"Celluloid Heroes" is a song performed by

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...

and written by their lead

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

and principal songwriter,

Ray Davies Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter for the rock band the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother Dave on lead guitar and backing voca ...

. It debuted on their 1972 album ''

Everybody's in Show-Biz ''Everybody's in Show-Biz'' is the eleventh studio album released by the English rock group the Kinks, released in 1972. A double album, the first disc features studio recordings, while the second disc documents a two-night Carnegie Hall stand. ...

''. The song names several famous actors of 20th century film, and also mentions Los Angeles's

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...

, alluding to its

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...

. The actors mentioned are

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragedy, ...

Rudolph Valentino Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor based in the United States who starred ...

Bela Lugosi Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in ''S ...

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

George Sanders George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth, bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous chara ...

, and

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...

, although the verse mentioning the latter three is omitted in some recorded versions of the song (e.g. on '' One for the Road'').

Background

An ode to classic Hollywood icons, "Celluloid Heroes" has since been singled out by

Dave Davies David Russell Gordon Davies (born 3 February 1947) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the English rock band the Kinks, which also featured his elder brother Ray Davies. He was ind ...

as a standout track by the band: "One of my favorite songs ever, by anybody. I remember when we were just starting out down the road with tidying up the lyrics. That really filled me with a lot of emotion because it is quite an incredible idea anyway, all those

ovie Ovie is a given name, nickname and surname. It may refer to: Nickname * Alexander Ovechkin (born 1985), Russian ice hockey player * Ovie Alston (1905–1989), American jazz trumpeter, vocalist, and bandleader * Ovie Ejaria (born 1997), English f ...

stars, names and handprints being on those stars. There are all these great stars immortalized on pavement, in concrete."

Release and reception

The track was released as the second single from the album. In the UK, the single features the full album version which runs to over six minutes, but the US single used a more corporate-radio-friendly edit which is almost two minutes shorter. Although their previous single had been a top 20 hit on the

UK singles chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, "Celluloid Heroes" failed to chart. The song appears on the band's live album '' One for the Road'' (1980) and was re-recorded for the 2009 album '' The Kinks Choral Collection''. The song was also the title track of a 1976 collection featuring material originally released while recording for the RCA label, ''The Kinks' Greatest: Celluloid Heroes''. Reviewing the live single, ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

'' called it "perhaps one of Ray Davies' finest compositions."

List of actors mentioned in the lyrics

Cover versions

Joan Jett Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin, September 22, 1958) is an American singer, guitarist, record producer, and actress. Jett is best known for her work as the frontwoman of her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and for earlier founding and per ...

recorded this song for her all-covers album '' The Hit List''. *A live performance of this track (featuring Ray Davies) appeared as the B-side to

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...

's 2002 single " Misunderstood". *

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist for ...

recorded a cover of this song on his album '' The Elusive Light and Sound Vol. 1''. *British actor and singer

Tim Curry Timothy James Curry (born 19 April 1946) is an English actor and singer. He rose to prominence for his portrayal of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the film ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London ...

frequently performed this song during his tours in the late 70s. *Finnish singer-songwriter

Juice Leskinen Juhani Juice Leskinen (officially Pauli Matti Juhani "Juice" Leskinen; 19 February 1950 – 24 November 2006), better known as Juice Leskinen ( as if the word ''juice'' were Finnish) was one of the most important and successful Finnish singer- ...

translated and recorded this song in Finnish as "Paperitähdet". *Renaissance-inspired folk rock band

Blackmore's Night Blackmore's Night is a British-American neo-medieval folk rock band formed in 1997, consisting mainly of Ritchie Blackmore (acoustic guitar, hurdy gurdy, mandola, mandolin, nyckelharpe, and electric guitar) and Candice Night (lead vocals, lyri ...

recorded the song for their album '' Autumn Sky''. *The song appeared on Ray Davies' 2010 album ''

See My Friends "See My Friends" (sometimes titled "See My Friend") is a song by the English rock band the Kinks, written by the group's singer and guitarist, Ray Davies. Released in July 1965, it reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart, ''Record Retailer'' c ...

'', featuring

Jon Bon Jovi John Francis Bongiovi Jr. (born March 2, 1962), known professionally as Jon Bon Jovi, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is best known as the founder and frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, which was formed in 1983. He ...

and

Richie Sambora Richard Stephen Sambora (born July 11, 1959) is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Bon Jovi from 1983 to 2013. He and lead singer Jon Bon Jovi formed the main songwri ...

. *Australian actor

Reg Livermore Reginald Dawson Livermore (born 11 December 1938) is an Australian actor, singer, theatrical performer and former television presenter. Childhood From a young age, Livermore demonstrated an interest in the performing arts. Regular outings to ...

performs the song in his Betty Blokk-Buster Follies show, the song also appears on the soundtrack. *Australian singer Jeannie Lewis recorded the song on the 1974 album ''Looking Backwards to Tomorrow''. There is YouTube footage of her performing the song on ''

The Norman Gunston Show Norman Gunston was a satirical TV character performed by Australian actor and comedian Garry McDonald. Norman Gunston was primarily well known in his native Australia, and to a lesser extent, the United States during the mid to late 1970s. He ...

''. *

Pauly Shore Paul Montgomery Shore (born February 1, 1968) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker best known for his roles in 1990s comedy films. Shore began as a stand-up comedian at the age of 17, before becoming an MTV VJ in 1989. This led to a sta ...

covered the song on his YouTube channel in 2020.

References

{{Authority control 1972 singles The Kinks songs Songs written by Ray Davies Song recordings produced by Ray Davies RCA Records singles Songs about Los Angeles Songs about actors Hollywood, Los Angeles in fiction Songs about Marilyn Monroe Cultural depictions of Rudolph Valentino Cultural depictions of Greta Garbo Cultural depictions of Bela Lugosi