Album · Compilation
Golden Years
Golden Years is a 1983 compilation from David Bowie, released by RCA. It arrived just after Bowie had left the label after eleven years and signed with EMI, whose first fruit was the hugely successful Let's Dance. RCA, keen to ride that wave, gathered nine tracks from his back catalogue, all of which Bowie had played live on the 1983 Serious Moonlight tour. The cover used a recent photograph, which made it easy to mistake for a new record.
The collection is a curiosity as much as a best-of. "Golden Years" had appeared on Changesonebowie, while "Fashion", "Ashes to Ashes" and "Wild Is the Wind" had been on Changestwobowie. Here, though, the first two are the full album versions rather than single edits. Bowie was unhappy that it, and the follow-up Fame and Fashion, came out without his input, and neither has been reissued since the 1985 RCA CD editions. Those discs are now collectable.
Golden Years: tracklist and credits
9 tracks · 36:53Tracklist
- 1FashionDavid Bowie4:51
- 2Red SailsDavid Bowie and Brian Eno3:47
- 3Look Back in AngerDavid Bowie and Brian Eno3:08
- 4I Can’t ExplainPete Townshend2:14
- 5Ashes to AshesDavid Bowie4:29
- 6Golden YearsDavid Bowie4:00
- 7Joe the LionDavid Bowie3:08
- 8Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)David Bowie5:16
- 9Wild Is the WindDimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington6:00
- Produced by
- David Bowie, Tony Visconti, Ken Scott, Harry Maslin, Harry Maslin
- Recorded at
- Power Station at BerkleeNYC, Good Earth Studios, Mountain Studios, The Record Plant, Château d'Hérouville, Hansa Studios
- Recorded
- 1973–1980
- Mixed by
- Rod O’Brien, Tony Visconti
- Mixed at
- The Record Plant, Mountain Studios
- Engineered by
- David Bowie, Tony Visconti, Rod O’Brien, David Richards, Denis Blackeye, Colin Thurston
- Label
- RCA
- Length
- 36:53
Line-up
- Carlos Alomar · guitar
- Andy Clark · analog synthesizer, Minimoog · guest
- Dennis Davis · drums (drum set)
- Robert Fripp · guitar
- George Murray · electric bass guitar, bass
- David Bowie · background vocals, guitar, lead vocals, piano, vocals
- Adrian Belew · guitar · guest
- Brian Eno · analog synthesizer, background vocals, French horn, trumpet
- Stan Harrison · saxophone · guest
- Simon House · violin · guest
- Sean Mayes · piano · guest
- Tony Visconti · background vocals, percussion, shakers, acoustic guitar, analog synthesizer
- Roy Bittan · piano, drums (drum set)
- Chuck Hammer · guitar synthesizer · guest
- Earl Slick · guitar · guest
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More from David Bowie
Full discography →
David Bowie
1967
David Bowie
1969
The World of David Bowie
1970
The Man Who Sold the World
1970
Hunky Dory
1971
Do Anything You Say
1972
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
1972
Rebel Rebel / Queen Bitch / Sorrow / Amsterdam
1973
Images 1966–1967
1973
Aladdin Sane
1973
Pin Ups
1973
Diamond Dogs
1974
David Live
1974
Young Americans
1975
Station to Station
1976
ChangesOneBowie
1976
Low
1977
“Heroes”
1977
David Bowie Narrates Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf
1978
Stage
1978
Lodger
1979
David Bowie
1980
Scary Monsters… and Super Creeps
1980
The Best of Bowie
1980
Christiane F.: Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo
1981
ChangesTwoBowie
1981
In Bertolt Brecht’s Baal
1982
Rare
1982
Supergroups
1983
Serious Moonlight
1983
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars: The Motion Picture Soundtrack
1983
Let’s Dance
1983
Fame and Fashion (David Bowie’s All Time Greatest Hits)
1984
Love You Till Tuesday
1984
Tonight
1984
Labyrinth: From the Original Soundtrack of the Jim Henson Film
1986
Never Let Me Down
1987
Glass Spider
1988
Sound + Vision
1989
Changesbowie
1990
Early On (1964–1966)
1991
Black Tie White Noise
1993
The Singles Collection
1993
The Buddha of Suburbia
1993
Live Santa Monica ’72
1994
RarestOneBowie
1995
1.Outside: The Nathan Adler Diaries: A Hyper Cycle
1995
Earthling
1997
The Deram Anthology 1966–1968
1997
The Best of David Bowie 1969/1974
1997
The Best of David Bowie 1974/1979
1998
‘hours…’
1999
Liveandwell.com
2000
Bowie at the Beeb: The Best of the BBC Radio Sessions 68–72
2000
All Saints (Collected Instrumentals 1977–1999)
2001
Heathen
2002
Best of Bowie
2002
Reality
2003
Club Bowie: Rare and Unreleased 12″ Mixes
2003
Live EP (live at Fashion Rocks)
2005
The Collection
2005
The Platinum Collection
2005
Bowie 1965!
2006
The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987
2007
Outside / Earthling / Hours / Heathen / Reality
2007
iSELECT
2008
VH1 Storytellers
2009
Space Oddity
2009
A Reality Tour
2010
The Next Day
2013
Pin-Ups Radio Show
2013
The Next Day Extra EP
2013
Nothing has changed.
2014
Five Years 1969–1973
2015
★
2016
Who Can I Be Now? 1974–1976
2016
Lazarus
2016
Legacy
2016
No Plan
2017
Live Nassau Coliseum ’76
2017
Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles ’74)
2017
A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982)
2017
Welcome to the Blackout (live London ’78)
2018
Loving the Alien (1983–1988)
2018
Glastonbury 2000
2018
Conversation Piece
2019
Is It Any Wonder?
2020
ChangesNowBowie
2020
I’m Only Dancing (The Soul Tour 74)
2020
The Width of a Circle
2021
Toy
2021
Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001)
2021
Brilliant Adventure EP
2022
Toy E.P.
2022
Fun Mix
2022
Moonage Daydream: A Film by Brett Morgen
2022
Divine Symmetry
2022
Rock ’n’ Roll Star!
2024
Ready, Set, Go! (live, Riverside Studios ’03)
2025
I Can’t Give Everything Away (2002–2016)
2025
The Shel Talmy Recordings
2026
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The label →Hunky Dory
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Scary Monsters… and Super Creeps
David Bowie · 1980
“Heroes”
David Bowie · 1977
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date only month precision available
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 1983 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | August 1983 | |
| Wikidata | 1983 | |
| US release | 1983 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 1983 | earliest UK or European date |
4 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | CA | RCA | 078635479218 | original |
| 1983 | US | RCA | 078635479218 | original |
| 1983 | XE | RCA | 0035628479228 | original |
| 1985 | US | RCA | 07863547922 | other |
Cover art sources
fanarttv · upscaled: major: best source 1000x1000, upscaled to 1500 (x1.50)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| fanarttv ✓ | 1000×1000 | upscaled: major: best source 1000x1000, upscaled to 1500 (x1.50) |
| coverartarchive | 220×228 | rejected |