Songfacts®:

• The Hudson Brothers were a trio of brothers from Portland, Oregon. The band consisted of Bill, Brett, and Mark Hudson - the three also wrote most of their songs, including this one.
  
  "So You Are A Star" turned out to be their biggest hit, and one of three to make the Hot 100 ("Rendezvous" (#26) and "Lonely School Year" (#57) were the others). >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Mike - Santa Barbara, CA
• This song's rise coincided with The Hudson Brothers ascent as TV stars. They had been making music since 1965. Performing locally as The MySirs, they signed a deal with manager Jerry Dennon, who had been involved with many Pacific Northwest acts, including The Kingsmen and The Raiders. Dennon got them a gig as brand ambassadors for the Chrysler Corporation, who had them change their name to The New Yorkers, after the Chrysler New Yorker model. They played at dealerships and recorded a song called "Things Are Changing" as a promotional disc for Chrysler before going on tour with The Who and Herman's Hermits.
  
  Signed to Scepter Records, they released "Mr. Kirby," which was a regional hit in 1968. They later signed with Playboy Records, who released an album in 1972 using studio musicians - the band sang but didn't play. That tanked, and they moved on to Rocket Records, which was Elton John's label, and recorded an album called Totally Out Of Control, which was released in England in 1974.
  
  The Brothers made some connections in Hollywood and got their own Saturday morning kids show called The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show, which went on the air later in 1974. When their deal with Rocket imploded, they signed with Casablanca Records, who were looking to capitalize on their TV exposure. They recorded a song called "Hollywood Situation," which was going to be a single, but Neil Bogart at Casablanca decided they should cut an entire album. The brothers quickly recorded more tracks, including "So You Are A Star," which was deemed the best choice for the single. The song did well, but the TV tie-in hurt the band in terms of credibility, as they were compared to The Monkees and it was often assumed that they didn't play their own instruments or write their own songs. The show was canceled after one season, and the group's fortunes faded. Mark Hudson emerged as the most visible of the brothers - he became Joan Rivers' bandleader when she got her own talk show in 1989, and had further success as a songwriter. His co-writes include "Livin' On The Edge" by Aerosmith, "Outside My Window" by Sarah Buxton, and "Where's The Love" by Hanson.
• So you are a star, they say
  Nobody knows you like I do...
  
  You've got to love only me...
  
  When he first sang these words, there was no way Bill Hudson could have known how prophetic they would be. In 1976 he married the actress Goldie Hawn - they are parents to Oliver and Kate Hudson, who also became a very successful actors. Bill, who also dated Ali MacGraw and Candice Bergen, went through a bitter divorce with Hawn in 1981, and later became estranged from their children.
  
  In 2011, Bill published an autobiography claiming that he tried desperately to build a relationship with his children, but Hawn thwarted him. He also wrote that Hawn cheated on him repeatedly, whereas he was a one-woman-man. Hudson was later married to Cindy Williams and had two children by her before their divorce in 2000.