David Bowie | Space Oddity | The Man Who Sold the World | Hunky Dory
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars | Aladdin Sane | Pin Ups | Diamond Dogs | Young Americans
Station to Station | Low | "Heroes" | Lodger | Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) | Let's Dance | Tonight | Never Let Me Down
Tin Machine | Black Tie White Noise | The Buddha of Suburbia | Outside | Earthling | 'hours...' | Heathen | Reality | 'hours...'
The Next Day | ★ | Changesonebowie
- Breakthrough Hit: "Fame" was this for Bowie in North America, becoming his first single to top the charts in both the US and Canada.
- Creator Backlash: Bowie initially held the album in low regard, describing it as "a phase" and "the phoniest R&B I've ever heard," though it didn't stop him from performing its songs live in the years ahead. Indeed, Bowie would eventually walk back on his initial statements in 1990, stating in an interview with Q magazine that "I shouldn't have been quite so hard on myself, because looking back it was pretty good white, blue-eyed soul."
- Cut Song: "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)", "Who Can I Be Now?", and "It's Gonna Be Me" were recorded during the first round of sessions, but were ultimately cut from the album in favor of songs recorded during the second set of sessions. "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)" would be released as a non-album single in 1979 during RCA Records' attempts to recoup the costs of the underperforming Berlin Trilogy, and it and the other two songs would later be included as bonus tracks on the 1991 and 2007 reissues of Young Americans. The songs would also be included on the 2016 Boxed Set Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976), which featured the earlier draft of Young Americans that they were written for.
- Rarely Performed Song: Previously an Audience Participation Song live staple, "Young Americans" permanently left Bowie's setlists after the 1990 Sound + Vision tour, one of only six songs from those shows to meet such a fate.
- Referenced by...: In The Man Who Fell to Earth, which Bowie starred in, an ad for this album is prominently visible in the record store at the end of the film.
- Refitted for Sequel:
- "Somebody Up There Likes Me" is a reworked version of "I Am Divine", a song that Bowie had written and performed for an aborted studio album by Ava Cherry and the Astronettes just before the Diamond Dogs sessions began; Cherry would end up providing backing vocals to this album. The Astronettes recordings would eventually see a semi-official release in 1995 as People From Bad Homes.
- "Can You Hear Me?" was originally penned for Scottish singer Lulu under the name "Take It in Right". She never got around to recording it, resulting in Bowie doing it himself for Young Americans.
- Similarly Named Works: The "Fascination" on this album is not the same one by The Human League.
- What Could Have Been:
- Young Americans was originally envisioned as a somewhat different album called The Gouster. This early version featured a considerably different tracklist and a much rawer sound that made the tributes to black music even more apparent than they already were on the final product. Bowie, however, felt dissatisfied with The Gouster, and rushed back to the studio to re-record and rearrange the album, resulting in Young Americans. The Gouster would remain obscured from public eye until 2016, when it was finally included exclusively with the Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976) Boxed Set.
- The album cover was originally meant to be adorned with a painting by famed Americana artist Norman Rockwell. However, these plans were dropped when Rockwell informed Bowie that he would need at least six months to complete the work, which would've heavily delayed Young Americans' release. As a result, Bowie opted to use a glamour shot of himself by Eric Stephen Jacobs. Fittingly, the 2016 release of The Gouster (an early draft of the album with a different tracklist) sports cover art
◊ featuring a very Rockwell-esque photo of Bowie portraying a homeless man lying beneath an American flag.
- Working Title:
- Initial names for the album included Dancin', Somebody Up There Likes Me, One Damned Song, The Gouster, Shilling the Rubes, and Fascination. The Gouster almost became the final title, being featured on an early acetate with a considerably different tracklist; this version, name and all, would later be released exclusively as part of the 2016 Boxed Set Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976).
- Luther Vandross originally penned "Fascination" as "Funky Music (Is a Part of Me)" before Bowie elaborated on it. Vandross would re-record his version of the song with the original title for his debut album in 1976.
- "Can You Hear Me?" was originally titled "Take It in Right".
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