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"Fame"
Single by David Bowie
from the album Young Americans
B-side	"Right"
Released	25 July 1975 (1975-07-25)
Format	7"
Recorded	Electric Lady Studios, New York City January 1975
Genre	Funk[1] psychedelic funk
Length	3:30 (Single Edit) 4:12 (Album Version)
Label	RCA
Songwriter(s)	David Bowie Carlos Alomar John Lennon
Producer(s)	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 singles chronology
"Prisoner of Love" (1989) "Fame '90" (1990) "You Belong in Rock n' Roll" (1991)
Music video
"Fame '90" on YouTube

"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 Canadian Singles Chart as well as the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The song was one of the more successful singles of the year, ranking at number 7 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100. It was less successful in Europe, reaching number 17 in the UK Singles Chart.

The song is one of four of Bowie's songs to be included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.^[2]

Song development

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.^[3]

Lennon's voice is heard interjecting the falsetto "Fame" throughout the song.

Bowie would later describe "Fame" 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 recalled the song as his "least favourite track on the album"^[4] and 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."^[5]

Chart performance

"Fame" became Bowie's biggest hit to that point in the US. 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 17 in the UK Singles Chart.

Bowie would later claim that he had "absolutely no idea" that the song would do so well as a single, saying "I wouldn't know how to pick a single if it hit me in the face."^[6]

1975 track listing

1. "Fame" (Bowie, Alomar, Lennon) – 3:30


2. "Right" (Bowie) – 4:13

• The alternate version of the single had "Golden Years" as the B-side.


• The Italian version of the single had "Space Oddity" as the B-side.

Charts and certifications

1975 musicians

"Fame"

• 
  David Bowie – lead vocals, guitar, production


• 
  John Lennon – backing vocals, guitar, tape loops


• 
  Carlos Alomar – guitar


• Emir Ksasan – bass


• 
  Dennis Davis – drums

"Right"

• 
  David Bowie – vocals, guitar


• 
  Carlos Alomar – guitar


• 
  Mike Garson – piano


• 
  Willie Weeks – bass


• 
  Andy Newmark – drums


• 
  David Sanborn – saxophone
  


• 
  Larry Washington – conga
  


• 
  Luther Vandross, Robin Clark, Ava Cherry, Diane Sumler, Anthony Hinton– backing vocals

Live versions

• A live performance recorded on 23 March 1976 was included on Live Nassau Coliseum '76, which was released as part of the 2010 reissues of the Station to Station album, on the 2016 collection Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976), and as a stand–alone album in 2017.


• Performances from the 1978 "Heroes" tour have been released on Stage (1978) and Welcome to the Blackout (2018).


• A live performance filmed on 12 September 1983 is included in the concert DVD Serious Moonlight.


• Live versions recorded during Bowie's 1987 Glass Spider Tour (in Sydney, Australia and Montreal, Canada) were released as part of the Glass Spider concert DVD/CD package.


• Bowie's 25 June 2000 performance of the song at the Glastonbury Festival was released in 2018 on Glastonbury 2000.


• An updated version recorded live by Bowie on 27 June 2000 was released on BBC Radio Theatre, London, June 27, 2000, a bonus disc accompanying the first release of Bowie at the Beeb in 2000.


• A November 2003 live performance from the A Reality Tour is featured on the A Reality Tour DVD, released in 2004, as well as the A Reality Tour album, released in 2010.

Other releases

• It was released as the B-side of the US release of "Beauty and the Beast" in January 1978.


• It appears on several compilations in its album version:
  
  • 
    ChangesOneBowie (1976)
  
  
  • 
    Fame and Fashion (1984)
  
  
  • 
    Bowie: The Singles 1969–1993 (1993)
  
  
  • 
    The Best of David Bowie 1974/1979 (1998)
  
  
  • 
    Best of Bowie (2002)
  
  
  • 
    The Platinum Collection (2006)
  
  
  • 
    Nothing Has Changed (2014)
  
  
  • 
    Bowie Legacy (2016)
  
  


• The 7" single version appeared on The Best of Bowie (1980) as well as on Have a Nice Decade: The 70s Pop Culture Box (1998). Re:Call 2, part of the Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976) compilation released in 2016, included an attempted reconstruction of the single edit, which has been criticized as inaccurate.^[20]

In popular culture

• Bowie performed the song in a 1975 episode of Soul Train, one of the few white artists to appear on the long-running black music television series.


• In 1990, a new mix was used on the soundtrack for the movie Pretty Woman (see below).


• It was used in the movie A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries by James Ivory and Ismail Merchant.


• It was used in the movie Copycat during a murder scene in a bar.


• It was released as a picture disc in the RCA Life Time picture disc set.


• It was featured in the Baseball episode The Tenth Inning by Ken Burns.


• It was featured in the movie Rush.^[21]


• It was used in the American Horror Story: Freak Show episode "Pink Cupcakes," along with a cover of "Life on Mars?" by Jessica Lange. It is actually an anachronism, since the plot is set in 1952.


