Young Americans (Reissue)

Description

‘Young Americans’ was the ninth studio album by David Bowie, first released in 1975. For the record, which showed off his 1970s “obsession” with soul music, Bowie let go of the influences he had drawn from in the past, replacing them with sounds from “local dance halls,” which, at the time, were blaring with “lush strings, sliding hi-hat whispers, and swanky R&B rhythms of Philadelphia Soul.”

Bowie is quoted describing the album as “the squashed remains of ethnic music as it survives in the age of Muzak rock, written and sung by a white limey”.

Because of the strong influence of black music on the album, Bowie used the term “plastic soul” (originally coined by an unknown black musician in the 1960s) to describe the sound of ‘Young Americans.’

Although Bowie was an English musician bringing up touchy American issues, the album was still very successful in the US; the album itself reached the top ten in that country, with the song “Fame” hitting the No. 1 spot the same year the album was released.