Monday 3/15/21 12am ET: Feature LP: David Bowie – Young Americans (1975)

Young Americans is the ninth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on March 7, 1975 by RCA Records. The album marked a departure from the glam rock style of Bowie’s previous albums, showcasing his interest in soul and R&B. Commentators have described the record as blue-eyed soul, while Bowie himself labelled the album’s sound “plastic soul”. Initial recording sessions took place following the first leg of his Diamond Dogs Tour in August 1974 at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia with producer Tony Visconti and a variety of musicians, including guitarist Carlos Alomar, who would become one of Bowie’s most frequent collaborators, and then-unknown singer Luther Vandross. After the initial sessions, the tour continued, with the setlist and design changed due to the influence of the new material recorded; this portion of the tour has been labeled the “Soul tour”.

At the end of the tour, sessions continued at the Record Plant in New York City. After becoming friends with former Beatle John Lennon, the two collaborated on a session in January 1975 at Electric Lady Studios, with Harry Maslin producing. With Alomar, they recorded a cover of Lennon’s Beatles song “Across the Universe” and “Fame”. The session also marked drummer Dennis Davis’s first appearance on a Bowie record. Throughout the sessions, many outtakes were recorded and the record went through numerous working titles. The cover artwork is a back-lit photograph of Bowie taken by Eric Stephen Jacobs.

Upon its release, Young Americans was very successful in the US, reaching the top 10 on the Billboard 200, with the single “Fame” becoming Bowie’s first No. 1 hit. However, it received mixed reviews from music critics and continues to receive mixed reviews. Bowie himself had mixed feelings about the album throughout his lifetime. Nevertheless, Bowie biographers have considered it one of his most influential records, mainly noting him as among the first white musicians of the era to overtly engage with black musical styles. The album has since been reissued multiple times and was remastered in 2016 as part of the Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976) box set.

1. “Young Americans” 5:11
2. “Win” 4:44
3. “Fascination” 5:45
4. “Right” 4:15

1. “Somebody Up There Likes Me” 6:36
2. “Across the Universe” 4:29
3. “Can You Hear Me?” 5:03
4. “Fame” 4:16

David Bowie – vocals, guitar, keyboards
Carlos Alomar – guitars
Mike Garson – piano
David Sanborn – saxophone
Willie Weeks – bass guitar (all tracks except “Across the Universe” and “Fame”)
Andy Newmark – drums (all tracks except “Across the Universe” and “Fame”)
Earl Slick – guitars

Larry Washington – conga
Ava Cherry – backing vocals
Robin Clark – backing vocals
Luther Vandross – backing vocals, vocal arrangements
Pablo Rosario – percussion (“Across the Universe” and “Fame”)
John Lennon – vocals, guitar, backing vocals (“Across the Universe” and “Fame”)
Emir Ksasan – bass guitar (“Across the Universe” and “Fame”)
Dennis Davis – drums (“Across the Universe” and “Fame”)
Ralph MacDonald – percussion (“Across the Universe” and “Fame”)
Jean Fineberg – backing vocals (“Across the Universe” and “Fame”)
Jean Millington – backing vocals (“Across the Universe” and “Fame”)

 

Friday 1/8/2021 12pm ET: Artist Countdown: David Bowie Top 50 Hits

David Robert Jones (January 8, 1947 – January 10, 2016), known professionally as David Bowie was an English singer-songwriter and actor. He was a leading figure in the music industry and is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. He was acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, with his music and stagecraft having a significant impact on popular music. During his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at over 100 million records worldwide, made him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. In the UK, he was awarded ten platinum album certifications, eleven gold and eight silver, and released eleven number-one albums. In the US, he received five platinum and nine gold certifications. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Rolling Stone placed him among its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and named him the “Greatest Rock Star Ever” following his death in 2016.

Bowie first caught the eye and ear of the public in July 1969, when his song “Space Oddity” reached the top five of the UK Singles Chart. After a three-year period of experimentation he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with the flamboyant, androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust, spearheaded by the hit single “Starman” and the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Bowie’s impact at that time, as described by biographer David Buckley, “challenged the core belief of the rock music of its day” and “created perhaps the biggest cult in popular culture.” The relatively short-lived Ziggy persona proved merely one facet of a career marked by continual reinvention, musical innovation and striking visual presentation.

In 1975, Bowie achieved his first major American crossover success with the number-one single “Fame” and the hit album Young Americans, which the singer characterised as “plastic soul”. The sound constituted a radical shift in style that initially alienated many of his UK devotees. He then confounded the expectations of both his record label and his American audiences by recording the minimalist album Low (1977)—the first of three collaborations with Brian Eno over the next two years. These so-called “Berlin Trilogy” albums all reached the UK top five and received lasting critical praise. After uneven commercial success in the late 1970s, Bowie had UK number ones with the 1980 single “Ashes to Ashes”, its parent album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), and “Under Pressure”, a 1981 collaboration with Queen. He then reached a new commercial peak in 1983 with Let’s Dance, which yielded several hit singles. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Bowie continued to experiment with musical styles, including blue-eyed soul, industrial, adult contemporary, and jungle. He has not toured since the 2003–04 Reality Tour and has not performed live since 2006. Bowie’s latest studio album The Next Day was released in March 2013.

Buckley says of Bowie: “His influence has been unique in popular culture—he has permeated and altered more lives than any comparable figure.” In the BBC’s 2002 poll of the 100 Greatest Britons, Bowie was placed at number 29. Throughout his career, he has sold an estimated 140 million albums. In the UK, he has been awarded nine Platinum album certifications, 11 Gold and eight Silver, and in the US, five Platinum and seven Gold certifications. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him 39th on their list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”, and 23rd on their list of the best singers of all time. 

