Sandwiched between David Bowie’s infamous glam-rock years and his more avant-garde Berlin trilogy of albums later in the 70s, we find the iconic frontman’s curious “blue-eyed soul” era. Perhaps more accurately described as “plastic soul” by the man himself, it saw Bowie exploring his love of classic R&B music and putting his own unique spin on the genre, which received somewhat mixed reviews at the time.
Indeed, it might be a modest understatement to say that his 1975 album Young Americans was a departure for him, but it nonetheless yielded some positively infectious results at times, most notably on the wickedly slick funk-rock classic “Fame.” Check out this (somewhat awkward) live performance of the track on Soul Train and see for yourself. Bowie later admitted he was a bit nervous to perform on the hit show and claimed he was a bit “drunk” during the performance, but whatever the case, judging from the crowd’s reaction, they were nonetheless 100% vibing. Dig it:
