Golden Years (song)

This article is about the David Bowie song. For the Disco Ensemble song, see Disco Ensemble.
"Golden Years"
Single by David Bowie
from the album Station to Station
B-side "Can You Hear Me"
Released 21 November 1975
Format 7"
Recorded September 1975 at Cherokee Studios (Los Angeles, California)
Genre
Length
  • 3:22 (single edit)
  • 4:00 (album version)
Label RCA Records
Writer(s) David Bowie
Producer(s)
David Bowie singles chronology
"Fame"
(1975)		 "Golden Years"
(1975)		 "Station to Station "
(1976)
Station to Station track listing
"Station to Station"
(1)		 "Golden Years"
(2)		 "Word on a Wing"
(3)

"Golden Years" is a song written and recorded by David Bowie in 1975. It was originally released in a shortened form as a single in November 1975, and in its full-length version in January the following year on the Station to Station album. It was the first track completed during the Station to Station sessions, a period when Bowie's cocaine addiction was at its peak.[1] At one stage it was slated to be the album's title track.[2]

Music and lyrics

When it first appeared as a single in 1975, "Golden Years" presented a somewhat skewed view of the forthcoming album, being more similar in style to the Young Americans funk/soul material from earlier in 1975 than the rest of Station to Station. The latter foreshadowed the Kraftwerk-influenced Euro-centric and electronic music that Bowie would move into with his late-1970s 'Berlin Trilogy'.[2]

Bowie was looking to emulate something of the glitzy nostalgia of "On Broadway", which he was playing on piano in the studio when he came up with "Golden Years".[1] He has said that he offered it to Elvis Presley to perform, but that Presley declined it.[3] Both Angela Bowie and Ava Cherry claim to have been the inspiration for the song.[3]

Release and aftermath

Bowie allegedly got drunk to perform the song for the American TV show Soul Train; at the time he was one of the few white artists to appear on the program.[4] The resultant video clip was used to promote the single, and assisted Bowie's continued commercial success in the United States, where it charted for 16 weeks and reached No. 10 in early-1976. It achieved No. 8 in the UK and No. 17 in Canada.[5] The song was also a top ten hit in Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden.

"Golden Years" was played sporadically by Bowie on the 1976 tour,[2] if at all, but regularly on the 1983, 1990 and 2000 tours. It appears on the 1983 concert film Serious Moonlight. The song was used as the theme song of Stephen King's Golden Years, and in the pilot of the CBS series Swingtown.

Track listing

  1. "Golden Years" (Bowie) – 3:22
  2. "Can You Hear Me?" (Bowie) – 5:04

Production credits

Other releases

David Bowie vs KCRW

"Golden Years David Bowie vs KCRW"
Single by David Bowie
from the album Station to Station
Released 2011
Format CD single
Recorded Cherokee Studios, Hollywood CA
Genre
Label Virgin Records
Writer(s) David Bowie
Producer(s)
David Bowie singles chronology
"Rebel Never Gets Old"
2004		 "Golden Years
David Bowie vs KCRW"
2011		 "Where Are We Now?"
2013

An updated single of "Golden Years" was released in 2011 to coincide with the re-release of Station to Station. Four new remixes were provided by DJs from radio station KCRW in California.[7]

Track listing

  1. "Golden Years (Single Version)" – 3:27
  2. "Golden Years (Anthony Valdez KCRW Remix)" – 4:22
  3. "Golden Years (Eric J. Lawrence KCRW Remix)" – 3:11
  4. "Golden Years (Chris Douridas KCRW Remix)" – 4:25
  5. "Golden Years (Jeremy Sole KCRW Remix)" – 4:37
"Golden Years"
Single by Loose Ends
from the album So Where Are You?
B-side "Let's Rock"
Released July 1985 (UK)
Format 7", 12"
Recorded 1985
Genre R&B
Length 3:48
Label Virgin Records
Writer(s) David Bowie
Producer(s) Nick Martinelli
Loose Ends singles chronology
"Magic Touch"
(1985)		 "Golden Years"
(1985)		 "Stay A Little While, Child"
(1986)
So Where Are You? track listing
"So Where Are You?"
(4)		 "Golden Years"
(5)		 "Hangin' On A String [Contemplating]"
(6)

Loose Ends version

"Golden Years" is the sixth single by English R&B band Loose Ends from their second studio album, So Where Are You?, and was released in July 1985 by Virgin Records. The single is a cover of the David Bowie song. The 7in. Version is slightly different from the Album Version: it contains more vocals from Jane Eugene, and vocal loops of the word 'run' during the instrumental break, among other changes. The video featured the band performing in a derelict warehouse, intercut with scenes of the band playing crooks stealing a case of gold bars, which is torn open and the bars cascade down a staircase. Although the video was used to promote the single in the UK on ITV's 'TV-am' and Channel 4's 'Soul Train', and the group performed the song on BBC's 'Wogan', the single only reached No. 59.

Track listing

7" Single: VS795

  1. "Golden Years" 3.48
  2. "Let's Rock" 3.51 - listed as 4.57 but actually fades out at 3.51

12" Single: VS795-12

  1. "Golden Years" (Remix) 5.30
  2. "Let's Rock" 4.57

Cover versions

Notes

  1. 1 2 David Buckley (1999). Strange Fascination – David Bowie: The Definitive Story: pp.258–280
  2. 1 2 3 Nicholas Pegg (2000). The Complete David Bowie: pp.82–83
  3. 1 2 Christopher Sandford (1998). Bowie: Loving the Alien: p.146
  4. ↑ Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Bowie: An Illustrated Record: pp.75–80
  5. ↑ http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.4101a&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.4101a.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.4101a
  6. ↑ carterburwell.com
  7. ↑ KCRW.com

References

External links

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