Star Wars in the UK: Read-Along Adventures

Being a proud member of the initial generation of Star Wars fans who marveled at the first film back in 1977, it’s always nostalgic look back at that time, remembering those first releases of comics, books, novels, toys, and audio. One of the many Star Wars products to arrive in the late ’70s was the latest in an ongoing line of Read-Along Adventures, released by Buena Vista Records (known here in the UK as Rainbow), which is part of Disney.

The format had been in existence since 1958, when Disneyland Records released their first large format record of Sleeping Beauty and soon a slew of Disney titles including Herbie and The Love Bug, Treasure Island, Frosty’s Adventures in Wonderland and Pirates of the Carribean (based on the ride of course, not the film) were released. 1977 arrived, bringing with it Star Wars, and by 1979 (under the freshly monickered Buena Vista Records label) the galaxy far, far away dropped into a million kids' casette decks and record players.