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In
May of 1977, people around America began lining up for a little-hyped
science fiction movie. After
its first screenings, word of mouth soon spread and lines were forming
around America’s cinemas - people were seeing the movie again and again
as soon as the closing credits had rolled! Over
the next few days, the film was smashing box office records thanks to
amazing special effects, great performances and a feeling of hope missing
from films of recent years. America
was in the grip of Star Wars fever! Among
the people catching Star Wars a number of times in its opening week was
the innovative musician and producer, Meco Monardo. Captivated by John William’s thematic score, Meco realised that he could use his talents to bring America’s love of Star Wars together with the other phenomenon sweeping the country – Disco! |
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Meco
Monardo was born in November 1939 in the small coal and paper-mill
town of Johnsonburg, Pennsylvania. Meco’s
father, a trombone player in a small Italian band, encouraged him to take
up the instrument, even though he would have preferred playing the drums. At
nine years old, and after only a year learning to play and read music,
Meco was soon playing in the high school band (while he was in still grade
school) and achieving successes in statewide competitions. In
1957, Meco won a scholarship to the famed Eastman School of Music in
Rochester, New York. It was here he met fellow music students (and future
jazz legends) Ron Carter and Chuck Mangione. It wasn’t long before the
three had started their own jazz combo. After
service in the West Point Army Band, Meco played trombone in Kai Windings
four-trombone ensemble. It
was during this time that Meco met “the greatest trombone player ever”
– Bill Watrous – who mentored him and began his career as a studio
musician. Working
the studios from 1965 to 1974, Meco was in demand and soon began turning
his skills to arranging for songs and commercials (including Neil
Diamond!). Of note, he arranged the horn section on the number two chart
hit “Crystal Blue Persuasion” by Tommy James and the Shondells. By
the mid seventies, the musical landscape was changing and Meco was leading
the pack. His
first major break came in 1974 when he co-produced the smash hit disco
classic “Never Can Say Goodbye” for Gloria Gaynor. He followed this by
the Top 20 dance floor favourite 'Doctor's Orders' by Carol Douglas and
the cover version of The Casualeers’ “Dance, Dance, Dance”, this
time by Liquid Smoke. While
the successful producing team lasted three years, its break up resulted in
Meco being restricted from producing for a year. By
the time that year had passed, Meco was looking to start a new project
when he happened to catch that little film we mentioned earlier - Star
Wars! No
one had done a disco-medley to a movie hit before so who would be willing
to take a risk on a project Meco was sure would be a sure-fire hit? The
first person he pitched the concept to was the head of Casablanca Records,
Neil Bogart. Casablanca Records already had an amazing stable of talent
including Donna Summer, The Village People, Giorgio Moroder and Kiss to
name a few.
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But
what did Star Wars composer John William’s think of Meco’s
interpretation? On
the sleeve notes for Meco’s “Superman and other Galactic Hits”
William’s wrote “I hadn't heard of either disco or Meco…I
immediately liked what I heard and sensed that a genuine communication was
taking place. Meco took things forward another step by bringing "Star
Wars" to a vast audience who otherwise would not have heard it in its
original symphonic setting. I am most grateful to Meco for all of this and
I am delighted that "disco" and "Meco” are now household
names” Meco
soon turned his attention to other fantastic films including the John
William’s scores for 1977’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”
and 1978’s “Superman the Movie”. His
most critically acclaimed work is his 1978 masterpiece, the disco-fied
“The Wizard of Oz” which he calls his “crowning glory” and is a
must for fans of disco. Others followed including his own original compositions. With
a new Star Wars film on the horizon, Meco explains in this exclusive look
how he returned to the instrument that started him on his legendary path
and a career highlight not seen for half a century! “The year was 1980 and I had enjoyed great success with "Star Wars" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". In my building on West 62nd Street in New York City lived a few celebrities - Morgan Fairchild, Geraldo Rivera, and Nile Rogers (Chic). Nile was a friend who also worked at the same recording studio as I - Power Station. We both admired each other’s work - I for his sparseness of his productions, and he for the complexity of mine. We had always said that it would be great to co-produce something together. "The Empire Strikes Back" was coming in May and I asked Nile to work with me. He said he was about to produce Diana Ross, but that if I would contract the horns and play my trombone for her sessions, he would love to do it. I had started my musical career as a studio trombonist and was one of the most in-demand players in New York when I hit the big-time as a producer, producing Gloria Gaynor (Never Can Say Goodbye) and Carol Douglas (Doctor's Orders), both in 1974. |
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By 1977 when I hit
the jackpot with the biggest-selling pop instrumental of all-time -
"Theme from Star Wars", I was no longer available to play my
horn for other people. Nile knew this. So
this seemed the prefect compromise. Nile
recorded all the tracks and vocals and called me and my horn section for a
3-hour date. We had a great time, as the songs were fabulous - especially
"Upside Down" and "I'm Coming Out". We sounded
great - Nile was pleased and as I was packing up, he asked me to stay
and play a jazz trombone solo on one of the tracks. I said,
"Nile, there are a lot of hit records with jazz saxophone solos -
even some with jazz trumpet solos, but not one with a trombone"!!
He said. "That's exactly why I want you to do it"!! I
was a little bit rusty at first as I hadn't had a call to play jazz in
years, so we ended up with four separate tracks of solos, with the
intention of picking the best parts to make one great solo when later he
went to mix it. I reminded Nile of our agreement and he said he was
looking forward to "The Empire Strikes Back" as he was a Star
Wars fan himself. |
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Weeks
went by when I heard through the grapevine that Diana Ross was incredibly
unhappy with the album. She thought Nile and Bernard made her sound
like Chic. She took the master tapes from Power Station and went to
Motown in Detroit to remix the record. When it came out, her early
interviews were very unenthusiastic about it and Nile and Bernard, her
producers. Well, as we all know, this turned out to be her
biggest-selling solo album ever!!! "Upside Down" was a
monster Number-One single and "I'm Coming Out" was a top-ten
single. I
told you earlier that Nile was going to choose the best parts of 4
versions of my solo and make one great solo. It turned out that when
the engineer at Motown saw the track listings of Meco 1-2-3-4, he
just assumed that Track 1 was THE track and never listened to the others,
and so that's what is on the record. So, I'm extremely proud to say
that my solo is the only jazz trombone solo of a top-ten pop hit in
the last 50 years!!!! But - it wasn't my best - that,
unfortunately lies in the vaults at Motown. |
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Diana
was so angry at Nile and Bernard, she did not give any credits on the
album - no musicians, engineers, other singers - She only credited Nile
and Bernard, which she was contractually obligated to do. Nile
was devastated by all this, and when it came time to ask him to co-produce
"The Empire Strikes Back", he was so bent out of shape, that he
just couldn't do it. My recording of Empire was successful with a
top-ten single from the EP. But, oh what a record it could have
been............. Years
later, Nile and Diana made up and, in fact, Nile went on tour with her as
her conductor.” It
may have taken 18 years, but with the re-release of Diana Ross’
digitally remastered album, Meco finally got credit as Trombonist on the
album! Take
a listen to Meco’s solo here!
(low quality MP3 - 32Kb) |
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Meco moved from Millennium to Arista Records in 1982 and recorded “Pop Goes The Movies” album in 1982, followed by “Swingtime’s Greatest Hits”. In
1985, Meco left the music business to become a commodities broker in
Florida. However, with the resurgence in Star Wars - thanks to the release
in cinemas of the “Star Wars Special Editions” in 1997, it was fitting
that the man who was part of the phenomenon released his first greatest
hits album. The
Best of Meco featured the entire recording of “Star Wars and Other
Galactic Funk” as well as the smash single and highlights from Meco’s
illustrious career. Not
to rest on his laurels, Meco released “Dance Your Asteroids Off – The
Complete Star Wars Collection” in 1999, which featured remixes from his
original work and music inspired by “The Phantom Menace”. Unfortunately,
Meco recently announced that his latest Star Wars album – “Five
Stars” would not be produced. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t
hear one of the tracks from the album! Meco graciously has uploaded
“Star Wars Party” for you to download at the official Meco fan site http://www.geocities.com/mecofan/.
And
remember, while we may not see a new Meco album this year, the force is
unusually strong with Meco Monardo. Let’s hope Meco fans around the
world can look forward to many more years of the magic of Meco! By
Ed Dolista and with many thanks to: Meco Monardo Saturday
Night Forever – The Story of Disco by Jones/Kantonen (Mainstream
Publishing) The Casablanca Records Story Superman
and other Galactic Hits – RCA/Casablanca Records |
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