Fame

Fame was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York in January 1975 and co-produced by Harry Maslin, since Visconti was not at the session. It grew from a guitar riff Carlos Alomar had written for a cover of the Flares' Footstompin'. In the usual account John Lennon sang the word aim over the riff, and Bowie turned it into Fame. Lennon's falsetto is heard interjecting the title throughout. Bowie called the song nasty and angry and said it was written with a degree of malice at his management company MainMan and his former manager Tony Defries.

Released as a single in June 1975 with Right on the B-side, it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the week of 20 September, replacing Rhinestone Cowboy by Glen Campbell, and it also topped the Canadian chart. It finished the year at number eight on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100. In the UK it reached only number 17. Bowie said he had absolutely no idea the song would do so well.

He remixed it as Fame '90 for the Sound+Vision Tour. An animated video made in 1975 by Richard Jefferies and Mark Kirkland won a Student Academy Award.