Christmas in the Stars
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''Christmas in the Stars: Star Wars Christmas Album'' is a
record album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...
produced in 1980 by
RSO Records RSO Records was a record label formed by rock and roll and musical theatre impresario Robert Stigwood and record executive Al Coury in 1973. The letters "RSO" stood for the Robert Stigwood Organisation. RSO managed the careers of several maj ...
. It features recordings of ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
''-themed
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
songs and stories about a droid factory where the robots make toys year-round for " S. Claus". Much of the album is sung and narrated by British actor
Anthony Daniels Anthony Daniels ( ; born 21 February 1946) is an English actor and mime artist, best known for playing in 10 ''Star Wars'' films. He is the only actor to have either appeared in or been involved with all theatrical films in the series, and h ...
, reprising his role as
C-3PO C-3PO () or See-Threepio is a humanoid robot character in the '' Star Wars'' franchise who appears in the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy and the sequel trilogy. Built by Anakin Skywalker, was designed as a protocol droid intended to as ...
from the ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' films, and written by composer-lyricist
Maury Yeston Maury Yeston (born October 23, 1945) is an American composer, lyricist and music theorist. He is known as the initiator of new Broadway musicals and writing their music and lyrics, as well as a classical orchestral and ballet composer, Yale Uni ...
. Sound designer
Ben Burtt Benjamin Burtt Jr. (born July 12, 1948) is an American sound designer, film director and editor, screenwriter, and voice actor. As a sound designer, his credits include the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' film series, ''Invasion of the Body ...
also provided sound effects for
R2-D2 R2-D2 () or Artoo-Detoo is a fictional robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. He has appeared in ten of the eleven theatrical ''Star Wars'' films to date. At various points throughout the course of the films, R2, ...
and
Chewbacca Chewbacca ( ), nicknamed "Chewie", is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He is a Wookiee, a tall, hirsute, bipedal, intelligent species originating from the fictional planet of Kashyyyk. Chewbacca is the loyal friend and firs ...
.


Production

The album was produced by
Meco Monardo Domenico Monardo (born November 29, 1939), known as Meco, is an American record producer and musician, as well as the name of his band or production team. Meco is best known for his 1977 space disco version of the ''Star Wars'' theme from his ...
(who had previously recorded '' Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk''), with the hope that this would be the first in a series of annual ''Star Wars'' Christmas albums. The title, the story, and the majority of the album's original songs, both music and lyrics, were written by Yeston, then a
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
music professor who went on to become the twice
Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...
-winning
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
musical composer of ''
Nine 9 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 9 or nine may also refer to: Dates * AD 9, the ninth year of the AD era * 9 BC, the ninth year before the AD era * 9, numerical symbol for the month of September Places * Nine, Portugal, a parish in the ...
'', ''
Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...
'', and ''
Grand Hotel A grand hotel is a large and luxurious hotel, especially one housed in a building with traditional architectural style. It began to flourish in the 1800s in Europe and North America. Grand Hotel may refer to: Hotels Africa * Grande Hotel Beir ...
''. One of his songs, "What Can You Get a Wookiee for Christmas (When He Already Owns a Comb)", with vocals by Yeston, went on to become a recurring top-40 X-mas hit. The album was written in 1979, before the darker ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) appeared, and the fun and light tone of it was targeted for the young audience (Yeston’s own son was then 7) that had fallen in love with Artoo, Threepio, the Droids and the Wookiee. The album is notable for featuring the first professional recording of
Jon Bon Jovi John Francis Bongiovi Jr. (born March 2, 1962), known professionally as Jon Bon Jovi, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is best known as the founder and frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, which was formed in 1983. He ...
(credited as "John Bongiovi", his birth name), who sang lead vocals on the song "R2-D2 We Wish You a Merry Christmas." His cousin
Tony Bongiovi Anthony C. Bongiovi (born September 7, 1947) is an American record producer and recording engineer. He is the cousin of musician Jon Bon Jovi. Career Bongiovi has produced records by Gloria Gaynor, Talking Heads, Aerosmith ('' Classics Live''), ...
co-produced the album and ran the recording studio at which it was recorded, where Jon was working sweeping floors at the time. After the first printing of 150,000 copies, Meco was asked to include
George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...
' name, credited beside his under "Concept by". Due to the success of the album, the studios were ready to do a second printing, which would give Lucas credit. But before the second record pressing was done,
RSO Records RSO Records was a record label formed by rock and roll and musical theatre impresario Robert Stigwood and record executive Al Coury in 1973. The letters "RSO" stood for the Robert Stigwood Organisation. RSO managed the careers of several maj ...
shut down due to an unrelated lawsuit.


Track listing

# "Christmas in the Stars" – 3:17 # "Bells, Bells, Bells" – 3:15 # "The Odds Against Christmas" – 3:04 # "What Can You Get a Wookiee for Christmas (When He Already Owns a Comb?)" – 3:24 # "R2D2 We Wish You a Merry Christmas" – 3:16 # "Sleigh Ride" – 3:36 # "Merry, Merry Christmas" – 2:09 # "A Christmas Sighting ('Twas the Night Before Christmas)" – 3:43 # "The Meaning of Christmas" – 8:08


Release


LP and cassette

The complete album was released by RSO records on LP and Cassette in November 1980, to cash in on the increasingly popular ''Star Wars'' saga. This original printing featured cover art by ''Star Wars'' production artist,
Ralph McQuarrie Ralph Angus McQuarrie (; June 13, 1929 – March 3, 2012) was an American conceptual designer and illustrator. His career included work on the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy, the original ''Battlestar Galactica'' television series, the film '' ...
. The cassette version is now quite rare and hard to come by. Also in 1980, RSO released a 45 of "What Can You Get a Wookiee for Christmas (When He Already Owns a Comb)" (credited to ''The Star Wars Intergalactic Droid Choir and Chorale''- actually Yeston's voice, modulated to sound 'robotic', and multi-tracked. Yeston is also the voice of Santa on "The Meaning of Christmas") backed with "R2-D2 We Wish You a Merry Christmas" with a picture sleeve. In late 1983, a second 45 from the album was released by Polygram on the RSO label, "R2D2's Sleigh Ride" backed with "Christmas in the Stars", also with a picture sleeve. This album was one of the music industry's first non-classical-or-jazz projects to be recorded and mixed digitally, and when "What Can You Get a Wookiee for Christmas (When He Already Owns a Comb)" reached No. 69 on the
Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
chart in 1980 it was only the third digitally recorded single in Billboard's chart history.


CD editions

In November 1990, Polydor Records Japan released a 3-inch CD single featuring the songs "R2-D2 We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and "Christmas in the Stars". While the full album made its CD debut in 1994 as an unheralded budget-label release by JFC/Polygram Special Markets with all artwork and references to ''Star Wars'' (except those in the song titles) removed from the packaging. The only credit on the package was "Meco" and it's cover featured a generic photo of Christmas boxes and decorations. However, in October 1996, during the popularity of the '' Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire'' project, the album was re-released on CD by
Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...
with Ralph McQuarrie's original, 1980 cover art restored.


References


External links


Official StarWars.com database entry for the album

An interview with Meco regarding the album.The 1996 CD release on Amazon.com.
{{Authority control 1980 Christmas albums Music of Star Wars Christmas albums by American artists RSO Records albums Concept albums Meco albums