The Pokemon cartoon series has always been an underappreciated key to the franchise’s popularity, and one of the things that’s made the cartoon so successful was its fantastic theme song. The Pokemon cartoon has had various theme songs over the years, but the original is still the very best, like no song ever was. There’s no way you can listen to it without pumping your fist at least once.
We rarely think about the people who produce our favorite theme songs or commercial jingles, but the Pokemon theme was sung by a real dude named Jason Paige. With the 20th anniversary of the Pokemon anime approaching, Paige returned to the studio to once again belt out the beloved theme, and, well, he pretty much nails it. You can check out the performance at the top of this post.
Paige has had a pretty fascinating career. In addition to singing the Pokemon theme, he’s worked with Michael Jackson, Aerosmith and Paul McCartney, and is the Subway “Eat Fresh” and Pepto Bismol “Nausea, Heartburn, Indigestion” guy. Here’s a CNN profile on his work with Pokemon…
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Paige also recently sung a parody version of the Pokemon theme about The Rock, because sure, why not?
I don’t care how many Pokemon you’ve caught, this dude is the real Poke champion.
(Via Polygon)