The Kinks called "Village Green". In an attempt to revive the group's commercial standing, the Kinks' management booked them on a month-long package tour for April, drawing the group away from the studio. The venues were largely cabarets and clubs; headlining was Peter Frampton's group The Herd. "In general, the teenyboppers were not there to see the boring old Kinks, who occasionally had to endure chants of 'We Want The Herd!' during their brief appearances", commented Andy Miller. The tour proved taxing and stressful—Pete Quaife recalled, "It was a chore, very dull, boring and straightforward... We only did twenty minutes, but it
The Kinks record, "Preservation" live proved funnier as well." Davies began another project for Granada Television, a musical called "Starmaker". After a broadcast with Ray Davies in the starring role and the Kinks as both back-up band and ancillary characters, the project eventually morphed into the concept album "The Kinks Present a Soap Opera", released in May 1975, in which Ray Davies fantasised about what would happen if a rock star traded places with a "normal Norman" and took a 9–5 job. In August 1975, the Kinks recorded their final theatrical work, "Schoolboys in Disgrace", a backstory biography of "Preservation's" Mr Flash.