Released on 23 January 1976 "Station To Station" was the 10th., studio album by the English musician David Bowie. Regarded as one of his most significant works, the album was the vehicle for Bowie's performance persona the Thin White Duke. Co-produced by Bowie and Harry Maslin, Station to Station was mainly recorded at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, California, in late 1975, after Bowie completed shooting the film The Man Who Fell to Earth; the cover art featured a still from the film. During the sessions, Bowie was suffering from various drug addictions, most prominently cocaine, and subsequently stated that he recalled almost nothing of the production. The album spawned three singles "Golden Years", "TVC 15" & "Stay"
The commercial success of his previous release, Young Americans, allowed Bowie greater freedom when he began recording his next album. The sessions established the lineup of guitarist Carlos Alomar, bassist George Murray and drummer Dennis Davis that Bowie would use for the rest of the decade, and also featured contributions by guitarist Earl Slick and pianist Roy Bittan. Musically, Station to Station was a transitional album for Bowie, developing the funk and soul of Young Americans while presenting a new direction influenced by the German music genre of krautrock, particularly bands such as Neu! and Kraftwerk. The lyrics reflected Bowie's preoccupations with Friedrich Nietzsche, Aleister Crowley, mythology and religion.
David Bowie developed a cocaine addiction in the summer of 1974, following the release of the album Diamond Dogs. The Alan Yentob documentary Cracked Actor depicted Bowie on the Diamond Dogs Tour in September 1974 and showcased his mental state. Bowie said in a 1987 interview: "I was so blocked ... so stoned ...
It's quite a casualty case, isn't it. I'm amazed I came out of that
period, honest. When I see that now I cannot believe I survived it. I
was so close to really throwing myself away physically, completely." After seeing an advanced screening of the film in early 1975, director Nicolas Roeg contacted Bowie to discuss a role in his upcoming adaptation of Walter Tevis's 1963 novel The Man Who Fell to Earth. Bowie accepted the role, and moved from New York to Los Angeles, California, where shooting was to take place.
On his arrival in L.A., Bowie stayed with Glenn Hughes, the bassist for the English rock band Deep Purple. He also visited his old friend, singer Iggy Pop, in rehab. The two would attempt to record some material in May 1975, but the sessions were unproductive due to Pop's heroin addiction. Hughes told the biographer Marc Spitz that Bowie lived in an increasingly paranoid state, recalling he refused to use elevators because of his fear of heights.
Bowie's heavy drug use continued during filming. He recalled in 1993:
"My one snapshot of that film is not having to act...Just being me as I
was perfectly adequate for the role. I wasn't of this earth at that
particular time." When shooting took place in New Mexico, he was reported to be in a much healthier state compared to his time in Los Angeles. During his days off from filming, he began writing a collection of short stories called The Return of the Thin White Duke, which he described as "partly autobiographical, mostly fiction, with a
deal of magic in it;" he also recalled taking "400 books" for the shoot. He began writing songs throughout filming, including two—"TVC 15" and "Word on a Wing"—that would end up on his next album. On top of this, he was in line to compose the film's soundtrack.
In the film, Bowie portrays the lead role of Thomas Jerome
Newton, an alien who travels to Earth in search of materials for his
dying planet, eventually becoming corrupted by humans. Roeg warned the
star that the part of Newton would likely remain with him for some time
after the filming. With Roeg's agreement, Bowie developed his own look
for the film, and this carried through to his public image over the next
twelve months, as did Newton's air of fragility and aloofness.
Station to Station was recorded primarily at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles. The studio opened in January 1975 and quickly became one of the city's busiest studios, attracting artists such as Rod Stewart and Frank Sinatra. Cherokee was more advanced than Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios, where Bowie had recorded Young Americans (1975); it featured five studio rooms, 24-track mixing consoles,
24-hour session times, more space and a lounge bar. 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.
Maslin, who co-produced "Fame" and "Across the Universe" on Young Americans, was brought back by Bowie to produce. Also returning from the Young Americans sessions were guitarists Carlos Alomar and Earl Slick, drummer Dennis Davis and Bowie's old friend Geoff MacCormick (now known as Warren Peace). Bassist George Murray, a player from Weldon Irvine's group, was recruited to play bass. Bowie would use the lineup of Alomar, Murray and Davis for the rest of the decade. In mid-October, pianist Roy Bittan, a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band,
joined the ensemble at the suggestion of Slick. Bittan recalled: "David
knew we were coming to town and he wanted a keyboard player. It must
have only been about three days. It's one of my favourite projects I've
ever worked on."
"Golden Years", which Bowie began writing before he began filming The Man Who Fell to Earth,
was completed in ten days and issued as a single while the album was
still being finished. Recording for "TVC 15" began shortly after the
completion of "Golden Years".
