Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band

"Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band"
Side A of UK 7-inch single
Single by Meco
from the album Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk
B-side	"Funk"
Released	1977
Genre	Disco instrumental
Length	3:32 7:34 (DJ promo)
Label	Millennium RCA
Songwriter(s)	John Williams
Producer(s)	Tony Bongiovi Domenico Monardo Harold Wheeler
Meco singles chronology
"Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band" (1977) "Theme from Close Encounters" (1978)
Licensed audio
"Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band" on YouTube

"Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band" is a song recorded by Meco, taken from the album Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk . It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 1, 1977, holding on to the spot for two weeks ^[1] and peaked at no. 7 on the UK Singles Chart, remaining in the charts for nine weeks. ^[2] The single was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, having sold two million units. ^[3]

"Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band" is one of two songs that became hits featuring music from the Star Wars movie. The other is "Star Wars (Main Title)," which is original music from the movie soundtrack by John Williams. The song reached the Top 10 concurrently with Meco's more popular version. Meco again jousted with Williams a few months later, with both artists issuing competing versions of music from Close Encounters of the Third Kind , both reaching the US and Canadian Top 40, but with Williams's version being more successful than Meco's.

As Meco was unavailable at the time to appear on TopPop during the peak commercial performance of the song, Penney de Jager's choreographed ballet ensemble was instead asked to perform an interpretive dance on the show, which aired on 5 November 1977 in the Netherlands. ^{[4] [ better source needed ]}

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1977–1978) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report) [5] 3 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [6] 7 Canada Adult Contemporary ( RPM ) [7] 1 Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [8] 1 Ireland (IRMA) [9] 3 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [10] 8 Netherlands (Single Top 100) [11] 10 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [12] 5 South Africa (Springbok Radio) [13] 5 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [14] 13 UK Singles (OCC) [15] 7 US Billboard Hot 100 [16] 1 US Billboard Hot Disco Singles [16] 6 US Billboard Hot Soul Singles [16] 8 US Billboard Adult Contemporary [17] 18 US Cash Box Top 100 [18] 1 US Record World [19] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1977) Rank Australia (Kent Music Report) [5] [20] 57 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [21] 76 Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [22] 15 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [23] 43 Netherlands (Single Top 100) [24] 56 US Billboard Hot 100 [25] 71 US Cash Box [26] 10 Chart (1978) Rank Australia (Kent Music Report) [5] [27] 46

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [28]	Platinum	150,000^
United States (RIAA) [3]	Platinum	2,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "The Hot 100 - 1977 Archive". Billboard . Retrieved July 11, 2014.
2. "Meco". Official Charts Company . Retrieved July 15, 2014.
3. "American single certifications – Meco – Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band". Recording Industry Association of America.
4. "Meco - Star Wars Title Theme/Cantina Band (Ballet by Penney de Jager) • TopPop". YouTube. Netherlands. 1977-11-05. Archived from the original on 2024-02-12. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
5. "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1970s". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
6. "Meco – Star Wars Title Theme" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
7. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 5441." RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
8. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 5430a." RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
9. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Star Wars Theme". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
10. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 48, 1977" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
11. "Meco – Star Wars Title Theme" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
12. "Meco – Star Wars Title Theme". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
13. "South African Rock Lists Website SA Charts 1969 – 1989 Acts (M)". Rock.co.za. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
14. "Meco – Star Wars Title Theme". Singles Top 100. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
15. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
16. "Meco – Awards". AllMusic . Retrieved July 15, 2014.
17. Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 160.
18. "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending SEPTEMBER 24, 1977". Cash Box . Archived from the original on October 3, 2012.
19. "The Singles Chart" (PDF). Record World . October 1, 1977. p. 35. ISSN   0034-1622 . Retrieved September 17, 2017.
20. "Kent Music Report No 183 – 26 December 1977 > National Top 100 Singles for 1977". Kent Music Report . Retrieved 8 January 2022– via Imgur.com.
21. "Jaaroverzichten 1977" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
22. "Top 200 Singles of '77". RPM . Vol. 28, no. 14. Library and Archives Canada. December 31, 1977. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
23. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1977" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 . Retrieved July 15, 2014.
24. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1977" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
25. "Pop Singles". Billboard . Vol. 89, no. 51. December 24, 1977. p. 64. ISSN   0006-2510.
26. "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1977". Cash Box . Archived from the original on December 30, 2012.
27. "Kent Music Report No 236 – 1 January 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1978". Kent Music Report . Retrieved 8 January 2022– via Imgur.com.
28. "Canadian single certifications – Meco – Star Wars Theme". Music Canada.