Starstruck (The Kinks song)

"Starstruck"
"Starstruck"
	German single cover
Single by the Kinks
from the album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
B-side	"Picture Book"
Released	8 January 1969 (US single)
Recorded	November 1966 – October 1968
Length	2:18
Label	Reprise
Songwriter(s)	Ray Davies
Producer(s)	Ray Davies
The Kinks US singles chronology

"Starstruck" is a track and single from the Kinks's 1968 album, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society. The song is about getting absorbed by the culture and straying from your family.

Release[]

"Starstruck" was the first U.S. single pulled from The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, but besides hitting #13 in The Netherlands, it did not chart. The track was also released as a single in Germany, Norway, Sweden, and in Australia.^[1] However, in the Australian version of the single, "Starstruck" was switched with its B-side, "Picture Book" as the A-side.^[2] A promotional video, starring all four band members in a London park, was also filmed by Dutch public broadcaster NOS.

On the appearance of "Starstruck" on The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, Ray Davies claimed that "It is strange to think of this song being recorded by The Kinks, because it is definitely a song that should be on somebody's solo album."^[3]

As well as being the tenth track on The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, "Starstruck" has appeared on the compilation album The Ultimate Collection.^[4]

Billboard described the single as "an infectious rhythm item that has all the ingredients to bring the group back to the Hot 100 chart with impact."^[5] Billboard also praised the "smooth vocal work and arrangement."^[5]

References[]

^ "Starstruck / Picture Book by The Kinks (Single; Pye; DV 14795): Reviews, Ratings, Credits, Song list". Rate Your Music. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
^ "Picture Book / Starstruck by The Kinks (Single; Astor; AP-1590): Reviews, Ratings, Credits, Song list". Rate Your Music. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
^ Miller, Andy. Kinks' The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society.
^ "Starstruck - The Kinks | Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Spotlight Singles" (PDF). Billboard. 1 February 1969. p. 79. Retrieved 20 February 2021.

Personnel[]

Ray Davies - lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, mellotron
Dave Davies - guitar, backing vocals
Pete Quaife - bass guitar, backing vocals
Mick Avory - drums
- backing vocals

External links[]

Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

[1] "Starstruck / Picture Book by The Kinks (Single; Pye; DV 14795): Reviews, Ratings, Credits, Song list". Rate Your Music. Retrieved 26 April 2014.

[2] "Picture Book / Starstruck by The Kinks (Single; Astor; AP-1590): Reviews, Ratings, Credits, Song list". Rate Your Music. Retrieved 26 April 2014.

[33_and_1/3-3] Miller, Andy. Kinks' The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society.

[4] "Starstruck - The Kinks | Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 April 2014.

[bb-5] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Spotlight Singles" (PDF). Billboard. 1 February 1969. p. 79. Retrieved 20 February 2021.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

show v t The Kinks
Ray Davies Dave Davies Mick Avory Pete Quaife John Dalton John Gosling Andy Pyle Jim Rodford Ian Gibbons Bob Henrit Gordon John Edwards Mark Haley
Studio albums	Kinks (1964) Kinda Kinks (1965) The Kink Kontroversy (1965) Face to Face (1966) Something Else (1967) Village Green Preservation Society (1968) Arthur (1969) Lola Versus Powerman (1970) Percy (1971) Muswell Hillbillies (1971) Everybody's in Show-Biz (1972) Preservation Act 1 (1973) Preservation Act 2 (1974) Soap Opera (1975) Schoolboys in Disgrace (1975) Sleepwalker (1977) Misfits (1978) Low Budget (1979) Give the People What They Want (1981) State of Confusion (1983) Word of Mouth (1984) Think Visual (1986) UK Jive (1989) Phobia (1993)
Live albums	Live at Kelvin Hall (1968) One for the Road (1980) Live: The Road (1988) To the Bone (1994/1996) (2001)
EPs	Kinksize Session (1964) Kwyet Kinks (1965)
Compilations	Kinks-Size (1965) Kinkdom (1965) Greatest Hits! (1966) Well Respected Kinks (1966) Sunny Afternoon (1967) The Kink Kronikles (1972) The Great Lost Kinks Album (1973) Come Dancing with The Kinks (1986) The Kinks Are Well Respected Men (1987) Lost & Found (1986–1989) (1991) The Ultimate Collection (2002) Picture Book (2008) Waterloo Sunset: The Very Best of The Kinks & Ray Davies (2012) The Essential Kinks (2014)
Unreleased projects	Four More Respected Gentlemen A Hole in the Sock of (Dave Davies)
Related articles	Discography Band members Session performers: Clem Cattini, Bobby Graham, Nicky Hopkins Konk The Kast Off Kinks Argent X-Ray Do It Again Give the People What We Want: Songs of The Kinks Sunny Afternoon (musical)
Category

