Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band Explained

"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 a million units.

"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.^[3]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1977–1978)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[4]	3
South Africa (Springbok Radio)[5]	5
US Billboard Hot 100[6]	1
US Billboard Hot Disco Singles	6
US Billboard Hot Soul Singles	8
US Billboard Adult Contemporary[7]	18
US Cash Box Top 100[8]	1
US Record World[9]	1

Year-end charts

Chart (1977)	Rank
Australia (Kent Music Report)[10]	57
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[11]	76
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[12]	15
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[13]	43
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[14]	56
US Billboard Hot 100[15]	71
US Cash Box[16]	10

See also

• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1977
• List of Cash Box Top 100 number-one singles of 1977
• List of number-one singles of 1977 (Canada)

Notes and References

1. The Hot 100 - 1977 Archive . . July 11, 2014 .
2. Web site: Meco . . July 15, 2014 .
3. Web site: 1977-11-05 . Meco - Star Wars Title Theme/Cantina Band (Ballet by Penney de Jager) • TopPop . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240212191509/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0PLHZhvg4Y . 2024-02-12 . 2017-03-03 . YouTube . en . Netherlands.
4. Web site: Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1970s . Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien . July 15, 2014 .
5. Web site: South African Rock Lists Website SA Charts 1969 – 1989 Acts (M) . Rock.co.za . July 15, 2014 .
6. Web site: Meco – Awards . . July 15, 2014 .
7. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Joel Whitburn . 1993 . Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993 . Record Research . 160.
8. CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending SEPTEMBER 24, 1977 . . October 3, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121003221318/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/70s_files/19770924.html.
9. The Singles Chart . . October 1, 1977 . 35 . 0034-1622 . September 17, 2017 .
10. Web site: Kent Music Report No 183 – 26 December 1977 > National Top 100 Singles for 1977 . . Imgur.com. 8 January 2022.
11. Web site: Jaaroverzichten 1977 . Ultratop. Hung Medien . July 15, 2014 . nl.
12. Top 200 Singles of '77 . 28 . 14 . December 31, 1977 . . . June 2, 2018 .
13. Web site: Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1977 . . July 15, 2014 . nl.
14. Web site: Jaaroverzichten – Single 1977 . Single Top 100. Hung Medien . July 15, 2014 . nl.
15. Pop Singles . . December 24, 1977 . 89 . 51 . 64 . 0006-2510 .
16. The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1977 . . December 30, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121230094847/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/70s_files/1977YESP.html.
17. Web site: Kent Music Report No 236 – 1 January 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1978. Kent Music Report. Imgur.com. 8 January 2022.