Ronald Aaron Wasserman (born September 2, 1961), also known as Aaron Waters and The Mighty Raw, is an American musician who composed the original theme song for ''
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
''Mighty Power Rangers'' (''MMPR'') is a superhero television series that premiered on August 28, 1993, on the Fox Kids programming block. It is the first entry of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, and became a 1990s pop culture phenomenon along ...
'' and numerous original songs he also recorded for the franchise. He is also a member of the band
Fisher
Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral.
Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to:
Places
Australia
*Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland
*Elect ...
.
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
A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that res ...
/
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
KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock").
The st ...
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
Saban Entertainment, Inc. (along with Saban International; currently operating under the legal name is BVS Entertainment, Inc.) was a worldwide-served independent American-Israeli television production company formed in 1980 by Haim Saban and ...
. 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
The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...
'' 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".
[An Evening with Ron Wasserman Part 1 of 2]
YouTube.
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
Shuki Levy ( he, שוקי לוי; born June 3, 1947) is an Israeli-American music composer and television producer. Levy's best known work is soundtrack compositions for children's television programs of the 1980s, such as '' The Real Ghostbuster ...
and Kussa Mahchi (
Haim Saban). This was so the pair could collect music royalties for Wasserman's work. 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."
[
]
Later Saban projects
Wasserman performed the ''Power Rangers in Space
''Power Rangers in Space'' is a television series and the sixth season of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, based on the 21st Super Sentai series '' Denji Sentai Megaranger''.
''In Space'' was a turning point for the Power Rangers franchise, as th ...
'' 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
''Sweet Valley High'' is a series of young adult novels attributed to American author Francine Pascal, who presided over a team of ghostwriters to produce the series. The books chronicle the lives of identical twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefi ...
'' and '' VR Troopers''. He was also hired to produce the musical score for FUNimation
Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
's first English dub of ''Dragon Ball Z
''Dragon Ball Z'' is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Part of the ''Dragon Ball'' media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1986 '' Dragon Ball'' anime series and adapts the latter 325 chapters of the original ...
'', which was co-handled by Saban. Wasserman left Saban in September 1995, citing exhaustion.
Post-Saban music career
After leaving Saban, Wasserman started a band with then-girlfriend Kathy Fisher, whom he later married.
Wasserman also began working on various video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...
titles with Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...
producer, Bob Ezrin
Robert Alan Ezrin (born March 25, 1949) is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Andrea Bocelli and Phish. As of 2010, Ezrin's car ...
and contributed to DIC Entertainment
DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production com ...
. In 1998, Fisher contributed a song for the movie ''Great Expectations
''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (Great Expectations), Pip (the book is a ''bildungsroman''; a coming-of-age story). It ...
''.
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.
''Power Rangers S.P.D.'' is the thirteenth season of the television series, ''Power Rangers'', and is based on the 28th Super Sentai series ''Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger''. The season shares its title with the Korean dub of ''Dekaranger'' in South ...
''. News of his involvement reached the fanbase and demo versions of the theme were leaked, upsetting Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
executives. According to Linkara in his "History of Power Rangers" show after contacting Wasserman he also submitted 2 demos for ''Power Rangers Mystic Force
''Power Rangers Mystic Force'' is the fourteenth season of the television series ''Power Rangers'', based on the Japanese 29th ''Super Sentai'' tokusatsu series. The season premiered on February 20, 2006 as part of the Jetix block on Toon Disney. ...
'' 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.
Post ''Power Rangers''
Wasserman remains active with other television and commercial projects, including work for ''America's Next Top Model
''America's Next Top Model'' (abbreviated ''ANTM'' and ''Top Model'') is an American reality television series and interactive competition in which a number of aspiring models compete for the title of "America's Next Top Model" and a chance to b ...
''.
In 2010, Wasserman released two original songs with Ozone Entertainment as downloadable content
Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enabli ...
on the Rock Band Network
The ''Rock Band'' Network (abbreviated RBN) was a downloadable content service designed by Harmonix with the help of Microsoft to allow musical artists and record labels to make their music available as playable tracks for the ''Rock Band'' seri ...
.
''Power Rangers: Redux''
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.
Despite being limited to songs that were commercially released on CD or cassette during the 90s, a large repertoire of his Power Rangers music still remained to create the new album. The tracks were released via Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...
on October 22, 2012, with CD Baby
CD Baby, Inc. is an online distributor of independent music. The company was described as an "anti-label" by its parent company's Chief Operating Officer Tracy Maddux. The CD Baby music store was shut down in March 2020 with a statement that " ...
(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:Power Rangers Redux , Ron Wasserman
Accessed October 23, 2012
Personal life
At an early age, Wasserman was adopted by parents of
Russian-Jewish
The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...
descent.
[''Sticky Jazz'' podcast, December 2020] His sister was also adopted.