show v t The Kinks singles discography
1960s singles (UK & US)	1964 "Long Tall Sally" "You Still Want Me" "You Really Got Me" "All Day and All of the Night" 1965 "Tired of Waiting for You" "Ev'rybody's Gonna Be Happy" "Set Me Free" "See My Friends" "Who'll Be the Next in Line" "A Well Respected Man" "Till the End of the Day" 1966 "Dedicated Follower of Fashion" "Sunny Afternoon" "Dead End Street" 1967 "Mister Pleasant" "Waterloo Sunset" "Death of a Clown" (Dave Davies solo) "Autumn Almanac" "Susannah's Still Alive" (Dave Davies solo) 1968 "Wonderboy" "Days" "Lincoln County" (Dave Davies solo) 1969 "Starstruck" "Hold My Hand" (Dave Davies solo) "Plastic Man" "Drivin'" "The Village Green Preservation Society" "Shangri-La" "Victoria" 1970 "Lola" "Apeman"
1970s singles (UK & US)	1971 "God's Children" "20th Century Man" 1972 "Supersonic Rocket Ship" "Celluloid Heroes" 1973 "One of the Survivors" "Sitting in the Midday Sun" "Sweet Lady Genevieve" "Where Have All the Good Times Gone" 1974 "Money Talks" "Mirror of Love" "Mirror of Love" (band version) "Holiday Romance" "Preservation" 1975 "Everybody's a Star (Starmaker)" "Ducks on the Wall" "You Can't Stop the Music" 1976 "I'm in Disgrace" "No More Looking Back" 1977 "Sleepwalker" "Juke Box Music" "Father Christmas" 1978 "A Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy" "Live Life" "Black Messiah" 1979 "(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman" "A Gallon of Gas" "Catch Me Now I'm Falling" "Moving Pictures" "Pressure"
1980s singles (UK & US)	1980 "Lola" (live) "You Really Got Me" (live) 1981 "Better Things" "Destroyer" "Predictable" 1982 "Come Dancing" 1983 "Don't Forget to Dance" 1984 "Good Day" "Do It Again" 1985 "Living on a Thin Line" (radio promo only) "Summer's Gone" 1986 "Rock 'n' Roll Cities" "How Are You" 1987 "Lost and Found" 1988 "The Road" 1989 "Down All the Days (Till 1992)" 1990 "How Do I Get Close"
1990s singles (UK & US)	1993 "Only a Dream" "Scattered"
Other singles (non-UK/US)	1966 "Dandy" (Europe) 1969 "Picture Book" (Australia) "Australia" (Australia) 1983 "State of Confusion" (Germany) 1991 "Did Ya" (Europe)
Other songs	"So Mystifying" "Bald Headed Woman" "Stop Your Sobbing" "Dancing in the Street" "I Need You" "I Go to Sleep" "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" "Big Black Smoke" "Party Line" "Rosy Won't You Please Come Home" "Love Me Till the Sun Shines" "David Watts" "Two Sisters" "Polly" "She's Got Everything" "Do You Remember Walter?" "Johnny Thunder" "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains" "Big Sky" "Sitting by the Riverside" "Animal Farm" "Village Green" "Phenomenal Cat" "All of My Friends Were There" "Wicked Annabella" "Monica" "People Take Pictures of Each Other" "Berkeley Mews" "Mr. Churchill Says" "Strangers" "This Time Tomorrow" "Rats" "Got to Be Free" "Have a Cuppa Tea" "Oklahoma U.S.A." "Muswell Hillbilly" "Sitting in My Hotel" "The Hard Way" "Life Goes On" "Misfits" "Attitude" "Low Budget" "Give the People What They Want" "Heart of Gold"