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Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band
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Date Aired
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December 16, 2015
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Running Time
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14:44
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Todd, now facing to the right for the first time since "Give Me Everything", plays "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band" on the piano.
MECO - STAR WARS THEME/CANTINA BAND
A one-hit wonder retrospective
Todd: So, how about that new Star Wars movie, huh?
- Trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Todd (VO): Are you pumped? Because I am! And I know, I shouldn't be. Not after the prequels broke all of our hearts. We should've all written off these movies as a relic of a long, long time ago, but I'm still excited! I mean, who isn't? We want this movie to be good and do well! I'm gonna go see it, and you're gonna go see it, and we're all gonna hand George Lucas our money yet again because the Force still flows through us, waiting to be awakened. [Clip from Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope] Star Wars just feels like it'll always be around, like Shakespeare or the Bible; it's a truly timeless movie that feels just as fresh as the day it came out. [Death Star II explosion from Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi]
Todd: Of course, if you wanna make the whole franchise look like painfully dated kitsch instead, you do have many options.
- Video for Meco - "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band", with a cut to Todd dancing in his seat and the song playing over scenes from A New Hope
Todd (VO): Yes, we're all aware of the vast garbage heap of merchandise and spin-offs and collectible Pepsi cans dumped on the world by George Lucas' pop-culture behemoth.
Todd: But while we know the many successful Star Wars [Images follow: posters for every film from The Phantom Menace to Return of the Jedi...] movies, [...The Clone Wars wallpaper...] TV shows, [...stack of Star Wars novels...] books, and [...covers of SW...] video games, today we'll be looking at the most successful of its rare forays into [fan art of a band consisting of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Darth Vader, and Chewbacca] popular music. Bearing the unyielding title [single cover] "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band"...
Todd (VO): ...it is, yes, a disco version of the famous John Williams score. And it was a #1 hit. [Quick cut to Todd] Let me repeat that. A #1 hit [Back to video] in 1977, becoming one of the most immediately dated and silly things from a series that also spawned [promo pic for...] an Ewoks cartoon and [commercial for...] C-3PO's.
Todd: But who was the musical Jedi master who created it?
Todd (VO): Well, that man bore only one name: Meco. Makes him sound like a Star Wars character himself.
Todd: [in a Yoda accent] You seek Meco.
- Picture of Meco
Todd (VO): Mr. Meco... is an elusive guy. There's no video of him.
Todd: None. He only ever made [screenshots of Meco on American Bandstand] literally one appearance on television, which I don't have, so yeah, I got nothing.
- Two televised performances of "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band", including one on TopPop
Todd (VO): The best I can get you is footage of the song being performed on various '70s dance shows, which... clearly did not have much of a costume budget. (WRONG.) [Back to video] So what was going on that year that turned a silly dance remix of a movie theme into a hit song? What inspired Meco to do it in the first place?
Todd: And why wasn't the Force strong enough for him to have a second hit? Well, let's find out. [Whistles, imitating a typical R2-D2 beep]
Before the hit
Note: For this episode, the segment titles will be presented in all caps and in a Star Wars font.
Todd: The story of Meco, much like Star Wars itself, [Clips of the Tatooine scenes from A New Hope, which are used to illustrate Meco's childhood] begins on a distant, backwater alien planet - [picture of...] North Central Pennsylvania. This is where young Domenico Monardo, Meco for short, spent his childhood. (Disclaimer: The above video is not of Meco)
Transcript in progress