to wax nostalgia all day and night
about music but we'd be here all day. I may revisit this topic another time. On
the way to wrapping this up, I received my first email from a loyal PWInsider
reader and to you...and for this pupose will use the name "L & O
guy"... My sentiments are the same as yours though I'm sorry to hear what
happened and hope that come April, all will be well for you. Thank you for your
support of me.
I will not reveal name because consent hasn't been
established yet but for future reference, if you write me and do not wish any
info to be used, simply let me know and I will respect your privacy and
wishes...but any email is greatly appreciated and any questions you have I will
try to answer to the best of my ability. If I do not know I will tell you. This
however is not to infringe on the mailbag section done by the guys during the No
Name Show (which is a great audio show to listen to). So give me a shout out if
you wish. Also, if you have myspace, you can find me at www.myspace.com/pwamradio.
(Side note - I run my myspace page and some other avenues as a support for
breast cancer awareness and the hope for a cure). Next article has not yet been
determined but there are a couple ways I might go so stay tuned. For now, see
you on the flipside.
Final note - my thoughts and prayers go out the families affected by the tornado
that hit Atlanta recently. I hope you readers do the same as well. Thank you.
Please feel free to email me at albertarmageddon@aol.com
