Needless to say, I love music and professional wrestling has been incorporating music into their characters and shows for what feels like an eternity.
Now, music wasn't part of the pro wrestling mystic until the 1950s hit where Mildred Burke utilized music in her entrance. The same practice was also executed in the same decade by Gorgeous Geroge.
The 1970s was a period of time where a few pro wrestlers gave their shot as a musician.
"Classy" Freddie Blassie released an album in 1977 called "Blassie, King Of Men". The album utilized his promo mic skills instead of his raw vocal range which was a smart move if you ask me.
The 80s is an important period of time when it comes to music in professional wrestling.
The WWF was a huge beneficiary when it came to music in wrestling. When you think of the likes of Macho Man, "the million-dollar Man" Ted Dibiase, Hulk Hogan (#F**kHulkHogan) or hell, even The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, you think about their theme song.
Music was such a part of their DNA that they released an album in late 1985 simply titled "The Wrestling Album".
That same year, Titan Towers decided to recruit a name you may or may not heard of, Jim Johnston.
There's a reason why people would post #JimJohnstonForHOF whenever his name comes up and that's because he's made a mark in wrestling even though the man isn't a promoter or a pro wrestler.
Johnson is responsible for some of the most iconic music in professional wrestling that folks will still vibe to even after Johnson left WWE 4 years ago.
Songs that come to mind are The Undertaker, Steve Austin, The Rock, Bret Hart and my personal favourite, Luke Gallows because that is some of Johnston's best work according to Smackdown vs RAW 2011.
With that out of the way, I am going to review Johnston's early work in a new limited article series (depending on whether I like doing this), "Reviewing Jim Johnston's Early Work" where I recap Johnston's early work mostly from the mid-80s to the early 90s.
In this post, I'll be writing about Johnston's first piece of music recorded for the then WWF which was the main theme song for the second-ever Wrestlemania.
Let's get the negatives out of the way. The SONG ISN'T IN HIGH QUALITY. EVEN MY OLD RINGTONE FOR MY NOKIA PHONE HAS A HIGHER QUALITY THAN THIS!
This is a great example of Jim Johnston showing his versatility when it comes to the composition of his music.
So, the dude executed the "This clearly isn't ad music for the NFL back in the 80s" in a way that was passable.
His later work is a lot more memorable which is why it feels like the early phase of his WWE music career (for the most part, of course) was him figuring out the genre of the music he composes that fits with certain shows' main theme songs/promotional ads/performers.
On and all, this instrument was a decent path at an eventual legendary career for the man called Jim Johnston.
(Monday Night RAW was so bad today, I decided to post this month’s editorial a week early).