Fame

The release

‘Across The Universe’ and ‘Fame’ were late inclusions on the album, and displaced ‘Who Can I Be Now’ and ‘It’s Gonna Be Me’ from the running order.

‘Fame’ was issued as a single on 25 July 1975, four months after the album’s release, with ‘Right’ on the b-side.

The single became Bowie’s first US number one, topping the Billboard Hot 100 before Bowie had achieved a similar feat in the United Kingdom.

That was my least favourite track on the album,, even though John had contributed to it and everything, and I had no idea, as with ‘Let’s Dance’, that that was what a commercial single is. I haven’t got a clue when it comes to singles. I just don’t know about them, I don’t get it, and ‘Fame’ was really out of left-field for me.

It also topped the Canadian singles chart, but fared less well in the UK, where it peaked at number 17.

John Lennon later drew a connection from ‘Whatever Gets You Thru The Night’, his own chart-topping collaboration with Elton John, to ‘Fame’.

So he got his first number one. I felt like, that was like a karmic thing, you know. Elton gave… with me and Elton I got my first number one, so I passed it on to Bowie and he got his first and I like that track.

‘Fame’ was edited for single release from 4:21 to 3:30. This version was also included on the 1980 compilation The Best Of Bowie, and on Re:Call 2 in the 2016 box set Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976).

Another edit of ‘Fame’ was included on a 7″ picture disc released in 2015. Although billed as the “original single mix”, this was a new creation.

Promotional appearances

On 4 November 1975 Bowie mimed ‘Fame’ on the US TV show Soul Train.

Three weeks later, on 23 November, he performed the song on The Cher Show. This featured a live vocal, and seemingly an alternative mix with more prominence to John Lennon’s rhythm guitar. This version was widely repeated, effectively becoming the promo clip for the single.