- 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.