# Do you ever wonder about the Star Wars cantina band? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 10, 2016, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-wonder-about-the-star-wars-cantina-band/751798 "2016-04-10T15:05:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-wonder-about-the-star-wars-cantina-band/751798/21 "2016-04-11T01:08:46Z")
Well, they did try to sell out once, [but nobody bought.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD4mqYbVxIo) ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-wonder-about-the-star-wars-cantina-band/751798/22 "2016-04-11T01:28:02Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I think there needs to be an expanded universe novel featuring their story. Is there a Star Wars equivalent to Rule 34? “If a character appears in the Original Trilogy, no matter for how short a time, there is at least an anthology short story about them.” ---
**Author:** ![txtumbleweed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@txtumbleweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txtumbleweed)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-wonder-about-the-star-wars-cantina-band/751798/23 "2016-04-11T03:17:46Z")
NM, ninja’d. Well, not really, just need to read for comprehension. See post #21 for what I referenced… ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-wonder-about-the-star-wars-cantina-band/751798/24 "2016-04-11T04:00:14Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > Wookiepedia kinda ruins the fun of threads like this one. Before we saw the latest film, my wife and I were sitting around and I made a joke that the movie had better explore the life of Hammerhead or else I’d be pissed. “Hammerhead? Did he, like, shoot someone?” “Nah, I think he was just in the background. Had a head sorta like a Hammerhead shark.” “How do you know he was named Hammerhead?” “I had the action figure. Well, I’m sure in the geek world someone knows his real name and whole life story. Hang on… [checks Wookiepedia]… [Momaw Nadon](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Momaw_Nadon). That’s his name. Did absolutely nothing the whole movie but the fucker likes gardening.” “What? You’re kidding!” “Nope. Says here: _‘Nadon maintained a small secret garden in the mountains’_. In fact, he got kicked out from his Hammerhead family for sharing gardening secrets. Then he started his own secret garden, started hitting the bar at night, probably blitzed out of his mind talking tomatoes and snap peas with Walrusman and then one day Obi Wan kills Walrusman. Momaw sat like a stump watching it happen and then probably went back to his garden. Someone actually decided this stuff.” “Wow.” Any history I could have made up for Hammerhead would have paled against an exiled gardener. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-wonder-about-the-star-wars-cantina-band/751798/25 "2016-04-11T04:08:24Z")
From an entire race of gardeners living on a planet of sentient trees and forests ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-wonder-about-the-star-wars-cantina-band/751798/26 "2016-04-11T09:17:47Z")
> [@dzeiger](#): > > Is there a Star Wars equivalent to Rule 34? “If a character appears in the Original Trilogy, no matter for how short a time, there is at least an anthology short story about them.” There’s [an entire group of people](https://www.flickr.com/photos/photo-knight/7925148638) devoted to cosplaying the Neil De Grasse-Tyson-looking [guy running with the ice cream maker](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Willrow_Hood) in the Cloud City evacuation from _TESB_. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-wonder-about-the-star-wars-cantina-band/751798/27 "2016-04-11T09:23:02Z")
They’re a reliable local band with a nice range of original tunes to soothe the drunken rabble. Seems to me there are plenty of Earthling equivalents. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-wonder-about-the-star-wars-cantina-band/751798/28 "2016-04-11T09:29:36Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Says here: _‘Nadon maintained a small secret garden in the mountains’_. In fact, he got kicked out from his Hammerhead family for sharing gardening secrets. Then he started his own secret garden, started hitting the bar at night, probably blitzed out of his mind talking tomatoes and snap peas with Walrusman and then one day Obi Wan kills Walrusman. Momaw sat like a stump watching it happen and then probably went back to his garden. Someone actually decided this stuff." Most of those backstories came from the [“Tales of…”](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Tales_series) series of novels, giving each of the background characters in the Cantina, Jabba’s Palace, etc. their own novella storylines. Also the roleplaying games contributed a good chunk, though I don’t know how much of that got incorporated into the books. It’s all moot now, though, since the Disney takeover. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-wonder-about-the-star-wars-cantina-band/751798/29 "2016-04-11T16:58:22Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > Wookiepedia kinda ruins the fun of threads like this one. We could have fun speculating what the cantina band does in its free time. But no, everything is already mapped out and answered in excruciating detail. The good news is that since they chucked the Expanded Universe you can make up whatever you want. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-wonder-about-the-star-wars-cantina-band/751798/30 "2016-04-11T18:33:08Z")
