Jim Johnston: Farewell To WWE’s Musical Genius

So farewell Jim Johnston, another loyal and productive worker slain in the face of modernity.

Another person put out to pasture as the young bucks take to the field and strut. For Johnston, and fans of wrestling worldwide, the end of his 32 year tenure with WWE as their Director of Music is bittersweet.

Although WWE have yet to confirm Johnston’s departure officially at time of writing, there is enough smoke to indicate a sizeable fire.

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer stated that Johnston wasn’t fired, instead it was a case of WWE allowing his contract to run down. With the company coming to rely more and more on CFO$ to provide all their in-house musical wares since 2012 and Johnston’s contract said to be in the high ranges, the writing appeared to be on the wall.

Throughout his time with WWE, Johnston displayed versatility and adaptability that matched and even bettered the vast majority of his contemporaries. His trademarks and flourishes remain etched in WWE’s past, present and future.

The squalling guitar that greeted the arrival of Bret Hart, the shattering glass of Stone Cold and the tooting horns of Medal, the theme originally penned for the Patriot but latterly adopted with a little bit more success by Kurt Angle; all themes that not only captured the heart and soul of each wrestler, but remained each star’s music for the majority of their careers.

Similarly, barring mild tweaks, Johnston’s genius endured long enough for the likes of Shawn Michaels and Brock Lesnar for their themes to become inherently intrinsic to their entire concepts.

Lesnar’s theme in particular, with its Terminator-esque jackhammer drums and yet another famous guitar screech, has proved the definitive word in defining the Beast’s place in WWE. Fifteen years on, Johnston’s gift to Lesnar in ‘Next Big Thing’, is deeply embedded into what makes Lesnar such a frightening proposition.

Johnston managed to traverse not just a vast array of genres, but proved able to adapt to shifting trends both in and away from professional wrestling.

As a wrestling industry veteran, Johnston worked for WWE through the Golden, New Generation, Attitude and Ruthless Aggression eras. Inevitably, all things must pass and Johnston found himself the latest victim of the so-called ‘New Era’, in which Kurt Angle, Triple H and Shane McMahon headline Survivor Series in 2017.

This passing of the torch and the leaving of the old guard can be difficult, but the future for WWE’s music is in reliable hands. The duo of John Paul Alicastro and Michael Conrad Lauri, aka CFO$, are not without their chops.

While Johnston’s magic resided in his ability to gift his songs unique qualities and subtleties, CFO$ have quickly demonstrated a penchant for huge anthems that have already invaded the mainstream consciousness.

Their compositions that accompany Shinsuke Nakamura and Bobby Roode down the aisle, ‘The Rising Sun’ and ‘Glorious’ respectively, not only have fans belting their lungs out but enjoyed chart success too.

The headlines and stories reporting Johnston’s departure will talk about the memorable entrance themes but his role and reach within WWE was huge and certainly not to be understated.

As Director of Music Johnston was responsible for the company’s projected public image, scoring and producing music for the company’s pay-per-views and other television productions, as well as all commercials, vignettes and other packages.

Johnston also pitched in with the soundtracks for WWE’s film studio, and even found himself ensconced in such projects as the World Bodybuilding Federation and the ill-fated-because-it-was-nonsense XFL.

Johnston’s long stay with WWE displays not only loyalty that is rare today, but a tirelessness in putting up with crap matched only by the fans. He was indeed one of us.

Nobody reading this will do so without his music forming the basis of the background of their childhood, and many more years besides. Take a step back and understand that Johnston spent over three decades crafting songs that have affected millions of people and will remain in their memories long after they ever stop following wrestling.

Johnston is the recipient of multiple gold and platinum records. Since 1991, when Nielsen SoundScan began tracking album sales in the United States, Johnston released seventeen albums under the WWE label, clocking up just under six million sales in the process.

His consistent and impressive achievements would be revered more extensively had Johnston plied his trade in a more ‘acceptable’ field. His association with wrestling had proved to be a source of frustration at times, a stumbling block when trying to get bands and brands to associate with the product.

“One of my frustrations is getting the word out about just how much music is used in our product,” he told Billboard magazine in 2008. “The labels will stumble over themselves to get on MTV, but no one’s watching MTV”.

When Johnston took up gainful employment with Vince’s travelling circus in 1985, Hulk Hogan was a quarter of a way through a four year world title run. In that time Johnston has seen it all, remaining composed throughout.

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