Who composed Rock the Dragon?

[AlexSketchy04]

I'm not sure if it was already confirmed, or not, but, i've heard a lot of stuff, and i wanted to know who actually did it

Was it Wasserman? Was it Jeremy Sweet? Was it Levy? Was it someone else we don't know?

[MasenkoHA]

Pretty sure it was Ron Wasserman and/or Jeremy Sweet

[Robo4900]

It was most likely Ron Wasserman, since he's known to have done all* the actual scoring work in the Saban dub, but I don't know for sure if he did the OP.

*(or almost all?... I always thought it was all of it, though)

FWIW, Ron Wasserman often responds to fan questions he gets by email and Twitter; you could probably ask him, and he'd set you straight.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

It was probably Ron Wasserman, but asking him directly would be no harm.

For the record Mike responded to this question in a Donkeys old thread, but I'd say it's still relevant now.

Regarding the actual vocals in "Rock the Dragon" (and I should also point out that it's not really called that; it's simply credited as "Main Title"), the production credits for the original US DBZ OST ("Music by Shuki Levy & Kussa Mahehi") have:

Executive Producers: John J. Alcantar III, Thomas C. Stewart
Produced and Sequenced by: Ford A. Thaxton
Production Designer: Simon Telega
Digitally Edited by: James Nelson at Digital Outland, Lacey, WA
Special thanks to: Gen Fukunaga, Cindy Fukunaga, Robert Brennan and Daniel Cocanougher

We'll probably never know which individual person actually "sang" the song, just like we'll probably never know which individual people ever sang half of the theme songs ever written for television shows in the US.

[WittyUsername]

In terms of the vocals, I always assumed it was the same person who sang the Power Rangers theme.

[Kakacarrottop]

Over the last few years, I've independently come to the conclusion that Jeremy Sweet is the person singing Rock the Dragon.

The reasons are because:

1. On Saban shows from the mid-90s-early 2000s, "Shuki Levy & Kussa Mahchi" are listed under "music by" in the credits, while the actual composers are listed as "music producers". An example is in the credits for the Digimon dub, where Udi Harpaz (the composer of the background score) and Paul Gordon (the singer of the theme song) are merely listed as music producers.

2. On DBZ's credits, Ron Wasserman and Jeremy Sweet are listed as the music producers. Ron Wasserman has gone on the record saying he did the background score for DBZ, but not Rock the Dragon. Naturally, this means it must have been Jeremy Sweet who did it.

3. Jeremy Sweet sang the theme songs for shows like Beetleborgs and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: the Next Mutation around 96-97, when the DBZ dub happened

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzbgHf14dI8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4F-nlT8IwI

As you can hear, the voice in these videos is nearly identical to the voice in Rock the Dragon. The voice in Rock the Dragon also sounds like Wasserman does on the Power Rangers theme, but once again, he said he only did the DBZ background score.

As for who actually composed the guitar riff in Rock the Dragon, that could be Shuki Levy for all we know. Although it more likely than not was also Jeremy Sweet, seeing as Shuki Levy doesn't include Rock the Dragon on his website, which has a list of all the theme songs he composed.

[Sin]

FWIW I e-mailed Ron Wasserman, here is what was said:



Take from it what you will, considering production was well over 20 years ago, but he seems fairly certain.

[VegettoEX]

Not sure how much it helps, but there was this quote from Cindy Fukunaga:

https://www.kanzenshuu.com/press-archiv ... unimation/

"No, we composed a new theme. It was done in Los Angeles. It’s a very distinctive sound, and I’m told it’s of the sort that’s very popular among American children right now."

(I know nothing about Saban stuff and who did what where.)

[AlexSketchy04]

Over the last few years, I've independently come to the conclusion that Jeremy Sweet is the person singing Rock the Dragon.

The reasons are because:

1. On Saban shows from the mid-90s-early 2000s, "Shuki Levy & Kussa Mahchi" are listed under "music by" in the credits, while the actual composers are listed as "music producers". An example is in the credits for the Digimon dub, where Udi Harpaz (the composer of the background score) and Paul Gordon (the singer of the theme song) are merely listed as music producers.

