Fame (David Bowie song)

"Fame"
Single by David Bowie
from the album Young Americans
B-side "Right"
Released July 25, 1975 (1975-07-25)
Format 7" single
Recorded Electric Lady Studios, New York January 1975
Genre Funk rock, Hard Rock
Length 03:30 Single edit
04:12 Full-length album version
Label RCA, Rykodisc/EMI ("Fame '90")
Writer(s) David Bowie, Carlos Alomar, John Lennon
Producer Harry Maslin, David Bowie
David Bowie singles chronology
"Young Americans"
(1975)		 "Fame"
(1975)		 "Golden Years"
(1975)
"Never Let Me Down"
(1987)
"Fame '90"
(1990)
"Real Cool World"
(1992)
Tin Machine chronology
"Prisoner of Love"
(1989)		 "Fame '90"
(1990)		 "You Belong in Rock n' Roll"
(1991)

"Fame" is a song recorded by David Bowie, initially released in 1975. It reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the week of September 20, 1975.

Contents

Song development

With the Young Americans sessions mostly concluded in 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, and met John Lennon. The pair socialised and jammed together, which led to a one-day session at Electric Lady Studios in January 1975. There, Bowie contacted several members of his tour band. First a cover of The Beatles’ "Across the Universe" was recorded. Then a new song called "Fame", inspired by a guitar riff written by Carlos Alomar and with the title from Lennon, was then hurriedly developed by Bowie, and recorded. Both tracks were then added to the Young Americans album. Despite having only a minor contribution, Lennon was given a co-writing credit due to the lyrics (bemoaning the nature of celebrity) being inspired by conversations he had with Bowie on the subject, and because Bowie acknowledged that Lennon singing "Fame!" over Alomar’s guitar riff was the catalyst for the song. The songwriting credit list order is David Bowie, Carlos Alomar, and John Lennon. Lennon's voice is also heard singing the repeated words "FAME, FAME, FAME" with his voice heard at a fast, normal, and slow playback speeds, until Bowie's voice is heard singing the final lyrics of the song before the fade.

Bowie would later describe the song as "nasty, angry," and fully admits that the song was written "with a degree of malice" aimed at the Mainman management group he had been working with at the time. In 1990 Bowie reflected that "I'd had very upsetting management problems and a lot of that was built into the song. I've left that 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."[1]

Chart performance

"Fame" became Bowie's biggest hit to that point in the U.S. It was his first number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as his first to break the top 10, but would only reach number seventeen in the UK.

1975 track listing

  1. "Fame" (Bowie, Alomar, Lennon) – 3:30
  2. "Right" (Bowie) – 4:13

Charts

Chart (1975) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1
Canadian Singles Chart 1
UK Singles Chart 17
Norwegian Singles Chart 9

1975 musicians

Fame

Right

Live versions

Other releases

In pop culture

Cover versions

Preceded by
"Rhinestone Cowboy" by Glen Campbell
"I'm Sorry" / "Calypso" by John Denver		 Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
September 20, 1975
October 4, 1975		 Succeeded by
"I'm Sorry" / "Calypso" by John Denver
"Bad Blood" by Neil Sedaka
"Fame '90"
Single by David Bowie
from the album 'ChangesBowie'
A-side Fame '90
Released March 26, 1990 (1990-03-26)
Format Single
Length 3:36 (Gass Mix)
Label EMI / Rykodisc
David Bowie singles chronology
"Never Let Me Down"
(1987)		 "Fame '90"
(1990)		 "Real Cool World"
(1992)

"Fame '90"

A remixed version of "Fame" was released by EMI in 1990 to coincide with the Sound+Vision Tour and the release of the ChangesBowie compilation. Bowie wanted to remix a successful American single for the tour & album release, and of the two options ("Let's Dance" and "Fame"), "Let's Dance" was simply too recent. Bowie liked the choice: "It covers a lot of ground, Fame; it stands up really well in time. It still sounds potent. It's quite a nasty, angry little song. I quite like that."[1]

The "Gass Mix" was also included on the "Pretty Woman" soundtrack.

Track listing

Song written by David Bowie, Carlos Alomar, and John Lennon.

  1. "Fame '90 (with Queen Latifah)" – 4:10
  2. "Fame '90 (House mix)" – 5:58
  3. "Fame '90 (Gass mix)" – 3:36
  4. "Fame '90 (Hip hop mix)" – 3:10
  5. "Fame '90 (Absolutely Nothing Premeditated/Epic Mix)" – 14:25
  6. "Fame '90 (Bonus Beat Mix)"

Video

Film director Gus Van Sant directed the promotional video for this version, which featured clips from many of Bowie’s previous videos.[2] In the music video, Bowie also performs a dance with Louise Lecavalier, one of the main dancers of the Québécois contemporary dance troupe La La La Human Steps (whom Bowie would collaborate with on the Sound + Vision tour).[3]

The single stayed in the UK chart for four weeks, peaking at number twenty-eight.

Other releases

God Lives Underwater cover

"Fame"
Single by God Lives Underwater
Released 1998
Format CD
Genre Industrial rock, techno, rock
Length 3:26
Label A&M
Producer Gary Richards
God Lives Underwater singles chronology
"From Your Mouth"
(1998)		 "Fame"
(1998)		 "Tricked (That's the Way I Like It)"
(2004)

A cover version of "Fame" by the band God Lives Underwater was released in 1998, resulting in significant airplay.

Music video

God Lives Underwater's "Fame" music video is a video for the remake of Bowie's "Fame" on the soundtrack to the movie 15 minutes.

Track listing

  1. "Fame" - 3:06

References

  1. ^ a b "David Bowie Interview", Q magazine: 60–70, April 1990 
  2. ^ a b "News," Melody Maker magazine, 24 March 1990, page 3
  3. ^ "Rolling Stone Summer Music Guide 1990", Rolling Stone magazine insert, 1990, page 3

External links

God Lives Underwater
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Singles
Video albums
Lists
Side projects
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