Sound and Vision

Bowie wrote it and he and Tony Visconti produced, with Laurent Thibault engineering at Herouville and Eduard Meyer at Hansa. Backing tracks were cut at the Chateau d'Herouville in September 1976 and vocals and overdubs at Hansa Studios in West Berlin in October and November. Bowie sang, played baritone sax and keyboards, with Ricky Gardiner on lead guitar, Carlos Alomar on rhythm guitar, George Murray on bass, Roy Young on piano and Dennis Davis on drums, and Brian Eno on piano and backing vocals. Bowie called it his ultimate retreat song, and said he wanted to be put in a little cold room.

The single, RCA PB 0905 with "A New Career in a New Town" on the B-side, is dated February 11, 1977 in Wikipedia's infobox, though its lead says January. It reached 3 in the UK, 2 in the Netherlands, 3 in Flanders, 6 in West Germany, 7 in New Zealand and 69 on the US Hot 100. Wikipedia says he performed it once on Isolar II at Earl's Court on July 1, 1978, then on later tours including Sound+Vision in 1990. Covers include Franz Ferdinand, The Sea and Cake, Anna Calvi and Beck, who used a 157-piece orchestra. It is heard in the TV serial The Buddha of Suburbia (1993) and the musical Lazarus. The remastering is from A New Career in a New Town (1977 to 1982).