What Do 'Star Wars' And Rock Band 'TOTO' Have In Common?
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What do Star Wars and TOTO have in common? One very talented man connects the movies and the classic rock band. In 1979, TOTO released ‘99’. The song is based on the plot of George Lucas’ first movie, THX-1138. The film tanked, (but Lucas affectionally named his sound quality assurance system after it). TOTO’s relationship to Lucasfilm was portentous because seven years later they replaced their lead singer with an even bigger nod to Star Wars. Joseph Williams.
Joseph Williams recorded six albums with the mega-group, but if you’ve not guessed yet, he is also the son of John Williams. John Williams composed the music for all nine Star Wars films, but he’s also written iconic scores for films such as Jaws, Indiana Jones, and Poltergeist. Joseph comes from a famous musical family. His grandad, Johnny Williams was a jazz drummer and worked for Columbia Pictures. He is on the credits for big hits like On the Waterfront and From Here to Eternity. Music runs in his blood. Joseph followed in his family’s footsteps and composed famous tunes for TV and Film. But OT Star Wars fans should be very familiar with his work.
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Williams wrote the English lyrics to Lapti Nek (Fancy Man) and Yub Nub (Ewok Celebration) in Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of The Jedi. He had a unique way of making the music sound alien, by composing the lyrics in English first and then ‘translating’ them into the relevant languages. Lapti Nek had a wider release when it was arranged into a Special Extended Dance Remix. Joseph William’s song was played in bars and clubs in the 1980s. Both pieces were removed from the movie in the 1997 Special Edition release but can still be found on YouTube. Joseph William’s input into Star Wars didn’t end there. Daddy John brought him back for the sequels, where he created a uniquely bouncy Dex Diner theme in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.
Although fans don’t like to admit it, Star Wars has become a Disney product and Joseph Williams has strong ties to the mouse.
He was nearly the singing voice of Aladdin. Joseph Williams got the call from Disney and he got as far as going to the studio and recording the vocal tracks. Ultimately, the director decided to stick with Scott Weinger. But Disney reached out to Williams again for their next animated movie, originally employing him as a demo artist, but soon promoting him to the feature cast. Joseph Williams scored a major role as the singing voice of adult Simba in the animated version of The Lion King. It’s hard to envision Elton John and the lead singer of TOTO sharing the same vocal range in their different versions of Can You Feel the Love Tonight, but it happened. It might be Disney’s best-kept secret.
Millennials might find this even harder to reconcile. Disney’s Adventures of The Gummi Bears, a series from the 90s with an ear-worm theme was sung by the rock star. It was arguably one of the most famous tunes of the decade and is still stuck in people’s heads thirty years later. Yes, that’s TOTO’s lead singer!
With one of the most talented fathers in the industry, it would be easy to be overshadowed, but Joseph Williams has carved out his own career. He has become an industry staple, and with his knowledge of the saga, a potential candidate to carry the torch now John has retired. But like Daddy Williams, whether Joseph is composing or singing, his work is prolific and catchy, even if you don’t always know it’s him behind the microphone.
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