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Flint’s Classic Rock – 103.9 The Fox

  • Writer: David Bowie
  • Producers: David Bowie and Harry Maslin
  • Recorded: August 1975 at Cherokee Studios, Hollywood, California
  • Players:
    David Bowie — vocals, guitar
    Earl Slick — guitar
    Carlos Alomar — guitar
    George Murray — bass
    Roy Bittan –keyboards
    Dennis Davis — drums
  • Album: Station To Station (RCA, 1976)
  • Also On:
    Changesonebowie (RCA, 1976)
    Fame And Fashion (David Bowie’s All Time Greatest Hits) (RCA, 1984)
    Changesbowie (Rykodisc, 1990)
    The Singles 1969 To 1993 (Rykodisc, 1993)
    The Best Of David Bowie 1969/1974 (Virgin, 1998)
  • David Bowie wrote “Golden Years” for Elvis Presley, but Elvis turned it down.
  • The song was one of Bowie’s biggest hits in the U.S., peaking at Number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
  • Bowie recorded the Station To Station album shortly after shooting his first movie, The Man Who Fell To Earth, in the summer of 1975.
  • The album was originally titled The Return Of The Thin White Duke, a reference to a lyric on the title track and the persona he created for the album.
  • Bowie wrote most of the tracks on Station To Station in the studio, except for a cover of the Johnny Mathis song “Wild Is The Wind.”
  • Station To Station peaked at Number Three on the Billboard 200 chart in 1976 and was certified gold.
  • A 1991 reissue of Station To Station featured live versions of “Word On A Wing” and “Stay” from a 1976 concert on Long Island, New York.
  • The album cover, originally printed in black-and-white, was restored to color for the 1991 Station To Station reissue.

FAST FORWARD:

  • Bowie has continued to record and perform, with occasional forays into acting.
  • “Golden Years” was used as the theme song to a 1991 Stephen King miniseries of the same name.
  • “Golden Years” has been covered by Pearl Jam (in concert), Marilyn Manson, Nina Hagen, and others.
  • Bowie married the fashion model Iman on April 24th, 1992.
  • Bowie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 but did not attend the ceremony.
  • In 1997, Bowie offered “shares” — or “Bowie Bonds,” as they came to be known — backed by his projected future income for past projects. The move, which was the first of its kind in rock, was a huge success.