Diamond Dogs is the eighth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 24 May 1974 through RCA Records. Bowie produced the album and recorded it in early 1974 in London and the Netherlands, following the disbanding of his backing band the Spiders from Mars and the departure of producer Ken Scott. Bowie played lead guitar on the record in the absence of Mick Ronson. Diamond Dogs featured the return of Tony Visconti, who had not worked with Bowie for four years; the two would collaborate for the rest of the decade. Musically, it was Bowie's final album in the glam rock genre, though some songs were influenced by funk and soul music, which Bowie embraced on his next album, Young Americans (1975).
"Suffragette City" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was originally released in April 1972 as the B-side of the single "Starman" and subsequently appeared on his fifth studio album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972). The song was later reissued as a single in 1976, with the US single edit of "Stay" as the B-side, to promote the compilation album Changesonebowie in the UK. Co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott, it was recorded by Bowie at Trident Studios in London with his backing band the Spiders from Mars, consisting of Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey, at a late stage of the album's sessions. The song was originally offered to English band Mott the Hoople, who declined it and recorded Bowie's "All the Young Dudes" instead. It is a glam rock song that is influenced by the music of Little Richard and the Velvet Underground. The lyrics include a reference to Anthony Burgess' novel A Clockwork Orange and the lyric "Oooohh wham bam, thank you, ma'am".
Pin Ups is the seventh studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 19 October 1973 through RCA Records. Devised as a "stop-gap" album to appease his record label, it is a covers album, featuring glam rock and proto-punk versions of songs by British bands from the 1960s that were influential to Bowie as a teenager, including the Pretty Things, the Who, the Yardbirds and Pink Floyd.
"Rebel Rebel" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was released in the UK in February 1974 by RCA Records as the lead single from the album Diamond Dogs. Written and produced by Bowie, the song is based around a distinctive guitar riff reminiscent of the Rolling Stones. Cited as his most-covered track, "Rebel Rebel" has been described as Bowie's farewell to the glam rock movement that he had helped initiate, as well as being a proto-punk track. Two versions of the song were recorded: the well-known UK single release and the shorter US single release, which featured added background vocals, extra percussion and a new arrangement.
"Diamond Dogs" is a 1974 single by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, the title track of the album of the same name.
"Joe the Lion" is a song by David Bowie in 1977 for the album "Heroes". It was produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti and features lead guitar by Robert Fripp.
"Aladdin Sane (1913–1938–197?)" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie, the title track from his 1973 album Aladdin Sane. Described by biographer David Buckley as the album's "pivotal" song, it saw Bowie moving into more experimental musical styles following the success of his breakthrough glam rock release The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars in 1972.
"Holy Holy" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie, originally released as a single in January 1971. It was recorded in November 1970, after the completion of The Man Who Sold the World, in the perceived absence of a clear single from that album. Like Bowie's two previous singles, it sold poorly and failed to chart.
"John, I'm Only Dancing" is a song by the English musician David Bowie, originally released as a non-album single on 1 September 1972. A glam rock and R&B number, the lyrics describe a situation in which the narrator informs his lover not to worry about the girl he is with because he is "only dancing" with her. Although ambiguous, many interpreted it as concerning a gay relationship. Recorded in London in June 1972, it was boosted by a low-budget promotional video directed by Mick Rock. It reached number 12 in the UK; RCA refused to release it in America due to its suggestive lyrical content.
"Five Years" is a song by the English musician David Bowie, released on his 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott, it was recorded in November 1971 at Trident Studios in London with his backing band the Spiders from Mars − comprising Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey. As the opening track on the album, the song introduces the overarching theme of the album: an impending apocalyptic disaster will destroy Earth in five years and the being who will save it is a bisexual alien rock star named Ziggy Stardust. While the first two verses are told from a child narrator's perspective, the third is from Bowie's, who addresses the listener directly. As the track progresses, it builds intensity, before climaxing with strings and Bowie screaming the title.
"Moonage Daydream" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was originally recorded in February 1971 at Radio Luxembourg's studios in London and released as a single by his short-lived band Arnold Corns in May 1971 on B&C Records. Bowie subsequently re-recorded the song later that year with his backing band the Spiders from Mars—Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey—for release on his 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The re-recording was co-produced by Ken Scott and recorded at Trident Studios in London in November 1971. The re-recording is a glam rock song that uses melodic and harmonic hooks, as well as percussion and guitar influenced by heavy metal. On the album, the song directly introduces the character Ziggy Stardust, who describes himself as a bisexual alien rock superstar who will save the Earth from the impending disaster described in the opening track "Five Years". It features saxophone played by Bowie and a guitar solo and string arrangement by Ronson.
"Velvet Goldmine" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. A glam rock number with lyrical references to oral sex, it was originally recorded on 11 November 1971 at Trident Studios in London during the sessions for his 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. It was ultimately left off the album and subsequently released as a B-side of the UK re-release of "Space Oddity" in 1975. Praised by biographers as an undervalued classic, it later appeared on compilation albums, including on Re:Call 1, part of the Five Years (1969–1973) boxed set, in 2015. Its namesake was used for Todd Haynes's 1998 film of the same name.
"Panic in Detroit" is a song written by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie for the album Aladdin Sane in 1973. Bowie based it on his friend Iggy Pop's descriptions of revolutionaries he had known in Michigan and Pop's experiences during the 1967 Detroit riots. Rolling Stone magazine called the track "a paranoid descendant of the Motor City's earlier masterpiece, Martha and the Vandellas' "Nowhere to Run"".
"Cracked Actor" is a song by the English musician David Bowie, released on his sixth studio album Aladdin Sane (1973). The track was also issued as a single in Eastern Europe by RCA Records in June that year. The song was written during Bowie's stay in Los Angeles during the American leg of the Ziggy Stardust Tour in October 1972. Co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott, it was recorded in January 1973 at Trident Studios in London with his backing band the Spiders from Mars – comprising Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Woody Woodmansey. A hard rock song primarily led by guitar, the song describes an aging Hollywood star's encounter with a prostitute, featuring many allusions to sex and drugs.
"Sweet Thing" or "Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (Reprise)" is a suite of songs written by David Bowie for the album Diamond Dogs. Recorded in January 1974, the piece comprises the songs "Sweet Thing" and "Candidate" and a one-verse reprise of "Sweet Thing."
"Rock 'n' Roll with Me" is a power ballad written by David Bowie and Geoff MacCormack and recorded in January 1974 that first appeared on Bowie's Diamond Dogs album, supposedly to address the artist's complex relation with his fans. A version recorded during the Diamond Dogs tour in July 1974 was released on the album David Live.
"Big Brother" is a song written by David Bowie in 1973 and intended for his never-produced musical based on George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. In 1974 it was released on the album Diamond Dogs. It segued into the final track on the record, "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family".
"Stay" is a song by the English musician David Bowie, released on his 1976 album Station to Station. The song was recorded in late 1975 at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles. Co-produced by Bowie and Harry Maslin, the recording featured guitarists Carlos Alomar and Earl Slick, bassist George Murray, drummer Dennis Davis, pianist Roy Bittan and Warren Peace on percussion. The track features prominent dual guitar work from Slick and Alomar, who mostly composed it in the studio. Based on the chord structure of "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)", a funk reworking of "John, I'm Only Dancing" (1972), "Stay" emulates funk rock, soul and hard rock. The song's lyrics are abstract and relate to love.
"Look Back in Anger" is a song written by English artists David Bowie and Brian Eno for the album Lodger (1979). It concerns "a tatty 'Angel of Death'", and features a guitar solo by Carlos Alomar.
