Beginning in March 1974, the same month People debuted, Stealers Wheel hit #29 with "Star," a folky tune telling a friend not to get too full of himself because he could get the shaft from fans just as fast as he rose to acclaim. This was followed by
two more tunes in November when the Raspberries peaked at #18 with their anthemic critique of radio programming "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" and the Hudson Brothers charted at #21 with "So You Are a Star," a song with lyrics that weren't particularly anti-stardom but seemed to be a plea for romantic fidelity that, when paired with the tune's sad melody, came off as a critique. (Ironically, Hudson Brother Bill later married Goldie Hawn for a four-year relationship that gave the world actress Kate Hudson.) And that same month, Billy Joel's "The Entertainer" entered the charts. While the song wouldn't peak at #34 until January 1975, it's easily the best of the bunch with its humorously cynical lyrics that belie the fact that Joel only had one Top 40 hit, "Piano Man," under his belt at the time.
You could probably even count the anti-materialism of that year's Top 10 hits like William DeVaughn's "Be Thankful For What You Got" in here as well as the O'Jays' "For the Love of Money," but they weren't concentrated on the pitfalls of fame like the four songs I already mentioned. 1974 was a year of cynicism all around, seeing it was the year Richard Nixon resigned the presidency and Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods topped the chart with the anti-military "Billy, Don't Be a Hero."
Seeing how much we go for anniversaries on this blog, I'll mark the slightly belated 40-year anniversary of the peak of "Star" by posting a link to it here. Yeah, that's Gerry Rafferty, who was a Stealers Wheel member before he struck out on his own.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQz91dT8zW8
(Among the top stories on Yahoo! this morning were pieces about Nicki Minaj's new hairstyle and the costumes Katy Perry wears in her new video. What progress we've made in 40 years.)