A cover of "Wild Is the Wind", written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington and first performed by Johnny Mathis in the 1957 film of the same name, was recorded during the sessions. Bowie was inspired to record it after he met singer Nina Simone,
who had recorded her own cover in 1966. A guest during the sessions was Frank Sinatra, who praised Bowie's
recording of "Wild Is the Wind". His feedback prompted Bowie to include
it as the album's closing track. While he had begun writing "Word on a Wing" during filming, both "Stay" and the title track
were written and recorded entirely in the studio. The three tracks were
composed throughout October and November, rather than in one quick
rush.
For previous albums, Bowie had maintained a relatively
straightforward recording process. He arrived at the studio with tracks
that were fully written and rehearsed, recorded at a brisk pace, and the
sessions concluded quickly. He then gave the ideas to Alomar, who worked on the arrangements with
Murray and Davis. After the backing tracks came saxophone, keyboard and
lead guitar overdubs, followed by vocal tracks, ending with production
effects. Bowie would use this new process for the rest of the decade. Alomar recalled, "It was one of the most glorious albums that I've ever done ... We experimented so much on it". Maslin added, "I loved those sessions because we were totally open and experimental in our approach."Slick contributed numerous guitar effects throughout the sessions.
According to Bowie, "I got some quite extraordinary things out of Slick.
I think it captured his imagination to make noises on guitar, and textures, rather than playing the right notes." Both Slick and Maslin praised Bowie's "on-the-spot approach". Slick
found no rehearsals advantageous, resulting in a cleaner performance.
Because of his heavy cocaine use, Bowie recalled remembering
"only flashes" of the album's production, not even the studio, later
admitting, "I know it was in LA because I've read it was". Buckley says that Bowie's only memory of the sessions was "standing with Earl Slick in the studio and asking him to play a Chuck Berry
riff in the same key throughout the opening of 'Station to Station'."
The singer was not alone in his use of cocaine during the sessions;
Alomar said, "if there's a line of coke which is going to keep you awake
till 8 a.m. so that you can do your guitar part, you do the line of
coke ... the coke use is driven by the inspiration".
Station to Station is often cited as a transitional album in Bowie's career. Developing the funk, disco and soul sound of Young Americans, the album also reflects the influences of electronic and the German music genre of krautrock, particularly by bands such as Neu! and Kraftwerk. Bowie had exhibited avant-garde elements on the 1973 tracks "Aladdin Sane (1913–1938–197?)" and "Time". According to Robert Christgau, Bowie's experimentation with African-American music styles had matured by the time he recorded Station to Station, as the record appropriated them "in a decidedly spacy and abrasive context"; he said it added soul to the "mechanical, fragmented, rather secondhand elegance" explored on Aladdin Sane (1973).
The ten-minute title track "Station To Station" has been described as heralding "a new era of experimentalism" for Bowie. The song is split into two parts: a slow, hypnotic march, introduced by
a noise resembling a train—created by Slick on guitar using flangers and delay effects—before it abruptly changes to what Alan Light of Rolling Stone calls a "celebratory groove", which lasts for the rest of the track. The musical style of both "Golden Years" and "Stay" are built on the funk and soul of Young Americans but with a harsher, grinding edge. Bowie said the "Golden Years" was written for, and rejected by, American singer Elvis Presley, while Angie Bowie claimed it was penned for her.
"Stay" represents a merger of hard rock and blue-eyed funk. "TVC 15", the album's most upbeat track, has been compared to the music of the English rock band the Yardbirds. "Wild Is the Wind" contains funky elements in its electric guitar playing, while the rhythm section and acoustic guitar add a jazz flavour.
The title track introduces Bowie's new persona—the Thin White Duke—who became the mouthpiece for Station to Station and often during the next six months, for Bowie himself. Despite the noise of a train in the opening moments, Bowie said
the title of "Station to Station" does not refer so much to railway
stations as to the Stations of the Cross, the series of 14 images depicting Christ's path to his crucifixion, each symbolising a stopping-point for prayer. The lyrics of "Stay" have been interpreted as reflecting on "the uncertainty of sexual conquest", and as an example of "the Duke's spurious romanticism". Religious themes, as well as belief in spirituality, are prevalent on "Station to Station", "Word on a Wing", "Golden Years" and "TVC 15"; for Carr and Murray religion, like love, was simply another way for the Duke to "test his numbness". Bowie has claimed that on "Word on a Wing", at least, "the passion is genuine". There is a comedic flavour in "TVC 15", which multiple commentators describe as a "surreal comedy". It concerns a character's girlfriend being eaten by a television.
The album eceived positive reviews from music critics on its release. Regarded and recognised it as one of his finest albums up to that point. It was the first album he'd released where it felt he had
total control. The album was a milestone in Bowie's transition to his late 1970s Berlin Trilogy. Even Bowie considered Station to Station
a "great, damn good" album, but "extremely dark". Because of his
disconnected state during its recording, he heard it as "a piece of work
by an entirely different person". The album has been described as "enormously influential on post-punk"
Station To Station Track List:
1. Station To Station
2. Golden Years
3. Word On A Wing
4. TVC 15
5. Stay
6. Wild Is The Wind
