Fame (1975) 3/5/20

I have to admit that for a long time, I was completely unaware of John Lennon's involvement with today's "Great Song of the '70s!"

In 1975, David Bowie was taking a break from recording his "Young Americans" album...while in the process of firing his manager. He found himself in New York City, where he met Lennon.

They hit it off quite nicely, and decided to do a little in-studio jamming where Puerto Rican guitarist Carlos Alomar was working on some guitar riffs.

Lennon started to sing "AIM" over one of the riffs, and that started Bowie's creative juices flowing. He changed it to "Fame," and wrote a set of angry lyrics about his management problems, and the ugly underbelly of fame itself.

When the tapes began to roll, Bowie unleashed his anger as he sang, while Carlos played the riff, and Lennon repeatedly sang "Fame" in a falsetto voice.

The end result: The final cut on the "Young Americans" album, and a single that went to #1 in the US and Canada. It was also a Top 20 smash in 5 other countries.

As time went by, Bowie claimed it was his least favorite song on the album...due to his frame of mind while recording it. He also claimed he was completely surprised the song was a hit, saying. "I wouldn't know how to pick a single if it hit me in the face."

Luckily, the world figured it out for him. From 1975:

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