In 1973, four years before the release of Stars Wars, Darth Vader met a droid. Or, to be precise, James Earl Jones met Rufus Thomas, who appeared on Jones’ short-lived variety show “Black Omnibus” to perform “Funky Robot,” the latest in a line ofnovelty dance singles Thomas recorded for Stax. When Jones interviewed Thomas ahead of his performance, the host seemed bewildered and amused by the R&B singer’s claim that the Funky Robot was a dance sweeping the nation’s youth. Jones shouldn’t have been. Not only was the Funky Robot indeed becoming a phenomenon on the streets and in the clubs of urban America, it was just one early indication that ’70s science fiction—of which Jones would soon be an icon—found an ally in the era’s disco and funk.
The massive waves Stars Wars made in 1977 heightened the profile of science fiction throughout other facets of popular culture. George Lucas’ instantly resonant images and themes seeped into society—music very much included. Throughout the ’70s, George Clinton and his Parliament-Funkadelic comrades were the most visible proponents of sci-fi funk, forging a fully realized synthesis that drew from Sun Ra’s interplanetary wisdom. But the space-opera mythos of Star Wars ran parallel to the established Afrofuturist mythos of P-Funk without really crossing over. Apart from a Star Wars spoof (featuring “Barft Vada” and “Blight Sabers”) printed in the liner notes of Funkadelic’s 1978 album One Nation Under a Groove, it was other artists—many lesser known—who incorporated Lucas’ world into the landscape of popular black music. Similar to howStar Wars reclaimed science fiction for the masses after it had become increasingly dark and introspective in the early ’70s, funk and disco groups saved sci-fi music from the self-seriousness of progressive rock earlier in the decade. In doing so, they tied Afrofuturism to mainstream culture’s most potent manifestation of science fiction to date.
With Star Wars turning 40 this month, here’s a look at seven disco and funk songs from the ’70s that drew inspiration from a galaxy far, far away.
Meco, “Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band” (1977)
The chart-topping album Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk by Domenico Monardo, better known as Meco, was widely viewed as one of the era’s many cheap cash-ins on Star Wars hype. Granted, lead single “Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band” was a medley mixing 1977’s flashiest trends, but Meco was a lifelong science fiction follower legitimately stirred by Lucas’ world. He rendered John Williams’ score into what’s essentially danceable, symphonic fanfic.Meco wasn’t the only disco artist to translate Stars Wars’ theme that year, either: David Matthews, Galaxy 42, and Bang Bang Robot also delivered credible interpretations. But Meco’s loving homage became the benchmark for Star Wars-inspired music to come.
The Droids, “(Do You Have) The Force” (1977)
Inspired by the synthesizer innovations of Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder, futurism began to seep into Eurodisco and then American disco. France alone saw a wave of vaguely robotic dance acts at the time, largely studio creations like the Droids. Comprised of musician-producers Fabrice Cuitad and Yves Hayat, the duo’s signature tune was “(Do You Have) The Force,” an instrumental single inspired by Cuitad’s revelatory first viewing of Star Wars. But unlike Meco’s similarly conceived musical epiphany, “(Do You Have) The Force” was one of the first original pieces of music to be sparked by a love of Star Wars. It’s a quirky, fizzy approximation of R2D2’s bleeps and bloops, set to a decidedly Moroder-meets-motorik rhythm.
Real Thing, “Can You Feel the Force” (1978)
Another song that referenced the film’s quasi-mystical Force, Real Thing’s 1978 single “Can You Feel the Force?” added something new to the growing canon of Star Wars-related music: lyrics. Musically, the track is a sturdy disco workout from the British R&B group, but it’s their words that set it above and beyond. “You can see a change in people’s attitudes / Looking to the future in much brightermoods / There’s a messageclearlywritten in the sky / Time to change and soon we’ll all be flying high” goes the song before adding the chorus of “Can you feel the Force?” Like Stargard’s “The Force” that same year, “Can You Feel the Force” translated the space-opera spirituality of Star Wars into real-life self-empowerment.
Third Stream, “In a Galaxy Far Away” (1978)
Beginning with the gentlest approximation of a rocket blast-off ever recorded, “In a Galaxy Far Away” is pure sci-fi bliss packaged as jazz-funk fusion. Borrowing the first line of Star Wars’ famous opening crawl for its title, the song casts a dreamy spell of laidback yet frenzied jamming. The vague, astrology-based mysticism that saturated much of the music of the late ’60s had grown old hat a decade later, but the advent of Star Wars gave interplanetary musical explorers fresh license to venture into the cosmos once again. Before Star Wars, other jazz-funk and fusion artists—from Herbie Hancock and Charles Earland to Dexter Wansel and John Tropea—dipped their toes in sci-fi sounds and imagery to varying degrees. But Third Stream made it unabashedly obvious that Lucas’ movie blockbuster was the source of their outer-space fantasia.
Lonnie Liston Smith, “Space Princess” (1978)
While some post-Star Wars funk and disco songs made no bones about their inspiration, some—like “Space Princess”—were slightly more subtle. Similar to Marvin Gaye’s "A Funky Space Reincarnation,” “Space Princess” is an extended-length track that mixes lush, jazzy disco with the trimmings of science fiction. But in Liston’s case, it’s clear that Princess Leia is the object of his adoration, as any mention of a space princess circa ’78 would have yielded no other association. “Space princess, when can we meet / And fly, just you and me?” Liston croons, over an agile disco groove, proving himself a veritable astronaut of love.
Sheila B. Devotion, “Spacer” (1979)
Like “Space Princess” before it, “Spacer” doesn’t go so far as to mention a Star Wars character by name, but the title itself is drawn directly from the film. It’s synonym for a pilot, much like Han Solo, the Corellian spacer who became Star Wars’ breakout rogue anti-hero. As Devotion sings, “He will blast off tonight / He puts his life on the line every time he’s in flight / A man you can’t trace / But our love will last beyond time and space.” Just as Saturday Night Fever added a slick neon sheen to disco, Star Wars kindled a new romanticism in science fiction after a decade of dour, dystopian visions on the page and the screen; “Spacer” gracefully dovetails with both.
Instant Funk, “Dark Vader” (1979)
Of all the funk and disco songs inspired by a particular Star Wars character, none is as formidable as “Dark Vader.” The sinewy and stomping single depicts Darth Vader as “a tall black man, entirely fearless / Came from a star, we know not where.” Rather than a villain, this new incarnation is an imposing figure to be admired and held in awe. Since the character of Darth Vader was voiced by James Earl Jones but portrayed under the helmet by the white actor David Prowse, “Dark Vader” reclaims Star Wars’ tortured tyrant and places him in an Afrofuturist context. It also humanizes him, long before the subsequent sequels and prequels sought to do the same.