Introduction
The world of Star Wars had always passed me by. I wasn’t interested in it at all, and I didn’t care for science fiction either. And then I became a father.
Star Wars
My children absolutely loved the films, the music, the characters, the story – everything! I have watched the six Star Wars films multiple times and have become a bit more lenient in my judgment. I still find the story nonsensical, the acting of questionable quality, and the entire Star Wars empire extremely overrated, but I feel a bit more connection to it now and can tolerate it. I haven’t seen the newer films.
Meco – Star Wars And Other Galactic Funk
With the films comes the music as well. John Williams’ score is spectacular and at times beautiful. Meco Monardo thought so too. He was an American producer and musician who quickly acquired the rights to the music and released a disco version. Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk (1977) became a huge success, in our household as well. The single Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band is the best-selling instrumental single of all time and the only instrumental single ever to be certified platinum.
Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)
The Star Wars Holiday Special
On November 17, 1978, The Star Wars Holiday Special was broadcast on television for the first time. The nearly two-hour-long program turned out to be a crossover between the world of Star Wars and the American Thanksgiving spirit. It was watched by no fewer than 13 million people, yet almost everyone involved is deeply ashamed of the final result. Rightfully so, I’m afraid, the overall level of the movie resembles the Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park movie, which was broadcast three weeks earlier.
After the release of the second Star Wars film (The Empire Strikes Back) in May 1980, the idea of combining Star Wars and Christmas was proposed.
Christmas In The Stars – Star Wars Christmas Album
Christmas In The Stars
On November 14, 1980, the album Christmas In The Stars was released, with the subtitle Star Wars Christmas Album. It contains a number of Christmas-themed recordings with a Star Wars twist. The album tells the story of a droid factory where robots spend the year making toys for S. Claus. Several people associated with Star Wars can be heard on the album, with Anthony Daniels being the most notable. Daniels provided the voice of C-3PO in the films.
Frank Oz, the man behind the Yoda character was also asked to participate, but that eventually backfired due to conflicting appointments. The album marks the official debut of singer Jon Bon Jovi, who sings the song R2-D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas using his birth name Jon Bongiovi. His nephew Tony co-produced the album.
Producer Meco hoped that the success of this album would usher in a tradition of annual Star Wars Christmas albums, but it remained a one-off. Incredible as it may seem, the album sold beyond expectations. Additional pressings were urgently needed, but due to the implosion of record label RSO Records, more copies were never produced.
It wasn’t until 1994 that the album was reissued, but the cover was inexplicably hideous. Two years later, the album was properly reissued on CD by Rhino Records, featuring the original cover and proper liner notes:
What do you call a seasonal novelty album with an unusual concept that also features the first commercial recording of a hot rock star-to-be? Try Christmas In The Stars: Star Wars Christmas Album. While it’s not as well known as, say, “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer,” how can you beat a lyric like “Everyone will have a cookie, I bought extra for the Wookiee”?
Or the Spike Jones-style zaniness of “What Can You Get A Wookiee For Christmas (When He Already Owns A Comb?)”?
Producer Meco Monardo, best known for his disco/pop translations of classic science-fiction themes (“Star Wars And Other Galactic Funk”), hoped this would be the first in a series of annual Star Wars Christmas albums. But despite a glorious cover painted by Star Wars production artist Ralph McQuarrie, and a series of songs both clever and warm, it didn’t top the charts. In recent years, Star Wars collectors who have paid $25 or more for a vinyl version have pined for a crisp new CD release. This, then, is a Christmas gift for them, and for an entire new generation of Star Wars fans who have gotten excited by George Lucas’ space fantasy.
The album’s story line takes place in a droid factory where the robots make toys year-round for S. Claus. But they don’t quite know what to make of Christmas until the comedy duo of droids – Star Wars‘ C-3PO and R2-D2 – help explain it all. In the process, Artoo learns how to sing, or rather, whistle, to the Christmas chestnut “Sleigh Ride.”