2. On DBZ's credits, Ron Wasserman and Jeremy Sweet are listed as the music producers. Ron Wasserman has gone on the record saying he did the background score for DBZ, but not Rock the Dragon. Naturally, this means it must have been Jeremy Sweet who did it.

3. Jeremy Sweet sang the theme songs for shows like Beetleborgs and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: the Next Mutation around 96-97, when the DBZ dub happened

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzbgHf14dI8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4F-nlT8IwI

As you can hear, the voice in these videos is nearly identical to the voice in Rock the Dragon. The voice in Rock the Dragon also sounds like Wasserman does on the Power Rangers theme, but once again, he said he only did the DBZ background score.

As for who actually composed the guitar riff in Rock the Dragon, that could be Shuki Levy for all we know. Although it more likely than not was also Jeremy Sweet, seeing as Shuki Levy doesn't include Rock the Dragon on his website, which has a list of all the theme songs he composed.

Does anyone knows where i can contact Jeremy?

[Robo4900]

Not sure how much it helps, but there was this quote from Cindy Fukunaga:

https://www.kanzenshuu.com/press-archiv ... unimation/

"No, we composed a new theme. It was done in Los Angeles. It’s a very distinctive sound, and I’m told it’s of the sort that’s very popular among American children right now."

(I know nothing about Saban stuff and who did what where.)

Thanks, I forgot about that quote. Saban's HQ was in LA at the time, so if Jeremy Sweet was somewhat local to Saban, that would line up quite well.

Sadly, I can't find any information about Jeremy Sweet from Googling.

... Here's a weird thought... I presume Gen Fukunaga wouldn't exactly have a fanmail address, but if he does, someone could try reaching out to him and seeing if he remembers.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

... Here's a weird thought... I presume Gen Fukunaga wouldn't exactly have a fanmail address, but if he does, someone could try reaching out to him and seeing if he remembers.

Worth a shot, although Funimation do like to deny any involvement with anything related to the first 53 episodes of dubbed Z (even went so far as to call it "the Ocean dub" on the Rock the Dragon set, as if it's not their product ), so I wouldn't put it past Fukunaga to just conveniently forget.

If I do track down Jeremy Sweet I will be sure to reach out any way I can.

[MasenkoHA]

... Here's a weird thought... I presume Gen Fukunaga wouldn't exactly have a fanmail address, but if he does, someone could try reaching out to him and seeing if he remembers.

Worth a shot, although Funimation do like to deny any involvement with anything related to the first 53 episodes of dubbed Z (even went so far as to call it "the Ocean dub" on the Rock the Dragon set, as if it's not their product ), so I wouldn't put it past Fukunaga to just conveniently forget.

If I do track down Jeremy Sweet I will be sure to reach out any way I can.

There’s also a decent chance he just doesn’t know. As far as we know they contacted Saban Entertainment to compose a new theme and incidental score and Shuki Levy and Haim Saban hired Ron Wasserman and Jeremy Sweet.

It wouldn’t be that surprising if people at Funimation genuinely believe Shuki Levy composed the music

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

... Here's a weird thought... I presume Gen Fukunaga wouldn't exactly have a fanmail address, but if he does, someone could try reaching out to him and seeing if he remembers.

Worth a shot, although Funimation do like to deny any involvement with anything related to the first 53 episodes of dubbed Z (even went so far as to call it "the Ocean dub" on the Rock the Dragon set, as if it's not their product ), so I wouldn't put it past Fukunaga to just conveniently forget.

If I do track down Jeremy Sweet I will be sure to reach out any way I can.

That makes no sense why they are trying to pretend as though they had no involvement with said production back then, and try their hardest to sweep that span of years under the rug when they clearly were behind it as if they're trying to disown and wash their hands of it. This is definitely a case of revisionist history on their part, because Saban and Ocean didn't produce the 1996 dub themselves. True, there really aren't much of the production people from that time at the company anymore but it still doesn't change the fact that FUNi was responsible even if it wasn't solely them like from 1998 onwards.

