Here’s a bit of news that fills my 6-year-old heart with so much joy. WWE is re-releasing The Wrestling Album and Piledriver on vinyl as a 2 album set for this year’s Record Store Day.
I have both of these on tape somewhere, but I have no idea if they’ll play anymore thanks to some terrible humidity in a previous apartment and my current lack of a working cassette player. The Wrestling Album I’ve actually owned twice, because child me pretty well wore out my first copy but adult me bought a replacement when he happened to find one sitting in a bin at one of his old favourite record stores.
“This RSD 2015 release brings The Wrestling Album and Piledriver: The Wrestling Album 2 together as a 2LP collection, in a handsome spiral-bound jacket, celebrating a golden era in American pro wrestling mania. Originally released by the World Wrestling Federation in 1985, The Wrestling Album features tracks produced by Rick Derringer, David Wolff, Jim Steinman (Bat Out of Hell) and “Mona Flambe” (Cyndi Lauper, who contributes backing vocals on “Real American”); the album is comprised of theme music for wrestlers on the WWF (now the WWE) roster at the time. The 1987 follow-up, Piledriver: The Wrestling Album 2 showcases vocal performances from the wrestlers themselves, including “Stand Back” by Vince McMahon and “If You Only Knew” by The WWF Superstars.”
Here’s a little taste of what I hope I’ll be spinning on the record player soon.
On a side note, I know it would cost several small fortunes, but it would add so much to the WWE Network if they weren’t forced to dub over so much of the original music because of rights issues. At least pony up for Don’t Go Messin’ With A Country Boy, if nothing else.