> [@dzeiger](#): > > Is there a Star Wars equivalent to Rule 34? “If a character appears in the Original Trilogy, no matter for how short a time, there is at least an anthology short story about them.” No kidding! I was only marginally joking in the OP. I had a feeling that someone out there had at least written a backstory on these guys. This thread is amazing, and not necessarily in a good way. I think I need to start a thread on this, but for other movies. Make up (since no one else will) back stories for minor characters in other films. Take for instance,\* Live and Let Die\*. Anybody can write a story about JW Pepper. he’s a colorful character that you could probably make a whole TV show about (at least in the 70s), but does anyone know about the woman whose wedding got ruined by the boat chase? What became of her? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-wonder-about-the-star-wars-cantina-band/751798/31 "2016-04-12T03:50:16Z")
“Intergalactic” Federation of Musicians? Isn’t that stretching things just a bit? :dubious: > **[List of nearest galaxies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nearest_galaxies)** > > This is a list of known galaxies within 3.8 megaparsecs (12.4 million light-years) of the Solar System, in ascending order of heliocentric distance, or the distance to the Sun. > This encompasses about 50 major Local Group galaxies, and some that are members of neighboring galaxy groups, the M81 Group and the Centaurus A/M83 Group, and some that are currently not in any defined galaxy group. > The list aims to reflect current knowledge: not all galaxies within the 3.8 Mpc radius have been discover... ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-wonder-about-the-star-wars-cantina-band/751798/32 "2016-04-12T14:31:14Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > “Intergalactic” Federation of Musicians? Isn’t that stretching things just a bit? :dubious: No worse than the World Series. Even a long time ago, marketing was still important. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-wonder-about-the-star-wars-cantina-band/751798/33 "2016-04-12T15:03:21Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > There’s [an entire group of people](https://www.flickr.com/photos/photo-knight/7925148638) devoted to cosplaying the Neil De Grasse-Tyson-looking [guy running with the ice cream maker](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Willrow_Hood) in the Cloud City evacuation from _TESB_. I was always amused that they sold action figures of the most obscure droids. Seriously, characters that had only been on screen for less than a minute. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-wonder-about-the-star-wars-cantina-band/751798/34 "2016-04-12T15:28:43Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > The good news is that since they chucked the Expanded Universe you can make up whatever you want. Can I make up that Kylo Ren _isn’t_ a whiny dweeb with rage issues? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-wonder-about-the-star-wars-cantina-band/751798/35 "2016-04-12T15:31:50Z")
Because of this thread I have learned that the cantina song actually has a name. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-wonder-about-the-star-wars-cantina-band/751798/36 "2016-04-12T18:01:40Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Take for instance,\* Live and Let Die\*. Anybody can write a story about JW Pepper. he’s a colorful character that you could probably make a whole TV show about (at least in the 70s). You know, don’t you, that he was in a whole slew of TV commercials (under a different name) before he was in that movie? > **[Flashback Friday Video: In 1973, James Bond Ripped Off a Dodge Commercial -...](https://blog.bestride.com/events/chicago-auto-show/flashback-friday-video-in-1973-james-bond-ripped-off-a-dodge-commercial/)** > > Comedy was the theme in the 1970 Dodge Challenger TV spots, which featured a character that’s a dead-on precursor to Jackie Gleason’s Sheriff Buford T. Justice, and more directly, the J.W. Pepper character in the 1973 James Bond movie Live and... ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-wonder-about-the-star-wars-cantina-band/751798/37 "2016-04-12T18:48:49Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > “Intergalactic” Federation of Musicians? Isn’t that stretching things just a bit? :dubious: > > [List of nearest galaxies - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nearest_galaxies) I see that all of the time, and it drives me nuts - using “intergalactic” when “interstellar” is the correct word. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-wonder-about-the-star-wars-cantina-band/751798/38 "2016-04-12T20:10:49Z")
When I was 12 in 1977 I wondered: 1. why those aliens were playing what sounded like very human jazz-type music; 2. whether the other aliens could even perceive what they were hearing as music or enjoyable sounds; 3. why they were playing such goofy, upbeat music in such a grim dive. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-wonder-about-the-star-wars-cantina-band/751798/39 "2016-04-12T20:11:35Z")
Or, if you absolutely must have the “i” for your acronym, then “intragalactic”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-wonder-about-the-star-wars-cantina-band/751798.md?page=1)