As a child, he was often mistaken as being from a different family, since he had blonde hair, while his parents and sister had red hair.
He was formerly married to Kathleen Fisher (the namesake and Wasserman's bandmate in Fisher).
They had one son together, Aron, born in 2004.
In September 2018, Wasserman was involved in a mountain bike accident, requiring surgery afterwards.
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers the Album: A Rock Adventure'' (1994) ''(as Aaron Waters)''
* ''Power Rangers Redux'' (2012)
Singles
* "
Go Go Power Rangers" (1994)
* "American Hero" (2010)
* "Fight Back" (2010)
TV/film composing credits
* ''
X-Men: The Animated Series'' (1992–1995) Co-composer of the theme song and background music
* ''
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers
''Mighty Power Rangers'' (''MMPR'') is a superhero television series that premiered on August 28, 1993, on the Fox Kids programming block. It is the first entry of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, and became a 1990s pop culture phenomenon al ...
'' (1993–1996) Singer, composer and songwriter of the theme song and background music
* ''
VR Troopers'' (1994–1996) Co-singer and composer/songwriter of the background music
* ''
Sweet Valley High
''Sweet Valley High'' is a series of young adult novels attributed to American author Francine Pascal, who presided over a team of ghostwriters to produce the series. The books chronicle the lives of identical twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefi ...
'' (1994–1998) Composer and songwriter of the theme song and background songs
* ''
Space Strikers
''Space Strikers'' (french: 20,000 Lieues dans l'espace, lit ''20,000 Leagues in Space'') is a 1995 animated television series based on the 1870 Jules Verne novel ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea''. Episodes center around the crew of the sp ...
'' (1995) Co-composer of the background music
* ''
Teknoman
is a 1992 Japanese anime television series produced by Tatsunoko Production and Sotsu Agency. The series was directed by Hiroshi Negishi and written by Mayori Sekijima and Satoru Akahori. The story follows an organization called the Spa ...
'' (1995) Composer of theme song and co-composer of the background music
* ''
Power Rangers Zeo
''Power Rangers Zeo'' is a television series and the fourth season of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, based on the 19th Super Sentai series ''Chouriki Sentai Ohranger''. It is the continuation of ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'', which aired in ...
'' (1996) Co-singer, co-composer and co-songwriter
* ''
Dragon Ball Z
''Dragon Ball Z'' is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Part of the ''Dragon Ball'' media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1986 '' Dragon Ball'' anime series and adapts the latter 325 chapters of the original ...
'' (1996–1998) Composer of the background music for the original English dub version of the first 53 episodes
* ''
Ace Ventura: The CD-Rom Game'' (1996)
ideo Game
IDEO () is a design and consulting firm with offices in the U.S., England, Germany, Japan, and China. It was founded in Palo Alto, California, in 1991. The company's 700 staff uses a design thinking approach to design products, services, environ ...
* ''
Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail'' (1996)
ideo Game
IDEO () is a design and consulting firm with offices in the U.S., England, Germany, Japan, and China. It was founded in Palo Alto, California, in 1991. The company's 700 staff uses a design thinking approach to design products, services, environ ...
* ''
Power Rangers Turbo
''Power Rangers Turbo'' is a television series and the fifth season of the Power Rangers franchise. The show was prefaced with the franchise's second film, '' Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie''. As with its predecessors, ''Power Rangers Turbo'' is ...
'' (1997) Co-singer, co-composer and co-songwriter of the background music
* ''Taylor's Return'' (1997)
* ''
Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might'' (1997) Composer of the background music for the original English dub version of the film
* ''
Mummies Alive!
''Mummies Alive!'' is an animated series from DIC Productions L.P. and Northern Lights Entertainment. It originally aired for one season in 1997. The show was part of a general trend of "mummymania" in 1990s pop culture.
Plot
In ancient Egypt, a ...
'' (1997–1998) Singer-Songwriter of the title song and co-writer of the background music
* ''
Power Rangers in Space
''Power Rangers in Space'' is a television series and the sixth season of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, based on the 21st Super Sentai series '' Denji Sentai Megaranger''.
''In Space'' was a turning point for the Power Rangers franchise, as th ...
'' (1998) Singer, co-composer and co-songwriter of the theme song and background music
* ''
Great Expectations
''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (Great Expectations), Pip (the book is a ''bildungsroman''; a coming-of-age story). It ...
'' (1998) Music written and performed by
* ''
SpongeBob SquarePants
''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the title character a ...
'' (2000)
* ''
America's Next Top Model
''America's Next Top Model'' (abbreviated ''ANTM'' and ''Top Model'') is an American reality television series and interactive competition in which a number of aspiring models compete for the title of "America's Next Top Model" and a chance to b ...
'' (2003–2013) Co-composer of the background music
* ''
Trollz Trollz may refer to:
* "Trollz" (song), a 2020 song by 6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj
* ''Trollz'' (TV series), an animated show based on the Troll doll
See also
* Troll (disambiguation)
{{disambiguation ...
