Fandango craze: WWE's musical mastermind discusses origins of 'Fandangoing'

You?ve heard it in arenas, you?ve hummed it at work and you might even be singing it in the shower. ?ChaChaLaLa? is upon us, and regardless of how you feel about ballroom dancer-turned-Superstar Fandango, it?s impossible to ignore the fact that his infectious entrance theme has sparked an aural pandemic amid the WWE Universe ? and there?s no vaccine in sight.

Download ?ChaChaLaLa? on iTunes?|?Watch Fandango?s entrance video

Longtime WWE composer Jim Johnston hardly thought he had a hit on his hands late last year, when he was asked to write a tune for a forthcoming Superstar who was attuned to the art of salsa dancing as well as suplexes.

?We wanted a piece of music that said dance as opposed to a piece of music that was good to dance to,? Johnston told WWE.com in his Stamford, Conn., studio. ?I thought the rhythm that was most associated with dance that most people would know would be the cha-cha. So I went with that. As I always do, there?s no particular formula other than I just pick up a guitar or sit down at the piano and start poking away at stuff until something mysteriously sounds like, ?Oh yeah, that?s it.? ?

Less than an hour later, WWE?s resident maestro had laid the foundation for the theme that would ultimately herald the WWE arrival of the sequined Superstar, who delayed his official in-ring debut until his WrestleMania clash with Chris Jericho. The Show of Shows?worthy song pulls from what Johnston calls a ?percussive kitchen sink,? including congas, timbales, tambourines and shakers, but it?s the stabby brass line that brings the entire piece together.

?The brass part ? which brings out the melody that people have been singing along with ? is a real hallmark of this type of music,? Johnston explained.

It was that melody that reverberated throughout the IZOD Center on Raw the Monday after WrestleMania, when hordes of rowdy WWE Universe members from around the world hummed ?ChaChaLaLa? all night and continued the musical revelry in the parking lot after the show.

Listen to the WWE Universe at its rowdiest?| Fandango battles Kofi Kingston on Raw

?[My assistant] Meghan said on Tuesday morning, ?You?ve got to see this thing on YouTube,? and thought she was going to show me someone?s pet doing backflips or something.? Johnston said, describing his initial exposure to the ?Fandangoing? phenomenon that has spread everywhere from subway trains to Major League Baseball games to NFL cheerleading camps. ?The whole crowd at Raw was out of their minds singing this thing. These people are nuts. I mean, good nuts.?

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Source: http://www.wwe.com/subscriptions/wwetunes/jim-johnston-fandango-theme

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