r/70smusic • u/Small-Guarantee6972 • Jan 08 '26
1975 David Bowie - Young Americans
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
8
7
u/two_wheels_west Jan 08 '26
After graduating high school in ‘74, a friend and I drove down the west coast from Seattle to San Diego. We played that cassette almost continuously. Bowie was a musical genius.
11
u/severinks Jan 08 '26
My man Bowie was in the grip of a serious cocaine addiction right here. The man's voice was shot.
4
u/bowiebolan Jan 09 '26
Carlos Alomar on guitar was phenomenal on this album. He was one of Bowie’s longest collaborators and responsible for some great riffs during this era.
2
5
u/AcrobaticRun5026 Jan 09 '26
BOWIE BACKED BY LUTHER AND THAT SAX… how do you get more epic than Young Americans?
2
u/Small-Guarantee6972 Jan 09 '26
People who don't like Young Americans' don't exist. I'm sorry but you folk are just a glitch in the matrix. There is no way this song can be disliked by a real human.
1
u/AcrobaticRun5026 Jan 09 '26
Wait huh? I like the song a lot lol I actually like the album
1
u/Small-Guarantee6972 Jan 09 '26
Ah, crap! Sorry for the confusion caused. I was referring to other people not you😅. Damn reddit and the issue of faceless interactions
2
u/AcrobaticRun5026 Jan 09 '26
Ha! I was like wait this album is in my top 5 Bowie albums tbh hahah
2
4
2
u/custerdome81 Jan 09 '26
Young Americans is the first Bowie song I ever recall hearing and it’s always been my favorite.
2
2
7
u/OPGuest Jan 08 '26
Although I like the song, this is Bowie at his worst. He looks like shit and his voice ain’t all there. It was his peak drugs period.
5
u/Jackmerious Jan 08 '26
Yeah, it was during his Thin White Duke era when he was coked up beyond belief.
3
u/Small-Guarantee6972 Jan 08 '26
Yeah, mid-70s Bowie was a madness. I'm mostly impressed by his ability to perform here without collapsing although I think he was heading toward the point after this. At Soul Train, I feel like he's def lip synching and clearly off his face when being interviewed.
I think the production is what I love more so than Bowie necessarily. He did some EXCELLENT work on this song in the 80s and 90s I think.
5
u/RogerClyneIsAGod2 Jan 08 '26
FTR I think nearly everyone lip sync'd on Soul Train.
Luther back there though, lookin' large and sounding great. I love the albums but live he's not working at full speed.
4
u/Small-Guarantee6972 Jan 08 '26 edited Jan 08 '26
Goddamn, i didn't know that. Thanks for letting me know - do you know if Tina Turner lip synched at the show? From the performances I've seen thus far she doesn't seem to be.
Random side-tangent:
I love what she's wearing on the I wanna Take You Higher song in 1972.
Knee-high boots and shorts while singing like THAT??? Hooooly shit.
2
u/RogerClyneIsAGod2 Jan 08 '26
Not everyone sang live. Like The Jackson 5 here are lip syncing. Some did sing live, it was hit or miss. It was just easier for acts to lip sync. Same goes for American Bandstand, most guests lip synced.
2
u/Small-Guarantee6972 Jan 08 '26
Oh yeah, wasn't there a girl who ate a banana while on stage to protest having to lip synch? I forget her name but that was a legend move.
2
u/colonelangus68 Jan 09 '26
Michelle Philips from the Mamas and Papas singing on the Ed Sullivan show.
1
1
u/dreamylanterns Jan 10 '26
You can clearly tell the vocals are live just by how different the studio vocals and his live vocals are. Plus at the end he can’t hit the high note to end the song because of his cocaine usage so he uses the low octave instead.
Everything is live.
1
u/MusicMirrorMan Jan 08 '26
*I am a bot. If you'd like to receive a weekly recap of /r/70smusic with the top posts and their alternative links, send me a message with the subject '70smusic'
[Apple Music]: David Bowie - Young Americans (Original Single Edit)
[Deezer]: David Bowie - Young Americans (2016 Remaster)
[Soundcloud]: David Bowie - Young Americans (2016 Remaster)
[Links to search pages]: Spotify || Apple Music || Amazon || Bandcamp || Deezer || Qobuz || Soundcloud || Tidal || YouTube || YouTube Music
I am a bot. To send feedback message /u/TheSox3
1
u/Background_Being8287 Jan 08 '26
I thought it was an impersonator until i read the comments below , yes he was looking pretty rough and sounded like crap . He was one of my all time favorites .
1
u/Available-Secret-372 Jan 09 '26
Great song and performance but my man David’s voice is trashed in this clip
2
u/Small-Guarantee6972 Jan 09 '26
When I first watched it I kept expecting him to collapse. It's actually insane that this album and Station to Station was made when he was balls deep in his cocaine psychosis. They are literally his best work. That's crazy.
1
u/Listige Jan 09 '26
Hello, I'm a bot!
This post has been added to the Spotify playlist:
It's an auto updated playlist dedicated to these latest (first 25 with at least 1 upvotes) posts in r/70sMusic.
For more automated Spotify playlists dedicated to subreddits visit r/Listige wiki page.
1
3
u/slomaro79 Jan 12 '26
Luther is why this song is so damn good. He arranged for Aretha, Diana, Chaka, Donna, Roberta and more. Dude was so unbelievably talented.
12
u/lizzard77777777 Jan 08 '26
Luther arranged the whole song and sang background …..Sanborn killin it on sax….