[Planetnamek]

... Here's a weird thought... I presume Gen Fukunaga wouldn't exactly have a fanmail address, but if he does, someone could try reaching out to him and seeing if he remembers.

Worth a shot, although Funimation do like to deny any involvement with anything related to the first 53 episodes of dubbed Z (even went so far as to call it "the Ocean dub" on the Rock the Dragon set, as if it's not their product ), so I wouldn't put it past Fukunaga to just conveniently forget.

If I do track down Jeremy Sweet I will be sure to reach out any way I can.

I don't feel like that's them trying to deny involvement, I think that's just them trying to make it less confusing for the people that would want to purchase such a set, as just calling it the "Funimation dub" is only going to confuse people, so I understand their logic there.

[MasenkoHA]

... Here's a weird thought... I presume Gen Fukunaga wouldn't exactly have a fanmail address, but if he does, someone could try reaching out to him and seeing if he remembers.

Worth a shot, although Funimation do like to deny any involvement with anything related to the first 53 episodes of dubbed Z (even went so far as to call it "the Ocean dub" on the Rock the Dragon set, as if it's not their product ), so I wouldn't put it past Fukunaga to just conveniently forget.

If I do track down Jeremy Sweet I will be sure to reach out any way I can.

I don't feel like that's them trying to deny involvement, I think that's just them trying to make it less confusing for the people that would want to purchase such a set, as just calling it the "Funimation dub" is only going to confuse people, so I understand their logic there.

“The original edited dub” as opposed to the Ocean dub which comes off like they’re trying to absolve themselves of any involvement.

There’s been quite a few examples of Funimation actors referring to themselves as the “original x character” despite that not being true (especially hilarious when Tiffany Vollmer referred to herself as the original Bulma despite not even being the first in-house actor to voice Bulma)

[WittyUsername]

“Ocean dub” sounds much catchier than “the original edited dub”, especially when the former was what fans had already been accustomed to calling it for years.

[Planetnamek]

“Ocean dub” sounds much catchier than “the original edited dub”, especially when the former was what fans had already been accustomed to calling it for years.

Agreed, and I think Vollmer meant she was the first Bulma that most people were familiar with.

Besides that's more accurate then "original edited dub" as that's technically not even true since Harmony Gold came before them.

[MasenkoHA]

“Ocean dub” sounds much catchier than “the original edited dub”, especially when the former was what fans had already been accustomed to calling it for years.

Agreed, and I think Vollmer meant she was the first Bulma that most people were familiar with.

Besides that's more accurate then "original edited dub" as that's technically not even true since Harmony Gold came before them.

The Harmony Gold dub only aired in a few test markets so it hardly counts

[Planetnamek]

“Ocean dub” sounds much catchier than “the original edited dub”, especially when the former was what fans had already been accustomed to calling it for years.

Agreed, and I think Vollmer meant she was the first Bulma that most people were familiar with.

Besides that's more accurate then "original edited dub" as that's technically not even true since Harmony Gold came before them.

The Harmony Gold dub only aired in a few test markets so it hardly counts

Ocean dub still makes more sense.

[90sDBZ]

I don't think Funimation were actually trying to distance themselves from the Saban dub though. About 90% of fans do refer to the first 2 Seasons as simply "The Ocean dub", with others simply calling it "The Saban dub", and even fewer calling it "The Funimation/Ocean/Saban dub".

For marketing reasons simply calling it the Ocean dub was the best option. Come to think of it the RtD set actually refers to it as "The Legendary Ocean dub", which was a really cool way to hype it up.

And the booklet inside the set actually includes a full timeline of the history of DBZ in North America, including references to the syndicated broadcast and early Toonami airings, so in no way were Funimation trying to say "Had nothing to do with us". I'd say the fact the set happened in the first place and has the Funimation logo on it is enough to confirm that. I'm still really grateful it happened at all.

The one thing that does bug me about the set is that it credits Shuki Levy as the composer instead of Ron Wasserman.