Kinks – Celluloid Heroes

When I heard this song, I loved the movie star references, and that got my attention. He namechecks the legends: Greta Garbo, Rudolph Valentino, Bela Lugosi, and Bette Davis. But he doesn’t dwell on their fame; he dwells on what fame cost them. Some went mad, some died alone, some were used up by the studio system and spit out into forgotten gossip columns.

Ray Davies never really left England in spirit, but with Celluloid Heroes, he made one of his most haunting visits to America.  Walking the Hollywood Walk of Fame, shoulder to shoulder with the ghosts who made generations laugh, cry, and dream on the big screen.  

By 1972, The Kinks released Everybody’s in Show-Biz, it was their 6th straight concept album and they had just released Muswell Hillbillies the year before. This one was part cabaret, part social commentary, part rock and roll vaudeville.

He wrote the song when he visited Los Angeles. He stayed at a hotel near the Walk of Fame and was intrigued by how it represented success alongside failure. It is one of those Kinks songs that doesn’t get the same attention as Lola or Waterloo Sunset, but it should. 

The song was released as the second single from Everybody’s in Show-Biz but failed to chart. However, the track received decent airplay on AOR radio stations in the US, and it remains a song that is often played when these stations mark the passing of a Hollywood star.

Everybody’s In Show-Biz peaked at #63 in Canada and #70 on the Billboard Album Charts. It didn’t chart in the UK. Ray was subtle in this song, and he sings like he means it. 

Single Version

Album Version

Celluloid Heroes

Everybody’s a dreamer and everybody’s a star
And everybody’s in movies, it doesn’t matter who you are
There are starts in every city
In every house and on every street
And if you walk down Hollywood Boulevard
Their names are written in concrete

Don’t step on Greta Garbo as you walk down the Boulevard
She looks so weak and fragile that’s why she tried to be so hard
But they turned her into a princess
And they sat her on a throne
But she turned her back on stardom
Because she wanted to be alone

You can see all the stars as you walk down Hollywood Boulevard
Some that you recognize, some that you’ve hardly even heard of
People who worked and suffered and struggled for fame
Some who succeeded and some who suffered in vain

Rudolph Valentino looks very much alive
And he looks up ladies dresses as they sadly pass him by
Avoid stepping on Bela Lugosi
‘Cause he’s liable to turn and bite
But stand close by Bette Davis
Because hers was such a lonely life

If you covered him with garbage
George Sanders would still have style
And if you stamped on Mickey Rooney
He would still turn round and smile
But please don’t tread on dearest Marilyn
Cause she’s not very tough
She should have been made of iron or steel
But she was only made of flesh and blood

You can see all the stars as you walk down Hollywood Boulevard
Some that you recognize, some that you’ve hardly even heard of
People who worked and suffered and struggled for fame
Some who succeeded and some who suffered in vain

Everybody’s a dreamer and everybody’s a star
And everybody’s in show biz, it doesn’t matter who you are
And those who are successful
Be always on your guard
Success walks hand in hand with failure
Along Hollywood Boulevard

I wish my life was non-stop Hollywood movie show
A fantasy world of celluloid villains and heroes
Because celluloid heroes never feel any pain
And celluloid heroes never really die

You can see all the stars as you walk along…
You can see all the stars as you walk down Hollywood Boulevard
Some that you recognize, some that you’ve hardly even heard of
People who worked and suffered and struggled for fame
Some who succeeded and some who suffered in vain

La la la la….

Oh, celluloid heroes never feel any pain
Oh, celluloid heroes never really die
I wish my life was non-stop Hollywood movie show
A fantasy world of celluloid villains and heroes
Because celluloid heroes never feel any pain
And celluloid heroes never really die

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

37 thoughts on “Kinks – Celluloid Heroes”

    1. My first album by them was a greates hits and then I bought Give the People What They Want so I was kind of balanced between the two eras…then I got the 70s albums…well most.

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      2. I never heard of that one! That is cool. Their late seventies to early eighties albums are really good. Of course I like their concept albums as well…my favorite is The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
        album….but albums like Misfits, Low Budget, Sleepwalker, and others are really good rock albums.

