"Fame" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Single by David Bowie | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
from the album Young Americans | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
B-side | "Right" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Released | 25 July 1975 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Format | 7" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Recorded | Electric Lady Studios, New York City January 1975 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Genre | Funk | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Label | RCA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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David Bowie singles chronology | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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"Fame '90" | ||||
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Single by David Bowie | ||||
from the album Changesbowie | ||||
A-side | "Fame '90" | |||
Released | 26 March 1990 | |||
Format | Single | |||
Length | 3:36 (Gass Mix) | |||
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David Bowie singles chronology | ||||
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"Fame" is a song recorded by David Bowie, initially released in 1975. Written by Bowie, Carlos Alomar and John Lennon, it was a hit in North America, becoming Bowie's first number 1 single in the Billboard Hot 100 and one of the most successful singles of the year, ranking at number 7 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100. The single was less successful in Europe, reaching number 17 in the UK Singles Chart.
The song is included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
With the Young Americans sessions mostly concluded by late 1974, the material was delayed while Bowie extricated himself from his contract with manager Tony Defries. During this time, he was staying in New York City, where he met John Lennon. The pair jammed together, leading to a one-day session at Electric Lady Studios in January 1975. There, Carlos Alomar had developed a guitar riff for Bowie's cover of "Footstompin'" by the Flairs, which Bowie thought was "a waste" to give to a cover. Lennon, who was in the studio with them, sang "aim" over the riff, which Bowie turned into "Fame" and he thereafter wrote the rest of the lyrics to the song.
Lennon's voice is heard interjecting the falsetto "Fame" throughout the song.
Bowie would later describe the song as "nasty, angry", and fully admitted that it was written "with a degree of malice" aimed at the Mainman management group with whom he had been working at the time. In 1990, Bowie reflected: "I'd had very upsetting management problems and a lot of that was built into the song. I've left all that behind me, now... I think fame itself is not a rewarding thing. The most you can say is that it gets you a seat in restaurants."