"Starstruck" is a song by the English rock band
the Kinks from their 1968 album ''
The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society''. Written and sung by
Ray Davies, the song was recorded in . The song was issued as the album's
lead single in
continental Europe
Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, b ...
in November1968 and in the United States in January1969. The European release was accompanied by a promo film shot in
Waterlow Park
Waterlow Park is a park in the south east of Highgate Village, in north London. It was given to the public (''i.e.'' the London County Council) by Sir Sydney Waterlow, as "a garden for the gardenless" in 1889.
Description
The park is set on ...
,
Highgate. The song failed to chart anywhere besides the Netherlands, where it reached on the
Veronica Top 40 and on the
Hilversum 3 Top 30.
An example of
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
and
beat music, "Starstruck" features a
Mellotron which duplicates the sound of a
string section. The lyrics are directed towards a female listener whom the singer politely chastises for failing to distinguish between stardom and real life. Retrospective commentators dispute the song's level of thematic cohesion with the others on ''Village Green''; some suggest a lack of relation to the album's themes, while others contend it fits in with notions of
escapism and a contrasting of rural and urban life.
Background and recording
Ray Davies said in 2002 that he wrote "Starstruck" as a tribute to his favourite
Motown groups, including the
Four Tops and
the Temptations.
[, quoted in .] Author
Andy Miller writes that while Davies's suggested Motown connection is difficult to discern, it has a slight resemblance to the Four Tops' 1965 single "
It's the Same Old Song
"It's the Same Old Song" was recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. It was released in 1965 as the second single from their second album. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is tod ...
", particularly the melody and "the snap of
Mick Avory
Michael Charles Avory (born 15 February 1944) is an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and percussionist for the English rock band the Kinks. He joined them shortly after their formation in 1964 and remained with them until 1984, ...
's snare drum". Author
Johnny Rogan writes Davies may have written the song for a
groupie, but adds that the singer's "delicate and polite chastising" makes it an unlikely possibility.
The Kinks recorded "Starstruck" in July1968 in Pye Studio 2, one of two basement studios at
Pye Records' London offices. Davies is credited as the song's producer, while Pye's in-house
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the lim ...
Brian Humphries operated the
four-track mixing console
A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals from electric or electronic instr ...
.
[: (operated four-track); : (Humphries).] The recording features a typical Kinks line-up of
acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
, bass, drums, piano, vocal harmonies and
handclaps, with Davies singing lead vocals. It also includes a
Mellotron – a
tape-loop-based keyboard instrument – played by either session keyboardist
Nicky Hopkins or Davies to duplicate the sound of a
string section. Davies
mixed the recording quickly in August1968, but remixed it in lateOctober after the release of ''
The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society'' was delayed by two months.
Composition
Music
Rogan writes "Starstruck" musically displays "a distinct
Acapulco
Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...
-flavouring", indicating Davies's continued interest in
calypso music
Calypso is a style of Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago during the early to the mid-19th century and spread to the rest of the Caribbean Antilles and Venezuela by the mid-20th century. Its rhythms can be traced back to Wes ...
, while he thinks its vocal harmonies are influenced by the contemporary American band
the Turtles. Critic
Jonathan Cott
Jonathan Cott (born December 24, 1942) is an American author, journalist, and editor. Much of his work focuses on music, embracing both classical and rock. He has been a contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'' since the magazine's founding, ...
instead suggests the song was inspired by musician
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...
. Author Christian Matijas-Mecca writes the song is based in
beat music and has a "tight
soul feel", while author
Jon Savage
Jon Savage (born Jonathan Malcolm Sage; 2 September 1953 in Paddington, London) is an English writer, broadcaster and music journalist, best known for his history of the Sex Pistols and punk music, ''England's Dreaming'', published in 1991.
...
considers it one of the album's
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
songs.
Lyrics
In the song's lyrics, the singer politely chastises a female listener for failing to distinguish between stardom and real-life and further warns her about the risks of city life. Davies later expressed surprise that the song appeared on ''Village Green'', suggesting it sounds like something "that should be on somebody's solo album".
Retrospective commentators dispute the song's level of thematic cohesion with the others on the album. Matijas-Mecca describes the song as "an awkward fit", and Rogan thinks it and "
Monica
Monica may refer to:
People
*Monica (actress) (born 1987), Indian film actress
* Monica (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name)
*Monica (singer) (born 1980), American R&B singer, songwriter, producer, ...
" are "distinctly un''-Village Green'' compositions". Author Nick Hasted contends the album's loose concept allowed for the song's inclusion, while author Thomas M. Kitts asserts it fits with the theme of
escapism.
