Max Rebo Band

• Appeared in:
  
  I
  II
  III
  IV
  V
  VI
  CW

• 

From the Movies

A diverse ensemble of lively and talented alien musicians, the Max Rebo Band was in the employ of Jabba the Hutt shortly before the gruesome crime lord's fiery death. Fronting the group was a floppy-eared elephantine keyboard player named Max Rebo. Providing vocals was the pairing of Sy Snootles and Joh Yowza. The remainder of the band's core was the pipeplayer Droopy McCool.

While those four formed the core of the Max Rebo Band, the full stage performance tripled the group's size. Filling out the horns were Barquin D'an, the Bith, and the Rodian Doda Bodonawieedo. Rappertunie harmonized on his peculiar instrument while Ak-rev and Umpass-stay kept the rhythm with their drums. The beautiful and graceful Lyn Me, Rystáll and Greeata doubled as back-up vocals and dancers.

From the Expanded Universe

The Max Rebo Band was a loose ensemble of musicians cobbled from the remains of a band fronted by Evar Orbus. When Orbus, a multi-tentacled Letaki manager and bandleader, was killed in a scuffle with disgruntled Bith musicians, Max took over the group in his name.

The Max Rebo Band came to Tatooine and secured a lifetime contract with Jabba the Hutt. Though a talented musician and gourmand, Max was hardly a shrewd negotiator. The food-obsessed Ortolan traded away the band's future in exchange for a lifetime supply of food.

In Jabba's employ, the band swelled from a small core group to 12 members. After Jabba's death, the Max Rebo Band completely dissolved. The bulk of the group did travel to the Great Pit of Carkoon, but they escaped the fiery explosion that consumed the Hutt's sail barge.

Behind the Scenes

In the original release of Return of the Jedi, the Max Rebo Band was a trio consisting of Max Rebo, Sy Snootles and Droopy McCool. They originally performed a pop song called "Lapti Nek," which contained such lyrics as:

Ab queck zenick fesi
Jup col im in na hiz jal, ooh.
Wa toc peg qui dos gee pif, aah.
Joc jarraz bas deg zorze zot.
Jer wih tuster mo vey
qui neb be og ezen on
wok lapti nek seb not van
goc jarraz bas deg zorze zot.

Lapti nek, rat a ran wim joct co jappi qaff,
lapti nek, kiv ba ha top wep jex pi va bep,
lapti nek rat a ran wim joct co jeppi quaff.

The alien song was even released as a 45 RPM single by PolyGram Records, with an extended five-minute Special Extended Dance Club Mix and a seven-minute B-side Dub Mix. There was even a music video produced for the song.

When Return of the Jedi was re-released as a Special Edition in 1997, the "Lapti Nek" number was replaced with a less dated piece of music, called "Jedi Rocks" in production. The blues-inspired piece showcased a number of new musicians and dancers that expanded the original trio to an ensemble of 12.