Power Hall

Power Hall (パワー・ホール) is a song pseudonymously composed and performed by Susumu Hirasawa, and the entrance theme of professional wrestler Riki Choshu since 1980.

Hirasawa was commissioned to write this song while he was working as a music composer and sound designer for the Electro Sound Corporation. He believes he was approached to make it because Japanese pro-wrestlers need cool theme songs when they debut and techno-pop was massively popular at the time. He didn't want to do it, since he has absolutely no interest in or any knowledge about professional wrestling. At the time, Rikidozan was the only thing that came to his head with regards to pro-wrestling, and he had difficulty in comprehending the idea that that wrestlers have their own theme songs. As such, his only reference point for the composition was the initial prompt—"I want you to create an entrance theme for a young wrestler"—and a profile that was sent to him. He wrote the song aiming for a sense of speed and fearless determination.

It was recorded with a variety of electronic instruments at the Electro Sound Studio: the bassline came from a Yamaha CS-30 through an 8-step analog sequencer, the snare (as well as an omitted kick part) from a Mini Moog, the strings from a Solina String Ensemble, and other elements from an ARP 2600. Most of the instruments had "rich" tones, which Hirasawa found disgusting (since it is opposite to his general affinity for "dark" and "gritty" sounds). Because of that repulsion, he recorded all the layers of the song on just 3 tracks of tape.

The entire songwriting and recording process was completed in a single day. When interviewed for a pro-wrestling mook years after the fact, he commented that had he known how often it would be used, he would have spent more time on it.

Writing is credited to "Hanmyo Ibo" (異母犯妙), a name that is pronounced identically to a type of Japanese tiger beetle. According to Hirasawa, this came about because an illustrated insect encyclopedia was left open in the studio at the moment he was asked for a pen name. Performance is credited to "ZZZ". Hirasawa's association with the song was not public knowledge for some time; in 1996, he remarked that most of the musicians he personally knew that were fans of wrestling did not know that he had written it.

"Power Hall" is the most widely-broadcast song of Hirasawa's career, used not just in Choshu's matches, but in media coverage of him as well. Covers of the song have been made by artists as high profile as Ken Ishii, and it has been used to promote works such as the live-action Hollywood adaptation of Ghost in the Shell (in a promotional short and a public event starring Choshu as Batou). The title "Power Hall" itself has become a brand of Choshu's, used as the name for a series of Victor Entertainment VHS/LD releases made to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his debut in 1994, as well as a series of wrestling events in 2018 and 2019 he produced. New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Choshu's promotion, owns all rights to the composition, meaning that Hirasawa receives no royalties from its use; he once referred to it as "not my song".

Connections

 * "Gipnoza" has been noted to have a similar structure, instrumental riff (the first 4 notes in particular), and synth tone.
 * Hirasawa would go on to make another wrestler entrance theme, once again under a pseudonym, 6 years later with "Hurricanes Bomb".

Trivia

 * Shinya Hashimoto, a rival of Choshu, once made up lyrics to the song mocking the size of his limbs.