On this day in music history: October 1, 1977 - Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band by Meco hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 2 weeks. Written by John Williams, it will be the biggest hit for the classically trained musician from Johnsonburg, PA. Musician and record producer Domenico Meco Monardo, impressed with composer/conductor Williams score for the blockbuster film Star Wars, will re-arrange the entire score as a fifteen minute long disco suite that is released on the album Star Wars And Other Galactic Funk (issued on Casablanca subsidiary Millennium Records). The track features a group of seventy five musicians including a number of first call studio players such as Steve Gadd, Will Lee, Marcus Miller, Anthony Jackson, Neil Jason, David Spinozza, John Tropea, Alan Rubin, Randy Brecker, Jon Faddis, Suzanne Ciani, and Gene Orloff. The main theme and Cantina Band are extracted from the extended track and edited down under three and a half minutes for the 45 release. The track is the project to be mixed at the newly opened Power Station in New York City, a former Con Edison substation in Hells Kitchen coverted into a state of the art recording facility. Entering the Hot 100 at #71 on August 6, 1977, it will climb to the top of the chart eight weeks later. Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band is certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 22:00:10 +0000
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