'' (2005–2006) Composer and songwriter
* ''
Power Rangers SPD
''Power Rangers S.P.D.'' is the thirteenth season of the television series, ''Power Rangers'', and is based on the 28th Super Sentai series ''Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger''. The season shares its title with the Korean dub of ''Dekaranger'' in South ...
'' (2005) Singer, composer and songwriter of the song title
* ''
Dance Revolution
''Dance Revolution'' (originally titled ''Dance, Dance, Dance!'' during planning stages) is a television series from CBS and DIC Entertainment Corporation, in association with Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., produced by Brookwell McNamara En ...
'' (2006–2007) co-composer of the background music
* ''
Horseland
Horseland was an online community and browser game where members took care of, bred, trained and showed horses and dogs. Begun in 1994 in the United States, Horseland had grown to have more than 8 million users who played from all over the world. ...
'' (2006–2008)
* ''
Sushi Pack
''Sushi Pack'' is an animated action-adventure television series created by Studio Espinosa and developed by Tom Ruegger and Nicholas Hollander. Produced by DIC Entertainment Corporation and CloudCo, Inc. that aired for two seasons and 52 episod ...
'' (2007)
* ''
DinoSquad
''DinoSquad'' is an American animated television series that was produced by DIC Entertainment and aired on the KEWLopolis block on CBS from November 3, 2007 – December 6, 2008.
The show was about five teenagers, each with the power to turn in ...
'' (2007-2008)
* ''
Basketball Wives'' (2010–2013) Co-composer of the background music
* ''
Hot in Cleveland
''Hot in Cleveland'' is an American television sitcom on TV Land starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick, and Betty White.
The series, which was TV Land's first original series, premiered on June 16, 2010, and was TV Land's highe ...
'' (2010–2015) Composer of theme and background music
* ''
The Real Housewives of New York City
''The Real Housewives of New York City'' (abbreviated ''RHONY'') is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on March 4, 2008. Developed as the second installment of ''The Real Housewives'' franchise, it has aired thirteen ...
'' (2011–present)
* ''
All-American Muslim'' (2011)
* ''
America's Supernanny
''America's Supernanny'' (also known as America's Supernanny: Family Lockdown) is an American reality documentary television series broadcast on Lifetime. It is a spin-off on the ABC series ''Supernanny''. The series aired from November 29, 2 ...
'' (2011)
* ''
Retired at 35
''Retired at 35'' is an American sitcom on TV Land starring George Segal, Jessica Walter, Johnathan McClain, Josh McDermitt, Marissa Jaret Winokur, and Ryan Michelle Bathe. It is the network's second original scripted series after ''Hot in Cleve ...
'' (2011) Co-composer of the background music
* ''7 Days of Sex'' (2012) Co-composer of the background music
* ''
The Soul Man
''The Soul Man'' is an American sitcom created by Suzanne Martin and Cedric the Entertainer. The series is a spin-off from ''Hot in Cleveland'', in which Cedric guest starred in the 2011 episode "Bridezelka", the backdoor pilot for ''The Soul Ma ...
'' (2012–2016) Composer of the background music and theme
* ''
Who Do You Think You Are?'' (2013–present) Co-composer of the background music
* ''
Kirstie'' (2013–2014) Composer of the background music and theme
* ''
The Thundermans
''The Thundermans'' is an American comedy television series created by Jed Spingarn that aired on Nickelodeon from October 14, 2013 to May 25, 2018. The series stars Kira Kosarin, Jack Griffo, Addison Riecke, Diego Velazquez, Chris Tallman, R ...
'' (2014–2018) Composer of the background music
* ''
Bella and the Bulldogs
''Bella and the Bulldogs'' is an American comedy television series created by Jonathan Butler and Gabriel Garza that aired on Nickelodeon from January 17, 2015 to June 25, 2016. The series stars Brec Bassinger, Coy Stewart, Jackie Radinsky, Buddy ...
'' (2015–2016) Composer of the background music
* ''Criminal Confessions'' (2017-present) Theme Composer and Co-Composer of score
*''The Nothing'' (2018-present) Composer
ideo Game
IDEO () is a design and consulting firm with offices in the U.S., England, Germany, Japan, and China. It was founded in Palo Alto, California, in 1991. The company's 700 staff uses a design thinking approach to design products, services, environ ...
*''Murder for Hire'' (2019-present) Theme Composer and Co-Composer of score
Miscellaneous
* ''
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
''Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'' is a 2022 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Doctor Strange. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the sequel ...
'' (2022) An orchestrated rendition of Wasserman's ''
X-Men: The Animated Series'' theme briefly appeared.
References
External links
Official website*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wasserman, Ron
Songwriters from California
Living people
1961 births