David Bowie released his 10th studio album, *Station to Station*, on January 23, 1976. This album introduced the Thin White Duke character and marked a shift from American soul music to European electronic sounds. Bowie was riding high after his first No. 1 single in the U.S. with “Fame” from *Young Americans*. He recorded *Station to Station* at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles in late 1975, right after filming *The Man Who Fell to Earth*.
The album connected the Philly soul vibe of *Young Americans* with the experimental style that would come on *Low*, the first of three albums Bowie made with Brian Eno in Berlin. Influences from German bands like Kraftwerk and Neu! shaped its sound. The 10-minute title track starts with sounds like an approaching train before launching into a driving groove. Three of the six songs have an art-funk feel, while the other three dive into krautrock electronica.
“Golden Years” became the biggest single from the album, while “Word on a Wing” and “Stay” also gained popularity, each running over six minutes. The closing track is a cover of “Nature Boy” by Ned Washington and Dimitri Tiomkin. Bowie played the Moog and Mellotron on the record, with guitarist Carlos Alomar and E Street Band pianist Roy Bittan contributing other instruments. George Murray and Dennis Davis formed a rhythm section that would work with Bowie throughout the late 1970s.
*Station to Station* reached No. 3 on the Billboard albums chart, outperforming *Young Americans*, which peaked at No. 9. It remained Bowie’s highest-charting album in the U.S. until *The Next Day* hit No. 2 in 2013 and *Blackstar* debuted at No. 1 in 2016. “Golden Years” spent 16 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 10, and was featured in the 2001 movie *A Knight’s Tale*.
The Thin White Duke persona took over Bowie’s public life for the next year, showcasing themes of detachment and emotional numbness. Bowie later admitted that he remembered little from the recording sessions due to his cocaine addiction at the time. After the Isolar Tour in 1976, he left Los Angeles for Europe, seeking distance from the city that influenced the album.
