Everybody's a Star (Starmaker)

"Everybody's a Star (Starmaker)" is the opening track on The Kinks' poorly received 1975 concept album, Soap Opera. It was written by The Kinks' primary songwriter, Ray Davies.

"Everybody's a Star (Starmaker)"
Single by The Kinks
from the album Soap Opera
B-side"Ordinary People"
ReleasedApril 1975
RecordedAugust - October 1974 at Konk Studios, London
GenreRock
Length2:57
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)Ray Davies
Producer(s)Ray Davies
The Kinks singles chronology
"Holiday Romance"
(1974)		 "Everybody's a Star (Starmaker)"
(1975)		 "Ducks on the Wall"
(1975)

Lyrics and music

Like the two albums of the Preservation rock opera before it and Schoolboys in Disgrace after it, Soap Opera follows a storyline throughout the album. In "Everybody's a Star (Starmaker)", Ray Davies portrays the main character of the album, Starmaker. Starmaker describes himself as "a creator, inventor and innovator" who watches "the ordinary people, no matter what [their] occupation is." He goes on to say that "everybody's a celebrity, and we've all got personality and individuality. We all read lines, and we all act a part, we all need a script and an audience to play to. No matter what you do, or who you are, everybody's a star." He also claims that he "can turn the most ordinary man in the world into a star," "no matter how dull or simple" he is.

The track opens with a guitar, and goes on to have a short guitar solo later in the song. It also features female vocalists in the background (like many other songs that The Kinks recorded in their theatrical phase).

Release and reception

One month prior to its release on the Soap Opera album, "Everybody's a Star (Starmaker)" was released as the only American single from Soap Opera in April 1975. The single was not released in the United Kingdom, and it was backed with "Ordinary People" (the track that follows "Everybody's a Star (Starmaker)" on Soap Opera). It did not chart. However, the single edit appeared as a bonus track on the 1998 CD version of Soap Opera.

AllMusic cited the track as a highlight from Soap Opera.[1]

References
  1. Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "The Kinks Present a Soap Opera - The Kinks | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
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