THE STORY OF STAR WARS  -  Original Cast

YEAR:  1977
LABEL:  20th Century Fox Records
TRACK LISTING:  The Story of Star Wars Part One,  The Story of Star Wars Part Two
IMPRESSIONS:  I saw STAR WARS the opening week it came out in May 1977; before anyone had heard of the film (including myself).  My parents, aunt, uncle and cousins were all going to go out to the movies and I was asked if I wanted to see this new film STAR WARS.  "Yeah, I guess" I said distractedly.  Never heard of it but why not.  Well, I would fall in love with it (I was 11) and see it 14 times in the movie theatre before the days of VCRs.  Fast forward a few months when my friend Mike Baronowski and I were hanging around Two Guys department store when suddenly we heard dimly in the distance the sounds of our current favourite film:  STAR WARS.  We heard the familiar John Williams music, the familiar laser blasts and the familiar voices of Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and James Earl Jones!  The sounds were coming from the record department.  What the hell was going on?!?!?  We edged our way over and low and behold we could hear the final attack on the Death Star from the movie.  We were at this point losing our fucking minds!  We soon discovered that there was this record newly released called THE STORY OF STAR WARS which featured an abridged version of the entire movie.  The album was narrated by Roscoe Lee Browne who gave the proceedings the weight of Shakespeare!  Remember, there were no VCRs so this was the one and only way we could revisit the film without heading out to the movie theatre.  Needless to say, we both plonked down our shekels and took a copy home.  And played it to death!  Now, I wouldn't want to listen to it for more than momentary nostalgic reasons.  I mean, I've got the movies on DVD so there's really no need.  And far from my favourite film now, the STAR WARS movies have lost a lot of their bloom for me.  But back in the day, this was something new and exciting and I loved every minute of it.  Its really not possible to convey the importance of this record in the days before VCRs.  Especially if you were 11 years old. 
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  All of it.  It's only Side One and Side Two and cannot be separated into "tracks". 
GUEST ARTISTS:  Roscoe Lee Browne (Narrator)
FACT SHEET:  THE STORY OF STAR WARS is an abridged version of the film STAR WARS on vinyl.  The audio is taken directly from the film featuring original cast, music and sound effects.  The story is narrated for the album by actor Roscoe Lee Browne (who replaced Benson on SOAP).  The record was produced by George Lucas and Alan Livingston and the script was adapted by E. Jack Kaplan and Cheryl Gard.  The album was released on LP, cassette tape, 8-track tape and even reel-to-reel tape and went gold.  

STAR WARS AND OTHER GALACTIC FUNK - Meco

YEAR: 1977

LABEL: Millenium

TRACK LISTING: Star Wars, Other, Galactic, Funk

BONUS TRACKS: (on cd reissue) Star Wars Theme-Cantina Band (7" Edit), Star Wars Theme-Cantina Band (12" Disco Mix)

IMPRESSIONS: From the sublime to the ridiculous. We must remember that STAR WARS was not the only phenomenon new in 1977; there was also the rise of disco. And what could be goofier than putting John Williams' Oscar-winning score to a disco remix? Presumably, the huge success of Walter Murphy's "A FIFTH OF BEETHOVEN" a year or two earlier must've been in the minds of Meco and the record label because they done did it and sold a ton of records. Being an 11 year old STAR WARS fanatic myself, I naturally bought everything I saw concerning STAR WARS and this album was no exception. Truly awful in a wonderful way! Several years back, it was finally released on cd and now there is ALWAYS something to listen to! Wedding theme, anyone??? Meco would try to capture lightning in a bottle more than once by discofying other scores such as CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND to diminishing results. In 1980, Meco would revisit STAR WARS in a non-disco way by putting out the equally legendary bad album "CHRISTMAS WITH THE STARS: THE STAR WARS CHRISTMAS ALBUM" featuring such yuletide classics as "What Do You Get A Wookie For Christmas (When He Already Owns A Comb)?".

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Star Wars

FACT SHEET: STAR WARS AND OTHER GALACTIC FUNK is Meco's first album. Meco was born Domenico Monardo and became a musician and record producer; he arranged the horn section on Tommy James' "Crystal Blue Persuasion" and performed the notable trombone solo on Diana Ross' "I'm Coming Out". Meco also produced Gloria Gaynor's "Never Can Say Goodbye" and Carol Douglas' "Doctor's Orders". After seeing "STAR WARS" several times opening weekend, he convinced Casablanca Records subsidiary Millenium Records to let him put out a disco-version of John Williams' extremely popular music for the film. Both the album and the radio single were certified platinum.

STAR WARS ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK - John Williams & the London Symphony Orchestra

YEAR: 1977

LABEL: 20th Century Records/Polydor

TRACK LISTING: Main Title, Imperial Attack, Princess Leia's Theme, The Desert and the Robot Auction, Ben's Death and TIE Fighter Attack, The Little People Work, Rescue of the Princess, Inner City, Cantina Band, Land of the Sandpeople, Mouse Robot and Blasting Off, The Return Home, The Walls Converge, The Princess Appears, The Last Battle, The Throne Room and End Title

IMPRESSIONS: I was 11 years old when STAR WARS came out. I had never even heard of it when it was suggested to me that my parents were taking me along with my cousins Jimmy and Kathy out to see this new movie called "STAR WARS". Did I want to go? Sure, I guess so. This was probably the opening week of the film. When I told my schoolmates I had seen this movie, they weren't impressed because they'd never heard of it either. This would soon change. Of course, STAR WARS became a phenomenon and I would eventually see it in the movie theatre 14 times that year! Naturally, I also rushed right out to get the great soundtrack album by John Williams and I played it over and over and over again on my black portable record player (which folded up and was carried like a suitcase) until I knew every note. My best friend at the time Mike B. and I became STAR WARS nuts (as was every kid then) and we both must've worn out this record. Never satisfied, George Lucas decided he had to constantly fiddle with the movie and this extended to the soundtrack cd which is the only one available now: it features the original music switched around and augmented with other cues. And that's an OK listen, I guess. However, the only one I want to listen to is the original. This actually DID come out on cd in the late 80's-early 90's on a Polydor compact disc before it would be deleted from the catalogue in favour of the less-effective "New Hope" soundtrack cd in 1997. This is a shame because both versions should be available; the original, after all, is the soundtrack album which won Williams an Oscar for Best Original Score as well as being the highest-selling "non-popular music" album of all-time . . . and it's no longer in print in favour of a less-effective "reshuffle" version. Once again, western civilisation proves itself on the downward slide to oblivion, folks. One other peculiar but by no means insignificant aspect of the original LP is that it smelled fantastic. No, I mean it. It had the most wonderful aroma; I don't know if it came from the vinyl or the lamination of the album sleeve but it smelled spectacular. I still to this day have the original vinyl LP I bought in 1977 at Sound Odyssey in the Cherry Hill Mall and you can just make out the aroma still to this day if you stick your nose way down inside the record sleeve. Seriously, I couldn't make this stuff up! Every once in a while, I get the same smell when opening a brand new DVD and, when I catch a whiff of it I get all misty-eyed.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: I hate to be predictable but all of 'em. There's just no omitting anything from this score.

FACT SHEET: STAR WARS is, of course, the original Oscar-winning soundtrack album of John Williams "Richard Straussian" score performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.