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Ron Wasserman

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Ron Wasserman
Birth nameRonald Aaron Wasserman
Also known asAaron Waters, The Mighty RAW
Born (1961-09-02) September 2, 1961 (age 63)
Encino, California, U.S.
GenresHeavy metal, power metal
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, record producer
Instrument(s)Vocals, piano, keyboard, drums, percussion, clarinet
Years active1992–present
LabelsRawfish, Saban Music Group
Websiteronw.com

Ron Wasserman, also known as Aaron Waters and The Mighty RAW, is an American music artist best known for composing the original theme song for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and for the large volume of original songs he also recorded for the franchise. He is also a member of the band Fisher.

Although wrongly referred to as a band, "The Mighty RAW" is just an alias for the singer himself.

History

Early career

Wasserman has been fascinated with music since he was three years old. His early music bands include Hollywood Headliners Betty Boop & the Beat, formed by SAG actress Lucrecia Sarita Russo. In 1983, (with Wasserman on keyboards) the group opened for Felony/Scotti Brothers records at the Florentine Gardens. Felony was fronted by Lucrecia's then-husband, Jeff Spry, who was receiving chart action with the KROQ-FM hit single "The Fanatic". In the mid-1980s, Ron started a rock band with present-day actress, E.G. Daily. In 1989, shortly after the band disbanded, he started working for Saban Entertainment. Wasserman filled in at Saban Entertainment one afternoon and eventually stayed there for six and a half years. Wasserman and Ron Kenan, once V.P. of Saban Entertainment/Music Production, met in the early 80's and played together in the popular new wave pop band, Betty Boop & the Beat.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

While at Saban, Wasserman developed scores and co-wrote themes for several of their smaller series as well as the animated X-Men series, before he composed some of his most recognizable work, which was for the show Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. One day, he was presented with the first footage of the show, was told to use the word "Go", and to have it finished by the next day. After two and a half hours, the song that resulted was the show's theme song, "Go Go Power Rangers".[1] Several of his most popular songs and scores were eventually released on a successful concept album entitled Mighty Morphin Power Rangers the Album: A Rock Adventure, which linked his music around a variation on the opening episodes of season two of the television series.

All of his compositions for the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series and various other Saban productions were credited to Shuki Levy and Kussa Mahchi (Haim Saban). This was so the pair could collect music royalties for Wasserman's work.[2][3] While working on the show, Saban asked Wasserman to come up with an artist name, as they did not want it to appear as though one person was doing all of the music. He came up with the name "Aaron Waters" because his middle name was Aaron and his surname Wasserman means "water carrier" in German. Saban later attached the additional alias "The Mighty RAW". While the reason behind it is unknown, it is assumed "RAW" is for his initials and "The Mighty" comes from the "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers."[1]

Later Saban projects

Wasserman performed the Power Rangers: In Space theme and music. His success with the Power Rangers soundtrack led to work on numerous other projects. Shows he contributed music to around this time include Sweet Valley High and VR Troopers. He was also hired to produce the musical score for FUNimation's first English dub of Dragon Ball Z, which was co-handled by Saban.[4] Wasserman left Saban in 1996,[5] citing exhaustion.

Post-Saban music career

After leaving Saban, Wasserman started a band with then-girlfriend Kathy Fisher, whom he later married. The band, Fisher, won an award for "most downloaded song on the Internet" in 2000[6] and has enjoyed a steady stream of success since then.