Recorded in 1980, the majority of the album’s new songs were written by Maury Yeston, a Yale University music professor. The most distinguishable and distinguished voice belongs to that of C-3PO himself, Britisch actor Anthony Daniels. Lucasfilm’s Academy Award-winning sound artist Ben Burtt provided the sound effects of Artooo and the Wokkiee Chewbacca. And the young star-to-be was none other than an 18-year-old Jon Bon Jovi (credited as John Bogiovi), who fronts a high school choir on “R2-D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas.” Jon’s cousin Tony ran the recording studio and coproduced the album.
After the worker droids go down their list and decide on a scarf for Luke Skywalker, perfume for Princess Leia, and earmuffs for Han Solo, C-3PO tells them about their own Christmas gift: the happiness their toys bring to children around the galaxy. As as the golden robot exclaims at the end, “Merry Christmas, everyone. And me the Force be with you always!”
– Steve Sansweet
(Sansweet owns the world’s largest private
collection of Star Wars memoribilia.)Liner notes Chritsmas In The Stars re-issue, 1996
Review
Well, this album is really beyond very poor. The Meco album Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk wasn’t that great, but at least that could be called camp (or funny). This, however, is extremely bad – there is nothing to laugh about…
Christmas In The Stars – Star Wars Christmas Album – Singles
Singles
Three singles were released:
- What Can You Get A Wookiee For Christmas (When He Already Owns A Comb?)
(released in 1980) - Sleigh Ride
(released in 1983) - R2-D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas
(released in 1990 as a CD single in Japan)
Christmas In The Stars – Star Wars Christmas Album – Back cover
Songs
All songs written by Maury Yeston.
- Christmas In The Stars
- Bells, Bells, Bells
- The Odds Against Christmas
- What Can You Get A Wookiee For Christmas (When He Already Owns A Comb?)
- R2D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas
- Sleigh Ride
- Merry, Merry Christmas
- A Christmas Sighting (‘Twas The Night Before Christmas)
- The Meaning Of Christmas
Meco – Christmas In The Stars (1994 re-release)
Musicians
- John Bongiovi, Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) – vocals
- Rod McBrien – vocals, background vocals
- Maury Yeston – vocals, percussion
- Arthur Boller, Donald Oriolo, Jr., Dori Greenberg, Ivy Alexenburg, Jake Yeston, Jessica Taylor, Marney Alexenburg, Ricky Haayen, Roddy McBrien, Russell Poses, Scot Randell, Staci Greenberg – text (R2’s Christmas Message)
- Don Arnone, Lance Quinn – guitar
- Jay Leonhart – bass
- Derek Smith, Harold Wheeler, Pat Rebiollot – keyboards
- Allen Schwartzberg, Jimmy Young – drums
- Dave Carey, George Devins, Tony Bingo – percussion
- Margaret Ross – harp
- Jim Buffington, John Clark, Peter Gordon – French horn
- Dave Taylor, Paul Faulise, Tony Studd, Wayne Andre – trombone
- Danny Cahn, John Gatchell, Bob Millikan – trumpet
- Avron Coleman, Homer Mensch, Jesse Levy, John Beal, Seymour Barab – cello
- Harold Coletta, Harry Zaratzian, Olivia Koppell, Richard Maximoff – viola
- Aaron Rosand, Gerald Tarack, Guy Lumina, Harry Cykman, Joseph Malignaggi, Lou Eley, Marvin Morgenstern, Matthew Raimondi, Paul Gershman, Sanford Allen, Tony Posk, Walter Brewus – violin
- Annette Saunders, Arlene Martell, Bill Marine, Fred Stark, Janet Burnham, Lennie Roberts, Marlene VerPlanck, Phil McAlpine, Ron Marshall & The Bridgewater Raritan High School West Advanced Choir – background vocals
Christmas In The Stars – Star Wars Christmas Album – Ad
In closing
What’s your take on the Star Wars universe and this Christmas album in particular? Let me know!
