The Presidents, one of the catchiest bands of the 90's and one of the hardest names ever to fit in a headline, were in New York Saturday to play at Nintendo's official Pokemon Black/White launch event and debut their new song, Can't Stop Catchin' 'em All. This will stand in as the new Pokerap for Generation V of the anime, though it isn't really a rap per se. I still like it. Check out the song after the jump and a few of my favorite other Pokemon themed tunes.

http://www.youtube.com/v/KmDdyhYzMYU?fs=1&hl=en_US

I don't know how it works on the Japanese side of the Pokemon franchise, but in America the music has always been very weird. Original music has always been a part of the show as vignettes and short music videos would play during each episode. Each series really only had a few that were replayed ad nauseam, and let's face it, none of them are what you'd call good music. But, much like the theme to Space Jam or the Duck Tales theme (which actually is awesome, but you know what I mean) the catchy tunes wormed their way into our little brains and never let go.

You know there was a time where you could recite every version of the Pokerap there was:

http://www.youtube.com/v/-6rVMf5uBbw?fs=1&hl=en_US

There was even an album based on the anime's first season titled Pokémon 2.B.A. Master, featuring music from and inspired by the American version of the show. As a lad I actually owned this on cassette. The album had the theme and the Pokerap, but also featured original gems like Double Trouble (Team Rocket):

http://www.youtube.com/v/9u7VHDVeGGI?fs=1&hl=en_US

Viridian City:

http://www.youtube.com/v/fOsdy1ZsXUs?fs=1&hl=en_US

And this weird little introspective and overly emotional R&B piece about Misty's true feelings for Ash titled Misty's Song:

http://www.youtube.com/v/9_6f6DWp7Nk?fs=1&hl=en_US

This tape got played to death. And I mean that, I actually played the thing until it wouldn't work any more. I haven't listened to most of these songs in over a decade. Ever think about the stuff you were into as a kid and just want to smack your younger self? This is one of those moments for me.

I'm sure Nintendo and 4Kids released many more volumes of the Pokemon soundtrack, but this was the only one I got to experience in my fandom. There was also the soundtrack to the first film, Pokemon: the First Movie that I enjoyed. Particularly its rendition of the show's theme song:

http://www.youtube.com/v/3hvqFZzbV24?fs=1&hl=en_US

Millions of children were jamming along to this song in the theater while Ash battled it out with another trainer during the film's opening credits. We didn't expect to see a BRAND NEW POKEMON come out of the guy's PokeBall. The guy just tosses out a Donphan, a Pokemon we'd never seen before as this was pre-Generation II, like it's no big deal. I don't think I'd even entertained the idea that there might be MORE Pokemon than were included in Red/Blue/Yellow. Fifteen years and some five hundred Pokemon later and I'm still a fan.

I'd leave you on that nostalgic and slightly somber note, but we have one more song that I MUST include because a lot of people love Pokemon, but EVERYONE loves Weird Al!

http://www.youtube.com/v/nZCZ7M_lifM?fs=1&hl=en_US