(Gibson) On this day in 1975, "Fame" by David Bowie hit no. 1 on the Billboard Singles Charts. Gibson looks back: No one has ever accused David Bowie of being predictable. In his career leading up to 1975, he had gone from white-boy blues to psychedelic pop to hard rock to glam. It was in glam, of course, that Bowie reached stratospheric heights, particularly in conjunction with his alter ego, Ziggy Stardust. With Ziggy, Bowie combined theatrical spectacle with searing guitar driven pop and launched an entire movement in style and music. The predictable move would have been to continue on that course and milk Ziggy for all he was worth. But this was David Bowie.The music of African American artists blues, soul, R&B had always held an allure for Bowie, but he moved away from much of it in the '60s, in part, because everyone else was doing it
and the last thing Bowie wanted was to be one of the faceless many. But in the '70s, soul music had gotten such a sparkling production upgrade, it was hard not to be moved when shimmering horns and funked-out guitar hit the turntable. Bowie, sensing that he'd flown as high as he could with Ziggy, chose funk and soul as his parachute. He began working R&B classics like "Knock on Wood" into his live set. And toward the end of 1974, he hunkered down in Philadelphia to record his new album, Young Americans.
The Young Americans sessions were remarkably fruitful, if a bit sporadic. Though they dragged out from August into the New Year, they yielded several fresh, interesting and downright danceable tracks, the title song being foremost among them. In January 1975, Bowie decamped to New York City to finish off the record at Electric Lady Studios. Joining Bowie was his band, which included his longtime session guitarist Carlos Alomar, and a guest, whom Bowie had met the previous year.
David Bowie had met John Lennon at a party thrown by social butterfly Elizabeth Taylor. Although Lennon had been a hero of Bowie's for years, the two were able to speak on equal footing and very quickly became friends. When John accepted Bowie's invitation to stop by the studio, the band was in the middle of trying to reinterpret a funky track that had a great lick, but had somehow fallen a bit flat on the last tour. The song was a cover of the old Flairs hit, "Foot Stompin'." Alomar had played around with the riff enough to give it a character of its own. more on this story
