Golden Years (album)

This article is about the David Bowie album. For the Motörhead EP, see The Golden Years (EP).

Golden Years
Compilation album by David Bowie
Released	August 1983
Recorded	1973–1980
Genre	Rock
Length	36:55
Label	RCA Victor
David Bowie chronology
Let's Dance (1983) Golden Years (1983) Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture (1983)
David Bowie compilation chronology
Rare (1982) Golden Years (1983) Fame and Fashion (1984)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[2]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	4/10 [3]

Golden Years is a 1983 compilation album by David Bowie issued by RCA Records.

After 11 years with RCA Records, Bowie left the label and signed with EMI Records, releasing his highly successful album Let's Dance in 1983. Wishing to capitalize on Bowie's and the new album's popularity, RCA issued Golden Years, a compilation of previously released Bowie tracks. The cover art featured a recent photo of Bowie, giving a false first impression the album was an all-new release. All the tracks on this album were performed live by Bowie during his 1983 Serious Moonlight tour.

Of the album's nine tracks, four had appeared in previous David Bowie compilations albums released by RCA Records: "Golden Years" was included in Changesonebowie (1976) and "Fashion", "Ashes to Ashes", and "Wild Is the Wind" were included in Changestwobowie (1981). However, Golden Years used the original album versions of "Fashion" and "Ashes to Ashes" rather than the shorter single edits as included in Changestwobowie.

Eight months after the release of Golden Years, RCA issued another David Bowie compilation album, Fame and Fashion (David Bowie's All-Time Greatest Hits) (1984), which included three songs previously included in Golden Years ("Golden Years", "Ashes to Ashes", and "Fashion"). Bowie was displeased by the release of the Golden Years and Fame and Fashion compilations, both of which were issued without his consultation or input. After RCA reissued his earlier albums on compact disc in 1984-1985, Bowie reclaimed the rights to his catalogue and later struck a deal with Rykodisc to reissue his recordings, beginning in 1989. As a result, Bowie's original RCA CD catalogue was in print relatively briefly; today, the RCA CDs are considered highly collectible.

As Golden Years and Fame and Fashion were issued without Bowie's authorization, neither album has been reissued in any form subsequent to their RCA CD editions in 1985.

Track listing

All tracks written by David Bowie except where noted.

Side one

1. "Fashion" – 4:51
2. "Red Sails" (Bowie, Brian Eno) – 3:47
3. "Look Back in Anger" (Bowie, Eno) – 3:07
4. "I Can't Explain" (Pete Townshend) – 2:14
5. "Ashes to Ashes" – 4:26

Side two

1. "Golden Years" – 3:59
2. "Joe the Lion" – 3:08
3. "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)" – 5:14
4. "Wild Is the Wind" (Dimitri Tiomkin, Ned Washington) – 6:00

Chart performance

Chart (1983)	Peak position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [4]	50
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [5]	17
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [6]	33
UK Albums (OCC) [7]	33
US Billboard Top LPs & Tape [8]	99

References

1. "Golden Years – David Bowie". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
2. Larkin, Colin (2011). "David Bowie". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN   978-0-85712-595-8.
3. Sheffield 1995, p. 55.
4. "Offiziellecharts.de – David Bowie – Golden Years" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
5. "Charts.nz – David Bowie – Golden Years". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
6. "Swedishcharts.com – David Bowie – Golden Years". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
7. "David Bowie | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
8. "David Bowie Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 24 August 2021.

Sources

• Sheffield, Rob (1995). "David Bowie". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 55–57. ISBN   0-679-75574-8.

External links

• Golden Years at Discogs (list of releases)