Wasserman also began working on various video game titles with Pink Floyd producer, Bob Ezrin and contributed to DIC Entertainment. In 1998, Fisher contributed a song for the movie Great Expectations. The band would eventually generate 18,000 downloads after they uploaded content from a recent album to mp3 websites, with the song "I Will Love You" receiving the most downloads.[5]

Return to Power Rangers

Wasserman returned to solo work in 2005, and even returned to the Power Rangers franchise in 2005, composing the theme song for the thirteenth Power Rangers season, Power Rangers: S.P.D.. News of his involvement reached the fanbase and demo versions of the theme were leaked, upsetting Disney executives. According to Linkara in his "History of Power Rangers" show after contacting Wasserman he also submitted 2 demos for Power Rangers: Mystic Force a rock theme and a rap theme, he had first submitted the rock theme and originally the producers at Disney approved of it, but later contacted him saying they were seeking something more of a rap genre thus leading him to creating and submitting a rap theme to them which they in turn rejected, although Wasserman admits that his rap theme wasn't very good. Since Disney were not going to be using the themes for the series he posted the demos online for the fans much to the disapproval of Disney.[7]

Post Power Rangers

Wasserman remains active with other television and commercial projects, including recent work for America's Next Top Model.

In 2010, Wasserman released two original songs with Ozone Entertainment as downloadable content on the Rock Band Network.[8]

Power Rangers: Redux

Untitled

On August 28, 2012, Wasserman announced on both RangerBoard and RangerCrew that he would be re-cutting the original Power Rangers songs, to refresh their sound and use new technology to record them. During the process of recording the tracks, Wasserman posted a few unedited/unmixed sample clips.[9][10]

Despite being limited to songs that were commercially released on CD or cassette during the 90's, a large repertoire of his Power Rangers music still remained to create the new album. The tracks were released via Bandcamp on October 22, 2012, with CD Baby (covering Amazon, iTunes, etc.) coming thereafter. This new album includes an instrumental version of each song, making it the largest instrumental release of Power Rangers music thus far. A listing of the tracks is as follows:[11]

Vocal Tracks:

  • "Go Go Power Rangers - Redux"
  • "Fight - Redux"
  • "Hope For the World - Redux"
  • "Combat - Redux"
  • "Cross My Line - Redux"
  • "Lord Zedd - Redux"
  • "We Need A Hero - Redux"
  • "Go Green Ranger Go - Redux"
  • "Unite - Redux"
  • "5-4-1 - Redux"
  • "I Will Win - Redux"

Instrumental Tracks:

  • "Go Go Power Rangers - Instrumental Redux"
  • "Fight - Instrumental Redux"
  • "Hope For the World - Instrumental Redux"
  • "Combat -Instrumental Redux"
  • "Cross My Line - Instrumental Redux"
  • "We Need A Hero - Instrumental Redux"
  • "Go Green Ranger Go - Instrumental Redux"
  • "Unite - Instrumental Redux"
  • "5-4-1 - Instrumental Redux"
  • "I Will Win - Instrumental Redux"

Power Rangers: Celestial Fury (Fanfilm)

Wasserman has also contributed an instrumental version of his rock theme,[citation needed] as well as scoring work (for free)[citation needed] for a recent Power Rangers fanfilm, titled Celestial Fury.[12]

Personal life

He is married to Kathleen Fisher (the namesake and Wasserman's bandmate in Fisher) and they have a son, named Aron. [citation needed]

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

TV/film composing credits

References

  1. ^ a b An Evening with Ron Wasserman Part 1 of 2. YouTube.
  2. ^ http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/05/10/the-influencer
  3. ^ Composers say they're paupers in royalty game - The Hollywood Reporter - via groups.google.com
  4. ^ 2014 interview
  5. ^ a b Ron Wasserman's Page - Composers' Forum
  6. ^ Fisher Fisher Bio | Fisher Career | MTV
  7. ^ http://blip.tv/at4w/hopr-power-rangers-mystic-force-part-1-6567517. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ^ Ron Wasserman // The Music // Rock Band. Accessed August 8, 2010.
  9. ^ recutting the original Power Ranger songs...... Accessed October 18, 2012.
  10. ^ Single Post - Recutting the original PR Songs - Testing 1, 2, 3. Accessed August 30, 2012.
  11. ^ Power Rangers Redux | Ron Wasserman. Accessed October 23, 2012
  12. ^ Recutting the original PR Songs - Testing 1, 2, 3. Accessed August 30, 2012.
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