Miller writes the song's warning about city life is similar thematically to other songs Davies was writing around the same time, like "
Village Green
A village green is a common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for gathering cattle t ...
" (1968), "
Berkeley Mews
"Berkeley Mews" is a song by the English rock band the Kinks. It was released on a non-album single in June1970, as the B-side to "Lola". Written and sung by bandleader Ray Davies, the song was recorded in early1968 during the sessions for '' The ...
" (1970)" and "
Polly" (1968), and author Ken Rayes writes its comparison helps contrast "rural with urban, spirituality with materialism, and the natural with the manufactured". Kitts also compares the song to other Davies compositions, particularly in its theme of "crushed female innocence", which he thinks has precedent in songs like "
Little Miss Queen of Darkness" (1966), "Polly" and "
Big Black Smoke
"Big Black Smoke" is the B-side to The Kinks' single " Dead End Street", written by Ray Davies. The song was not originally included on any album, but has since appeared as a track on the popular 1972 '' Kink Kronikles'' compilation and as a bonus ...
" (1966).
Release and reception
Davies included "Starstruck" on both the twelve- and fifteen-track editions of ''The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society'', sequenced on the second side in both cases. Pye first released the twelve-track edition in Sweden and Norway on 9 October 1968, while the UK release of the album with fifteen tracks followed on 22 November. In his preview of the album for ''
New Musical Express
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music journalism, music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine tha ...
'' magazine, critic Keith Altham described the song's use of the Mellotron as "extremely clever".
"Starstruck" was issued as a single in November1968 in parts of
continental Europe
Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, b ...
, including
West Germany and Scandinavia, backed with "
Picture Book
A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...
". To promote the release, the Kinks filmed a
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
promotional film in . The film depicts them walking around
Waterlow Park
Waterlow Park is a park in the south east of Highgate Village, in north London. It was given to the public (''i.e.'' the London County Council) by Sir Sydney Waterlow, as "a garden for the gardenless" in 1889.
Description
The park is set on ...
in
Highgate on a cold day and is similar in style to the photographs taken for ''Village Green'' album cover in mid-August. The Dutch
NCRV television programme ''Twien'' first broadcast it on 27 December 1968. In the Netherlands, the single reached on the
Veronica Top 40 and on the
Hilversum 3 Top 30.
The song also appeared on the
Ultratip
Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization of ...
bubbling under chart in Belgium's French-speaking region of
Wallonia.
In the US,
Reprise Records
Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels.
Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Enya, Michael ...
issued "Starstruck" as ''Village Green''
lead single on , again backed with "Picture Book", though its release may have been delayed until the 15th. The single initially received little critical attention, as Reprise neglected to send review copies to American magazines. A reviewer in the New York syndicated-radio newspaper ''Go!'' described the song as "a nice, light happy sound" which would contrast well against the heavier sound of contemporary music. Reviewers in both ''
Cash Box
''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' and ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' predicted the single would help the Kinks return to each magazine's chart, though it ultimately failed to position in any American chart. In his review of ''Village Green'' for ''
The Village Voice'',
Robert Christgau counted "Starstruck" as a strength on the album for seeming to have been written for a real person. English filmmaker
Edgar Wright
Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and a ...
included the song in ''
Last Night in Soho
''Last Night in Soho'' is a 2021 British psychological horror film directed by Edgar Wright and co-written by Wright and Krysty Wilson-Cairns. It stars Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Rita Tushingham, Michael Ajao, Terence S ...
'', a 2021 film set in 1960s
Swinging London
The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London as its centre. It saw a flourishing in art, mu ...
, and it was included on the
associated soundtrack album.
Personnel
According to band researcher Doug Hinman, except where noted:
The Kinks
*
Ray Davies lead vocal, piano,
Mellotron; producer
*
Dave Davies backing vocal, acoustic guitar
*
Pete Quaife backing vocal, bass
*
Mick Avory
Michael Charles Avory (born 15 February 1944) is an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and percussionist for the English rock band the Kinks. He joined them shortly after their formation in 1964 and remained with them until 1984, ...
drums
*Unidentified (played by the Kinks) handclaps
Additional musician and production
*
Nicky Hopkins Mellotron
*Brian Humphries
engineering
Charts
Notes
References
Citations
Bibliography
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External links
*
{{The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society , state=autoexpand
1968 singles
1969 singles
The Kinks songs
Songs written by Ray Davies
Song recordings produced by Ray Davies
Pye Records singles
Reprise Records singles
Beat music songs