Maps of Music

Station to Station (1976)

Where the lyrics of Station to Station take you, and where it was really made.

Bowie recalled almost nothing of making this album, which was recorded in Los Angeles while he was deep in cocaine addiction.

Key places

Cherokee Studios, Hollywood (1976)

Recording site Cherokee Studios — Most of Station to Station was recorded here in late 1975. The studio had opened in January 1975 and quickly became one of the city's busiest studios. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Record Plant, one day of sessions (1976)

Recording site Record Plant (Los Angeles) — On one day the sessions moved here because Cherokee was already booked. Bowie did not want to lose momentum. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Station to Station: tenth studio album by David Bowie
• Released 23 January 1976 through RCA Records
• Co-produced by Bowie and Harry Maslin
• Mainly recorded at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles in late 1975
• Cover art: a still from the film The Man Who Fell to Earth
• Vehicle for the Thin White Duke performance persona
• Transitional album between Young Americans and the Berlin Trilogy

Background

• Bowie was in heavy cocaine addiction during the sessions and later recalled almost nothing of the production
• Preceded by the single 'Golden Years'
• The commercial success of Young Americans gave Bowie greater freedom in the next album
• Recording began after Bowie completed shooting The Man Who Fell to Earth
• Initial working titles: The Return of the Thin White Duke and Golden Years

Recording

• Sessions established the lineup of Carlos Alomar, George Murray and Dennis Davis, with Earl Slick and Roy Bittan
• Roy Bittan joined in mid-October at Slick's suggestion
• Recording took about two months, from late September or early October to late November 1975
• Bowie arrived with song fragments and changed them as recording progressed

Cover

• Black-and-white photograph by Steve Schapiro
• Bowie, as Newton, steps into the space capsule that will return him to his home planet

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early life

• Born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947 in Brixton, London.
• Studied art, music and design; took up saxophone in 1961.
• Adopted the stage name David Bowie in 1966 to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of the Monkees.

Career

• Breakthrough with "Space Oddity" in 1969, reaching the UK top five.
• Glam rock success in 1972 with the Ziggy Stardust persona and album.
• Berlin Trilogy (Low, "Heroes", Lodger) with Brian Eno and Tony Visconti in the late 1970s.
• Greatest commercial success with Let's Dance in 1983.
• Fronted the hard rock band Tin Machine from 1988 to 1992 before resuming a solo career.
• Final studio album Blackstar was released two days before his death in 2016.

Legacy

• Sold over 100 million records worldwide.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
• Widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Positively received by music critics on its release
• Paul Trynka: critics acknowledged that Bowie was exploring new territories
• Charles Murray of NME praised the music throughout the record but criticised Bowie's vocal performance on 'Word on a Wing' and 'Wild Is the Wind'
• Lester Bangs in Creem praised the album and called it Bowie's '(first) masterpiece'
• Robert Christgau in The Village Voice called 'TVC 15' his favorite rock and roll in a very long time
• Dave Marsh was extremely negative about the album and panned the tracks as overlong and uninteresting
• Ian MacDonald in Street Life recognised it as one of Bowie's finest albums up to that point

Reappraisal

• Stephen Thomas Erlewine (AllMusic): not an easy album to warm to, but its epic structure and clinical sound were an impressive, individualistic achievement
• Rob Sheffield in the Spin Alternative Record Guide (1995) considered it Bowie's greatest album
• Sheffield later called it a 'space rock masterpiece' in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004)
• Paul Morley in the Financial Times (2010) praised it as a mesmerising album
• Alan Light called it both musically accessible and lyrically elliptical

Records

• Peaked at number three on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart and stayed on the chart for 32 weeks
• UK peak at number five, with seventeen weeks on the chart
• Peaked in the top three in Canada, France and the Netherlands
• RIAA gold certification on 26 February 1976
• Voted the 13th best album of 1976 in the Pazz & Jop poll
• Mojo (1995): number 21 among the 100 greatest albums ever made
• Rolling Stone (2003): number 323 among the 500 greatest albums; number 52 in the 2020 revised list
• NME (2013): number 53 among the 500 greatest albums of all time
• Uncut (2015): number 30 among the 200 greatest albums of all time

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• On arriving at Cherokee, Bowie sang a few notes in Studio One, played a piano chord and said 'This will do nicely.'
• Producer Harry Maslin said the studio was chosen because it was new and quiet, with less paparazzi and media attention.
• The ten-minute title track opens with a train-like noise made by Slick on guitar using flangers and delay effects.
• Frank Sinatra visited the sessions and praised Bowie's recording of 'Wild Is the Wind', which led Bowie to make it the closing track.
• On the Soul Train appearance, Bowie was visibly drunk, and he later felt ashamed of his behaviour.
• Bowie's only memory of the sessions, according to Buckley, was standing with Earl Slick and asking him to play a Chuck Berry riff in the same key throughout the opening of the title track.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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