Album
Young Americans
Young Americans is David Bowie's ninth studio album, released on 7 March 1975 through RCA. After the glam rock of his earlier records, he turned towards soul and R&B, a sound critics call blue-eyed soul and Bowie himself dubbed "plastic soul". Sessions began at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia in August 1974, after the first leg of the Diamond Dogs Tour, with Tony Visconti producing, and finished at the Record Plant in New York.
The band and backing singers are a draw in themselves: guitarist Carlos Alomar, who became one of Bowie's most frequent collaborators, plus Ava Cherry, Robin Clark and a then-unknown Luther Vandross. A January 1975 session with John Lennon produced a cover of "Across the Universe" and the co-written "Fame", Bowie's first US number one. The album broke him in America, reaching the top 10, and it pointed the way to Station to Station in 1976.
Young Americans: tracklist, credits and charts
8 tracks · 40:24Tracklist
- 1Young AmericansDavid Bowie5:11
- 2WinDavid Bowie4:45
- 3FascinationDavid Bowie and Luther Vandross5:46
- 4RightDavid Bowie4:15
- 5Somebody Up There Likes MeDavid Bowie6:34
- 6Across the UniverseJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney4:32
- 7Can You Hear MeDavid Bowie5:07
- 8FameAlomar, Bowie, Lennon4:16
- Produced by
- Tony Visconti, Harry Maslin, David Bowie, Harry Maslin
- Recorded at
- Sigma Sound, Philadelphia, Record Plant, New York City, Electric Lady, New York City
- Recorded
- August 1974 – January 1975
- Mixed by
- Tony Visconti, Harry Maslin, David Bowie
- Labels
- RCA, RCA Victor
- Length
- 40:24
Line-up
- Mike Garson · piano · guest
- Andy Newmark · drums (drum set) · guest
- Pablo Rosario · percussion · guest
- David Sanborn · saxophone · guest
- Larry Washington · congas · guest
- Willie Weeks · bass · guest
- David Bowie · lead vocals · guest
- Ava Cherry · background vocals · guest
- Robin Clark · background vocals · guest
- Luther Vandross · background vocals · guest
- John Lennon · background vocals · guest
Singles
- “Young Americans” · 21 February 1975
- “Fame” · 2 June 1975 (US), 25 July 1975 (UK)
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1975 | 2 |
| Denmark (Årets Singlehitliste) · 1975 | 1 |
| New Zealand Albums · 1975 | 3 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) · 1975 | 5 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) · 1975 | 8 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1975 | 9 |
| US Billboard Top LPs & Tape · 1975 | 9 |
| French Albums (SNEP) · 1975 | 12 |
| Norwegian Albums · 1975 | 13 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1975 | 17 |
All 14 charts
| Hungarian Albums · 2025 | 36 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1975 | 82 |
| Italian Albums · 2016 | 92 |
| Swiss Albums · 2016 | 92 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Canada | Gold |
| United Kingdom · 2016 | Gold |
| United States | Gold |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
89.3
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
7.7k
ListenBrainz listeners
189k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
19k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 7 March
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Full discography →
David Bowie
1967
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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
Station to Station
1976
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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
Golden Years
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
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2025
I Can’t Give Everything Away (2002–2016)
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Scary Monsters… and Super Creeps
David Bowie · 1980
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David Bowie · 1977
Rebel Rebel / Queen Bitch / Sorrow / Amsterdam
David Bowie · 1973
Low
David Bowie · 1977
There Is Nothing Left to Lose
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Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Foo Fighters · 2007
Diamond Dogs
David Bowie · 1974
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Fear Inoculum
Tool · 2019
Pin Ups
David Bowie · 1973
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 7 March 1975 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 7 March 1975 | |
| Wikidata | 7 March 1975 | |
| US release | 8 March 1975 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 7 March 1975 | earliest UK or European date |
25 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | XE | Parlophone | 724352190508 | other |
| 7 March 1975 | GB | RCA | original | |
| 8 March 1975 | US | RCA | other | |
| 1984 | US | RCA | 078635099829 | other |
| October 1984 | XE | RCA | 0035628099822 | other |
| 1991 | XE | EMI | 0077779643622 | other |
| 1991 | US | Rykodisc | 014431014024 | remaster |
| 1997 | CA | Rykodisc | 014431814020 | remaster |
| September 1999 | XE | EMI | 724352190508 | other |
| 3 September 1999 | DE | EMI | 724352190508 | other |
| 6 September 1999 | XE | EMI | 724352190508 | other |
| 28 September 1999 | US | Virgin | 724352190508 | other |
| 7 February 2007 | JP | EMI | 4988006850576 | other |
| 19 March 2007 | XW | Virgin | 094635125856 | other |
| 19 March 2007 | GB | EMI | 094635125825 | deluxe |
| 5 June 2007 | US | Virgin | 094635126020 | deluxe |
| 25 November 2009 | JP | EMI Music Japan Inc. | 4988006876330 | other |
| 2014 | CA | Parlophone | 724352190508 | other |
| 2014 | US | Parlophone | 724352190508 | other |
| 2016 | XW | Warner Music | 190295990329 | other |
| 2016 | — | Parlophone | 190295990336 | other |
| 2017 | US | Parlophone | 190295990350 | other |
| 9 February 2017 | XW | Rhino | remaster | |
| 18 September 2020 | — | — | 0190295273309 | other |
| 7 March 2025 | XW | — | deluxe |
Cover art sources
deezer · native: native 1800x1800
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1800×1800 | native: native 1800x1800 |
| coverartarchive | 1207×1222 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |