Celluloid Heroes
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"Celluloid Heroes" is a song performed by the Kinks and featured on their 1972 album Everybody's in Show-Biz. Written by their lead vocalist, Ray Davies, the song mentions many famous actors of 20th century film by name and also mentions Los Angeles's Hollywood Boulevard. Actors mentioned in the song include Greta Garbo, Rudolph Valentino, Bela Lugosi, Bette Davis, Marilyn Monroe, George Sanders, and Mickey Rooney. The central theme of the song is to bemoan the inhumane manner in which the Hollywood machine chews up and spits out its stars.
Although not a hit single, the track received consistent airplay on AOR radio stations in the US through the 1970s and into the 1980s. Airplay in recent years has been scarce with classic rock stations favoring only the bands' top-40 hits.
"Celluloid Heroes" is a firm favorite amongst Kinks aficionados, and is regarded, lyrically and melodically, as one of Davies's most mature and moving works. It demonstrates a sensitive, emotional side to his writing not often seen by those only familiar with The Kinks' generally jauntier, carefree singles output. At the time of its release, the song was one of the longest for the band, peaking at 6 minutes, while most of Davies's songs rarely surpassed 4 minutes. Notably the song was chosen as the title track of a 1976 collection surveying the bands best-known songs while recording for the RCA label: The Kinks' Greatest: Celluloid Heroes.
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