• It appeared in the movie Foxcatcher in a post-match celebration.^[22]


• It was featured in the movie The House That Jack Built (2018 film) .^[23]


• Jeff Daniels dances to it in a scene in Something Wild (1986 film).^[24]

Cover versions

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: covers may not meet WP:SONGCOVER Please help improve this section if you can. (November 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

• James Brown – "Hot (I Need to Be Loved, Loved, Loved)" 7" single (not a cover, strictly speaking, but used identical guitar riffs)


• 
  Dennis Coffey – "Fame" / Vinyl-LP: "Finger Lickin Good" (1975/USA/Westbound)


• 
  Duran Duran – 12" single for "Careless Memories"; included on Starman: Rare and Exclusive Versions of 18 Classic David Bowie Songs, CD premium from the March 2003 issue of Uncut magazine


• 
  Eurythmics – Previously unreleased bonus track on 2005 remaster of the album Touch (1983)


• 
  The Feelies – Something Wild video


• 
  God Lives Underwater – Up Off The Floor (2004)


• 
  Nina Hagen – The chorus in Nina Hagen's song "Heiss" is the vocal part and line "Is it any wonder" from "Fame"


• 
  Infectious Grooves – Sarsippius' Ark (1993)


• 
  Jay Z – "The Takeover" from the album The Blueprint interpolates the "Fame!" vocal


• 
  Tommy Lee – Featured as "Fame 02" on the album Never a Dull Moment
  


• 
  Love and Money – 12" single


• 
  Dave Matthews Band – Live recording


• 
  Umphreys McGee – Encore 30 December 2005


• 
  George Michael – Performed live at his 1991 Cover to Cover tour.


• 
  Rie Miyazawa – Japanese lyrics version titled "Game" (1990, 3" CD single)


• 
  Pearl Jam – Live recording


• RC – Dr. Dre Presents...The Aftermath (1996)


• 
  Rikki Rockett – Glitter 4 Your Soul (2003)


• 
  Stardust – Live performance


• 
  Scott Weiland – Features Paul Oakenfold on Weiland's second solo album "Happy" in Galoshes, released in 2008


• 
  The Smashing Pumpkins – Live on 2014 tour, including one performance featuring Ninja of Die Antwoord^[25]

"Fame '90"
Single by David Bowie
from the album Changesbowie
Released	26 March 1990 (1990-03-26)
Format	Single
Length	3:36 (Gass Mix)
Label	EMI Rykodisc
Songwriter(s)	David Bowie Carlos Alomar John Lennon
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, the release of the Changesbowie compilation, and the Pretty Woman soundtrack. Bowie wanted to remix a successful American single for the tour and album release; 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."^[5] The "Gass Mix" was subsequently included on the Pretty Woman soundtrack.

Track listing

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

US CD single (Rykodisc RCD5 1018)

1. "Fame '90" (with Queen Latifah) – 4:10


2. "Fame '90" (House Mix) – 5:58


3. "Fame '90" (Gass Mix) – 3:38


4. "Fame '90" (Hip Hop Mix) – 5:58


5. "Fame '90" (Absolutely Nothing Premeditated/Epic Mix) – 14:25

West Germany maxi CD single (EMI CDP 560-20-3805-2)

1. "Fame '90" (House Mix) – 5:58


2. "Fame '90" (Hip Hop Mix) – 5:58


3. "Fame '90" (Gass Mix) – 3:38


4. "Fame '90" (Queen Latifah's Rap Version) – 3:10

"Exclusive Changes pack" 7" vinyl single (FAMES 90)

1. "Fame '90" (Gass Mix) – 3:38


2. "Fame '90" (Queen Latifah's Rap Version) – 3:10

Limited edition 7" vinyl picture disc (FAME PD 90)

1. "Fame '90" (Gass Mix) – 3:38


2. "Fame '90" (Bonus Beat Mix) – 4:45

• The single was released in a variety of formats: as a 7" single, a cassette single, a 12" single, CD singles and two limited edition releases: a picture disc (featuring the unique "Bonus Beat mix") and a 7" envelope pack that included 3 prints reflecting different phases in Bowie's career and a unique mix of Queen Latifah's mix^[26]

Video

Film director Gus Van Sant directed the promotional video for this version, which featured clips from many of Bowie’s previous videos.^[26] 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).^[27] The US version of the video replaces some of Bowie's music videos for scenes from the movie Pretty Woman.

David Bowie's "Fame" was used as the soundtrack of an animated music video of the same title, directed by Richard Jefferies and Mark Kirkland while students at California Institute of the Arts. The film, released in 1975, went on to win the Student Academy Award for animation and aired on NBC's The Midnight Special^[28].

Other releases

• "Fame '90" also appeared on:
  
  • 
    Changesbowie (1990)
  
  
  • 
    Best of Bowie (2002) (Germany/Switzerland/Austria and Australia versions; Colombia/Ecuador/Peru/Venezuela contains both versions)
  
  

Chart positions

References

Bibliography

• 
  Pegg, Nicholas (2000). The Complete David Bowie. Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. ISBN 1-903111-14-5.
  

External links

• 
  Fame at AllMusic
  


• 
  "Fame" at MusicBrainz (information and list of recordings)


• 
  Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics