#52 David Bowie, 'Station to Station' (1976)

Previously #324

‘Station To Station’ was Bowie’s cocaine album, the one that introduced the persona of the Thin White Duke (as referenced in the title track). Living in Los Angeles at the time, Bowie’s rampant cocaine use saw him hallucinating about bodies falling past his window, having his semen stolen by witches, receiving secret messages from The Rolling Stones and harbouring an irrational morbid fear of Jimmy Page. Bowie surrounded himself with Egyptian artefacts and burning black candles. Around the same time, Bowie was also filming ‘The Man Who Fell To Earth. Bowie developed his own look for his character, which would form the basis for the Thin White Duke; a mad aristocrat and amoral zombie. Bowie claimed that the Duke was a nasty character, ice masquerading as fire. Bowie later claimed that he remembered nothing of the production of this record. "I know it was in LA because I've read it was," he claimed.

Preceding his Berlin Trilogy by a year, ‘Station To Station’ was a transitional body of work for Bowie. At only 6 tracks, Bowie cut the fat on this one, each track a masterpiece in its own right. ‘Golden Years’ is the most famous from the record; the lead single, a funky Disco track which serves as a bridge between his previous release, ‘Young Americans’ and this one. ‘TVC15’ was the second single, a song inspired by Iggy Pop, whom, during a drug-fuelled period at Bowie’s home, believed the TV was swallowing up his girlfriend. ‘Stay’ reminds me of Blaxploitation music that was around at the time. Could be a Curtis Mayfield or Bobby Womack song. The record ends of ‘Wild Is The Wind,’ rounding out the 6 perfect tracks. ‘Station To Station’ is hailed amongst Bowie’s best work. A diverse collection of songs that, although are all so different, connect with each other perfectly.

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