The Wrestling Boot Band, also known as The Wrestling Boot Traveling Band, was a musical group fronted by Hulk Hogan, which also included "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart, Hogan's then-wife Linda, and John "J.J." Maguire. They released one album, Hulk Rules, in 1995, under the name "Hulk Hogan and the Wrestling Boot Band."
Hulk Rules[]
Hulk Rules includes songs in the genres of rock, pop, hip hop and other genres.
The song "American Made" was used as Hogan's theme song in World Championship Wrestling when he was not fronting the nWo. According to Hogan, "Hulkster in Heaven" was written in 1992 in honor of a Make-A-Wish Kid whom Hogan had invited to sit ringside at a show in the UK. When Hulk went out to wrestle, he saw that the seat was empty. Later, he was informed that the young "Hulkamaniac" had died before the match had begun. The lyric "Guess there'll be an empty seat when I wrestle at Wembley," was a direct result of the situation. Oddly enough, Hogan didn't wrestle once in the UK in 1992 and the story is untrue. He would go on to wrestle at the arena in September 1994 for WCW. Proceeds from the album went to help the young boy's family, who was having trouble paying the medical bills. This is another myth made up by Hogan as people don't pay medical bills in the UK.
That night, Hogan and Jimmy Hart wrote several songs for the album. Hogan let his wife at the time Linda sing back up vocals on a couple of the songs because, according to him, she sounded better than "the rest of the stuff."
The song "Beach Patrol" features a sample from "Tidal Tempest" from Sonic CD, as heard on the album release of the American version of the game's soundtrack, Sonic the Hedgehog Boom.
Track listing[]
All songs written by Terry G. Bollea, Jimmy R. Hart and John J. Maguire.
- "Hulkster's in the House"
- "American Made"
- "Hulkster's Back"
- "Wrestling Boot Traveling Band"
- "Bad to the Bone"
- "I Want To Be A Hulkamaniac"
- "Beach Patrol"
- "Hulk's The One"
- "Hulkster in Heaven"
- "Hulk Rules"
Reception[]
Although panned commercially the album has become a cult classic and is considered a high point in Hulkamania themed pop music. The pro wrestling website WrestleCrap criticized the album as such: "Hulk Rules; The Hulkster's in the House, and invading your eardrums with the force of a class A killstorm. Highlights include every song mentioning Hogan by name (no egotism here) and Jimmy Hart singing with a clothespin on his nose." The album has been called the "most unintentionally hilarious album ever created."
Personnel[]
Adapted from the album's page at Discogs.
- Hulk Hogan – vocals, bass
- J.J. Maguire – guitar, keyboards, vocals, bass, drums
- Linda Bollea – vocals, percussion
- Jimmy Hart – vocals, percussion, effects
Chart history[]
| Chart (1995) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Top Kid Audio (Kid Albums) | 12 |
In popular culture[]
The album was featured on Jimmy Fallon's segment "Do Not Play List" on an October 8, 2012 episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
"The Hulkster's in the House" was featured in Malcolm in the Middle episode "The Bully".
The album was discussed and critiqued by comedians Steve Zaragoza and Mike Falzone on their “Dynamic Banter” podcast. They dedicated an episode titled “Hulk Rules” to making fun of the album.
See also[]
- Hulk Hogan
- "Real American", theme song by Rick Derringer
External links[]
- Hulk Rules at Discogs
- Hulk Rules at MP3.com
- Hulk Rules review
- Hulk Rules at AllMusic