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    1. It’s in the top 3 of my favorite by them. Waterloo Sunset, Village Green Preservation Society, and this one…but I can always listen to the Kinks…any era any time. Clive they are the only huge band I saw still somewhat in their prime…it was 1983 and they had a hit on the charts…probably the best concert I’ve seen out of 55 of them.

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  5. Pingback: Kinks – Celluloid Heroes – MobsterTiger

  7. oh the kinks, yes you really got me, but really forgot about them until Superman came around…then I dug a bit back to MIsfits and Sleepwalker which I loved which my friends had to listen to whether they wanted to or not, I was less a fan of come dancing……then of course one song popped up in the movie Pirate Radio – Sunny Afternoon – and then in the movie Mix Tape – Better Things – I liked the snotty sort of shots at whatever when Ray Davis aimed his song writing pen….I’ll check this out

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    1. Warren I love the Kinks…in my wheelhouse…Beatles, Who, and then The Kinks…I have become a fan of all the eras…the punkish rock of the early recordings, the concept albums, and the rock albums that followed.

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  8. Very good song to listen to and read, actually. Ray Davies lyrics at their best. Oddly/sadly the only times I’ve heard it on radio were infrequent spins on Toronto’s alt rock station, probably in the ’90s,maybe ’80s…and it isn’t Alt Rock, but a couple of DJs liked it enough to play I guess. Classic Rock and Oldies stations seem to avoid it for some reason

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    1. It’s truly a beautiful song from beginning to end. I love name dropping songs…so that is how it got my attention…but yea…even reading the lyrics is satisfying. Not many pop songs you can say that to.

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  9. Love that live clip! I know that’s your jam, you not only excel, you find the most amazing clips! Not the same but I literally had Low Budget in my hands yesterday! I oddly sift through my albums from time to time. Even though I don’t own a turntable!

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    1. Thank you Randy…I didn’t know they were on the Midnight Special myself! Oh I love Low Budget! Hey that was half the fun when we got them…just looking the album cover over.

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  10. You have to love that line, “Rudolph Valentino looks up ladies dresses as they sadly pass him by” as only Ray Davies could write that. Great post, Max and I hope you can share a Kinks song on June 22, 2025, on Song Lyric Sunday where the theme will be to find a song from a concept album. 

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    1. Oh yes! I will do that.
      I have sinues so bad this weekend for some dumb reason…fatigued and feeling blah or I would have done it last night.

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  11. After I first heard this song, I became obsessed with it. I had to own a recording of it, and I played it so much. The music is so moving to me, and of course the lyrics.

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    1. I was as well…I wore it out. I can’t remember when I first heard it, sometime in the 80s, but I could not get enough of it.

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  12. It has been said so much before but Ray can write pop masterpieces. Words, messages, melody- magic. This is fantastic. And on our trip to Hollywood, walking the walk it was everything the song alludes to. Look up and it’s all blue skies, look down and theres a McDonalds wrapper stuck to Karl Malden’s star. We went into a shady tourist trappy souvenir shop around the corner and bought ourselves a chrome plasticky tacky Oscar as something to remember it by. The plastic dream and the rude reality, just around the corner.

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      1. We felt it was worth it, but you get to see both sides of the Hollywood Big Winners and poor losers there. Still I recommend it, and this song is the perfect soundtrack for a stroll. So many big names of earlier times, all literally trampled underfoot, all but forgotten. It’s a film noir world at times Max.

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      2. Oh I know I would like it. The best thing is our HR Director (the only HR Director I’ve ever liked) lives a few miles from there. She told me if and when we come out that she would act as a guide to us…so yea I want to go. The history is incredible. Great last line!

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  14. Of course I like this. Ray does it without being sappy and corney. He really was affected by film and what goes on after the camera stops rolling. Kind of a brilliant observation put to music and song. Works for me.

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    1. No one covered this in our Kinks thing…so I had to. His writing is just brilliant in this. He doesn’t go overboard at all…

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