"Go Go Power Rangers" is a song by
Ron Wasserman who recorded it under the name Aaron Waters - The Mighty RAW. It was released by Saban Records, later renamed Saban Music Group of
Saban Capital Group
Saban Capital Group LLC is an American investment company based in Los Angeles, California focused on media, entertainment and communications. Formed in 2001 by Haim Saban, Saban Capital Group owns Saban Films, and co-owns Celestial Tiger Ente ...
,
on
CD and cassette formats in the US on December 2, 1994, and in the UK December 14, 1994. The song serves as the opening theme for the first three seasons of the original ''
Power Rangers
''Power Rangers'' is an American media franchise created by Haim Saban, Shuki Levy and Shotaro Ishinomori built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise ''Super Sentai''. It is currently ow ...
'' series, ''
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
''Mighty Power Rangers'' (''MMPR'') is an American 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 popular culture, ...
.'' It was composed using keyboard only, preloaded with guitar and drum sound since Ron Wasserman does not play either instrument. The song, with minor alterations of its lyrics, was also used for the mini-series ''
Alien Rangers
''Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers'' is a ''Power Rangers'' mini-series set immediately after the end of the third season of ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers''. As with the third season of ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'', this mini-series adapted fo ...
''. The titular refrain, "Go Go Power Rangers!", has become a popular catchphrase associated with the show, and it has been used in several other themes for the series.
A cover of the song, performed by
Noam Kaniel, was used as the show's intro theme from 2011 up to 2014, starting with the 18th season of the franchise, ''
Power Rangers Samurai
''Power Rangers Samurai'' is the eighteenth season of the children's television series ''Power Rangers'', which is based on the Japanese ''Super Sentai Series''. The season was the first to be produced by Saban Capital Group, SCG Power Rangers, a ...
.'' A rearrangement of Kaniel's version was used for 2013's ''
Power Rangers Megaforce
''Power Rangers Megaforce'' is the twentieth season of the long-running television series ''Power Rangers''. The show is produced by Saban Brands and began airing on Nickelodeon on February 2, 2013. The show was part of the ''Power Rangers'' 20t ...
,'' revising some lyrics to reflect that season. The lyrics "Go Go Power Rangers" were incorporated into otherwise-new theme songs for ''
Power Rangers Dino Charge'', ''
Power Rangers Ninja Steel
''Power Rangers Ninja Steel'' is the twenty-fourth season of the television program ''Power Rangers''. The season was produced primarily using footage, costumes, and props from Japanese 39th Super Sentai series '' Shuriken Sentai Ninninger'' ...
'', ''
Power Rangers Beast Morphers
''Power Rangers Beast Morphers'' is the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh seasons of the American television program ''Power Rangers''. The first season premiered on Nickelodeon on March 2, 2019, while the second season premiered on February 22, 2 ...
'', and ''
Power Rangers Dino Fury
''Power Rangers Dino Fury'' are the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth seasons of the American television series ''Power Rangers''. The first season premiered on Nickelodeon in the United States on February 20, 2021, and concluded on December 18, 20 ...
''.
Musical style
In a 2023 interview, Ron Wasserman talked about the sound of this song and others he made for the series, saying "It's not exactly heavy metal. People have called it that, it's really not. It's more like
speed metal
Speed metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Berg Publishers, 2007), , p. 31. It is desc ...
, sort of, but it's not quite as heavy, and I think that's because of the vocals, really. Normally you'd have groups like that, and you have somebody with the
uttural noises you'd have that deep, grungy chord voice. It's
lsonot
pop metal
Pop metal (sometimes conflated with or used interchangeably with glam metal) is an umbrella term for commercial heavy metal and hard rock styles which feature prominent pop music elements such as catchy hooks and anthemic choruses. It became p ...
, it's its own thing. It's hard to describe." He added, "the closest I've heard to it is like when
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
did ''
Hardwired... to Self-Destruct'', and I just went, 'Wow, they're hitting that speed, they're hitting those things.' I mean, I absolutely loved it because it's flying at such a fast pace."
Track listing
;Cassette
# "Go Go Power Rangers (Euro Mix)"
# "Go Go Power Rangers (Original LP Long Version)"
1995 film version
For the 1995 film adaptation ''
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie'', a new arrangement of "Go Go Power Rangers" was recorded for the film's soundtrack. The song was performed by "The Power Rangers Orchestra": a collaboration that featured
Mr. Big frontman
Eric Martin, Guitarist
Tim Pierce
Tim Pierce (born 1958 in Albuquerque) is an American session guitarist. He has worked for artists such as Joe Cocker, Crowded House, Goo Goo Dolls, Michael Jackson, Beth Hart, Roger Waters, Alice Cooper, Johnny Hallyday, Phil Collins, and th ...
, former
Pablo Cruise bass player John Pierce, singer-pianist
Kim Bullard
Kim Bullard (born May 6, 1955) is an American keyboardist, songwriter, record producer, and film composer. He has been making music since the 1970s and has performed extensively as a keyboard player with musical acts such as Elton John and Crosb ...
, and former
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...
drummer
Matt Sorum
Matthew William Sorum (born November 19, 1960) is an American drummer. He is best known as both a former member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he recorded three studio albums, and as a member of the supergroup Velvet Revolver. ...
.
2012 re-recording
In 2012, Wasserman re-recorded "Go Go Power Rangers", along with "the best known songs"
from the first four seasons of ''Power Rangers'', and released a digital album titled ''Power Rangers Redux'' to both his personal Bandcamp and iTunes. Of the album, Wasserman said, "The original recordings were done quickly to keep up with the production schedule...I wanted to use today's technology, and my additional 20+ years of experience as a producer, to 'punch up' the performances and energy to match today's sound."
Notable cover versions
*
Norwegian metal singer,
Leo Moracchioli covered the song along with Truls Haugen, which recorded the rock version of Power Rangers Dino Charge and Dino Super Charge.
*
Nekrogoblikon made an evil parody of the song, using goblin themed lyrics & titled The Goblin Rangers Theme
*
Charlie Parra del Riego made a
true metal version of the song.
* Underground
death metal
Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...
act Vile Inscription covered the song, using video clips of the
videogame
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual feedback from a display device, most ...
Newer versions
The song, when used as the main theme for ''
Power Rangers Samurai
''Power Rangers Samurai'' is the eighteenth season of the children's television series ''Power Rangers'', which is based on the Japanese ''Super Sentai Series''. The season was the first to be produced by Saban Capital Group, SCG Power Rangers, a ...
'' and ''
Power Rangers Super Samurai'', was performed by
Noam Kaniel. Different arrangements, with some of the lyrics altered for each, were used for the subsequent series, including ''
Power Rangers Megaforce
''Power Rangers Megaforce'' is the twentieth season of the long-running television series ''Power Rangers''. The show is produced by Saban Brands and began airing on Nickelodeon on February 2, 2013. The show was part of the ''Power Rangers'' 20t ...
'' and ''
Power Rangers Super Megaforce''; ''
Power Rangers Dino Charge'' and ''
Power Rangers Dino Super Charge''; and ''
Power Rangers Ninja Steel
''Power Rangers Ninja Steel'' is the twenty-fourth season of the television program ''Power Rangers''. The season was produced primarily using footage, costumes, and props from Japanese 39th Super Sentai series '' Shuriken Sentai Ninninger'' ...
'', all of which were also performed by Kaniel.
References
{{authority control
Songs about fictional characters
1994 songs
Children's television theme songs
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Ron Wasserman songs