Apparently, this album was recorded before Bowie realized that he was afraid of Americans…but he is forgiven – by me, anyway.

America offered the rest of the world so much in terms of its music history that it is impossible to compromise America’s role as a leader in influencing the historical development of music…but then again, I’m American, so my perspective is thusly based. So then, who else? Japan? France? India? North Africa? Great Britain?  All these places made incredibly important inroads in music history, but only the United States can claim to have invented the Blues, Jazz, Gospel, Rock and Roll, Country, Rhythm and Blues…am I forgetting anything? Bowie knew this as well as anyone – probably better than most, and this, in a sense, is his first ‘American’ album.

For that very reason, a lot of fans dismiss it as contrived, or forced, or ‘fake’…but wait a minute. This is David Bowie we’re talking about, right? The chameleon? The indefinably restless British artist found America to be a fount of creative possibilities that were previously outside of his realm, so does that surprise you? In other words, this is a faux-American David Bowie album, and thus, it is also controversial, because “Young Americans” has elicited an approximately even ratio of fans and haters.

Tell the haters to shut up. Yes, it has very obvious weak spots – and oddly, the weakest is the very English cover of a Beatles song (that, for what it’s worth, also happens to include input (and vocals) from the most famous of British songwriters, Beatle John Lennon). So the album begs a specific question. When you see something attractive, do you concentrate on the scars or the beauty? This is an album that forces you to reconcile your wisdom toward that which is beautiful, and if you choose to do otherwise, then you’re either foolish or unreasonably hateful. “Young Americans” is an album for lovers. I hope you are a lover.

Featured tracks include:

Young Americans

Win

Fascination

Right

Somebody Up There Likes Me

Across the Universe

Can You Hear Me?

Fame

March 1975 - Billboard Charted #9