Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Music From The Edge: Meco


1977 was a banner year if you were a young boy like myself. Star Wars! What boy didn't go see this like a bizillion times?? I know I must have begged my mom to let me go see it every weekend - I even tried very hard to be good!

Along with the delicious memory of watching Luke Skywalker rescue Princess Leia, I fondly remember the musical score. Amazingly (or maybe not so), a genius of an artist (or maybe not), came up with an idea to make a disco version of the Star Wars Theme.

I remember this being my favorite song for a very long time - and Hippo Records finally re-released the track in 1999.

Meco's original claim to fame was as co-producer for Gloria Gaynor's "Never Can Say Goodbye" in 1974. His brilliant idea, was founded in a keen obsession with all things "Star Wars." His obsession lead to the re-working of John Williams' masterful score into a campy disco version. "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band" made it all the way to #1 (Billboard Pop Singles Chart) and #8 (Billboard Black Singles Chart) in June-July 1977.

Meco went on to do disco covers of other memorable film scores like, "The Wizard of Oz," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," and "The Empire Strikes Back."

STAR WARS AND OTHER GALACTIC FUNK

1) Star Wars (a. Title Theme, b. Imperial Attack, c. The Desert & The Robot Auction, d. The Princess Appears, e. The Land of the Sand People, f. Princess Leia's Theme, g. Cantina Band, h. The Last Battle, i. The Throne Room & End Title)

2) Other Galactic Funk

3) Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band (7" Edit)
4) Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band (Promotional Only DJ 12" Mix)

Bitrate: 320 Kbps

Peace.Love.Live.
JPB

4 comments:

John said...

Um, HELLO!

http://popdose.com/lost-in-the-70s-meco-star-wars-themecantina-band/

;)

Jodi said...

Love it! Also, 1977 was a good year for a certain sister to be born!!

jpb2525 said...

John -
I don't copy...I swear...we just have the same taste in music! G'darnit!

jpb2525 said...

Besides - your link doesn't work! Oh - and ...yeah...I included all them mixes too! Gotta tell you great minds my friend...great minds!