Following two hit singles on Tio i Topp, Harpo wrote the song while sitting in his window, dedicating it to a friend of his that had aspirations of becoming an actor.

"Moviestar" tells the story of an individual who believes they are an A-list actor in the league of Steve McQueen and James Dean, when instead it is revealed that they have only acted in a television advertisement.

It made its way across Europe to Germany, and eventually Scandinavia, reaching number one in all territories before also landing on the UK Singles Chart the following year.

Harpo had a background in theatre before music; during his late teens and early 20s, he taught at the Calle Flygare Teaterskola in Norrmalm, Stockholm for several years.

[2] According to an interview with Sveriges Radio in 2017, Harpo claimed that he wrote "Moviestar" while hitchhiking across Europe at the age of 17, while being fascinated over the film industry.

[12] Referencing his home country, Harpo featured a line about this actor traveling to Sweden to "meet Ingmar Bergman" who "just wasn't there.

[3][17][7] The backing vocals on the song were supplied by Anni-Frid Lyngstad of ABBA, who had several ties and connections to Palmers and Polar Music.

[7] Contrary to popular belief, Agnetha Fältskog was not present at the session;[3] the second female backing voice came Lena Ericsson who also had ties to ABBA.

[17][7] Bengt Palmers did not think that the arrangement of the song was quite right by the end of the recording session so without the knowledge of Harpo, the following morning he re-recorded most of the musical backing with the help of several studio musicians.

[18] Rumours alleged that EMI "refused to host Swedish artists" in order not to create competition with ABBA, who were big in the UK.

[20][21] In the rest of continental Europe, "Moviestar" was backed by "I Don't Know Why", a song taken from his debut album Leo the Leopard the previous year.

[32][33][34][35] To broaden his commercial appeal in Sweden, the Swedish-language version of "Moviestar" was issued as a single and eventually also reached number on Svensktoppen in 1976.

[38] To capitalize on the single reaching number one in West Germany, EMI quickly put together unreleased recordings done by Harpo and released them as Moviestar, which includes both the title track and the B-side "Teddy Love".

[44] Upon release in Sweden, the single was reviewed by Expressen, who wrote that "Moviestar is a pretty song" that has several layers of depth to it, with "marvellous production" by Bengt Palmers.

[45] They note Harpo's vocal performance, which they claim is carried by the backing accompaniment and give praise to the bass guitarist especially.

[45] Aftonbladet wrote that "Moviestar certainly deserved the chart success it got across Europe" due to the catchy chorus, "funny and intriguing lyrics" and an excellent production.

[46] In Svenska Dagbladet, the single is described as "an excellent addition to Sweden as a musical country", writing that it has potential to top the Billboard Hot 100 like Blue Swede's "Hooked on a Feeling" did the year before.

[47] In Record Mirror, Jan Iles called the song "fresh" and "commercial", writing that it is a "glam, G-plan, streamlined rock product".

"[1] In an interview for Sveriges Television however, he stated that the song was mostly a "money printer through royalties for my true hobby", horse breeding.

[10] In Germany, there is a tradition to dance to "Moviestar" during weddings, something Harpo finds odd as the song does not make any references to love.

[1][4] In 1980, Harpo largely retired from the music industry after an accident with a horse that made him lose his sense of smell and blinded one of his eyes.