1	Let’s Dance
2	China Girl
3	This Is Not America (with Pat Metheny Group)
4	Blue Jean
5	Absolute Beginners
6	Under Pressure (with Queen)
7	Dancing in the Street (with Mick Jagger)
8	Day-In Day-Out
9	Ashes to Ashes
10	Jump They Say
11	Modern Love
12	Underground
13	Cat People (Putting Out Fire)
14	Rebel Rebel
15	Fashion
16	Where Are We Now?
17	Hallo Spaceboy
18	Tonight(with Tina Turner)
19	Space Oddity
20	Golden Years
21	Sound and Vision
22	The Jean Genie
23	Fame ’90
24	Time Will Crawl
25	Fame
26	Heroes
27	Loving the Alien
28	Never Let Me Down
29	Real Cool World
30	The Hearts Filthy Lesson
31	Thursday’s Child
32	Knock on Wood
33	Boys Keep Swinging
34	Sorrow
35	Life on Mars?
36	Young Americans
37	Starman
38	Slow Burn
39	TVC 15
40	Drive-In Saturday
41	The Laughing Gnome
42	John, I’m Only Dancing
43	Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide
44	Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
45	Diamond Dogs
46	The Stars (Are Out Tonight)
47	I’m Afraid of Americans
48	Suffragette City
49	Dead Man Walking
50	Changes

Monday 4pm ET: Feature Artist – David Bowie

David Robert Jones (January 8, 1947 – January 10, 2016), known professionally as David Bowie was an English singer-songwriter and actor. He was a leading figure in the music industry and is considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, with his music and stagecraft having a significant impact on popular music. During his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at 140 million albums worldwide, made him one of the world’s best-selling music artists. In the UK, he was awarded ten platinum album certifications, eleven gold and eight silver, and released eleven number-one albums. In the US, he received five platinum and nine gold certifications. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

Born in Brixton, South London, Bowie developed an interest in music as a child, eventually studying art, music and design before embarking on a professional career as a musician in 1963. “Space Oddity” became his first top-five entry on the UK Singles Chart after its release in July 1969. After a period of experimentation, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with his flamboyant and androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust. The character was spearheaded by the success of his single “Starman” and album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, which won him widespread popularity. In 1975, Bowie’s style shifted radically towards a sound he characterised as “plastic soul”, initially alienating many of his UK devotees but garnering him his first major US crossover success with the number-one single “Fame” and the album Young Americans. In 1976, Bowie starred in the cult film The Man Who Fell to Earth, directed by Nicolas Roeg, and released Station to Station. The following year, he further confounded musical expectations with the electronic-inflected album Low (1977), the first of three collaborations with Brian Eno that came to be known as the “Berlin Trilogy”. “Heroes” (1977) and Lodger (1979) followed; each album reached the UK top five and received lasting critical praise.

After uneven commercial success in the late 1970s, Bowie had UK number ones with the 1980 single “Ashes to Ashes”, its parent album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), and “Under Pressure”, a 1981 collaboration with Queen. He reached his commercial peak in 1983 with Let’s Dance; the album’s title track topped both UK and US charts. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Bowie continued to experiment with musical styles, including industrial and jungle. He also continued acting; his roles included Major Jack Celliers in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), Jareth the Goblin King in Labyrinth (1986), Pontius Pilate in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and Nikola Tesla in The Prestige (2006), among other film and television appearances and cameos. He stopped touring after 2004 and his last live performance was at a charity event in 2006. In 2013, Bowie returned from a decade-long recording hiatus with The Next Day. He remained musically active until he died of liver cancer at his home in New York City, two days after his 69th birthday and the release of his final album, Blackstar (2016).

Tuesday 4pm: Sounds of The 80s

This week on The Sounds of The 80s we feature tunes from:  Leslie Pearl, Whitesnake, Chicago, Pretenders, David Bowie, Pebbles, Wham!, Erasure, Billy Idol, Alabama, John Mellencamp and more . . . 

Wednesday 4pm: Sounds of The 70’s

This week on the Sounds of The 70s:  Yes, Wet Willie, Tony Orlando & Dawn, John Mellencamp, Elton John, Rattles, Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Abba, Queen, Chicago, Billy Joel, Helen Reddy, Jackson Browne and more . .  

Wednesday 4pm: Sounds of The 70s

This week on the Sounds of The 70s we feature:  James Taylor, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Grass Roots, Elton John, Bill Withers, Steely Dan, Cliff Richard, Narvel Felts, Gary Glitter, David Bowie, Sylvia, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers and more . . . 

Wednesday 1pm: Sounds Of The 70’s

This we an extended edition of The Sounds of The 70’s.  This week music from – Minnie Ripperton, David Bowie, Supertramp, Addrisi Brothers, Rod Stewart, Hues Corporation, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Chicago and more . . .

Saturday 9pm: In Memoriam 2016

We feature music from some of those we lost in 2016, featuring music from: David Bowie, Glenn Frey, Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship for Paul Kantner, Earth, Wind and Fire for Maurice White, Emerson Lake and Palmer for Gregg Lake and Keith Emerson, Merle Haggard, Prince, Billy Paul, Juan Gabriel, Bobby Vee, Leonard Cohen, Leon Russell and George Michael.

Vinyl Resting Place with Willie B 10am ET

This week on the Vinyl Resting Place, Classic Rock of the 70s featuring: Loggins & Messina, Styx, David Bowie, Van Halen, Pat Benatar, Tim Curry, Ian Hunter, Meat Loaf, Ace Frehley, Bruce Springsteen, Eagles, Toto, Elton John, Robert Palmer, AC/DC and many more. Join your host Mr. Willie B 10am ET and also check out the RadioMax on-demand area for more VRP progams!