, who also contributed backing vocals and guitar. With the
Young Americans sessions mostly concluded by late 1974, the material was delayed while Bowie extricated himself from Defries. Sources differ on how "Fame" came to be in the studio, but both Doggett and
Nicholas Pegg write that it was the product of "happy" accidents. By late 1974, Bowie was staying in
New York City, where he met
John Lennon during his
"lost weekend" period of estrangement. Shortly after Lennon reunited with his wife
Yoko Ono, the pair
jammed together, leading to a one-day session at
Electric Lady Studios in January 1975. There,
Carlos Alomar had developed a guitar
riff for Bowie's cover of "Footstompin'" by
the Flares, which Bowie thought was "a waste" to give to a
cover. Lennon, who was in the studio with them, came up with the hook when he started to sing "aim" over the riff, which Bowie turned into "Fame" and thereafter, according to
Marc Spitz, wrote the rest of the lyrics to the song with Lennon. However, according to Doggett, Lennon made the "briefest lyrical contributions" that was "enough" to give him co-writing credit. Bowie later said that Lennon was the "energy" and the "inspiration" for "Fame", and that's why he received a co-writing credit. Lennon stated in a 1980 interview: "We took some
Stevie Wonder middle eight and did it backwards, you know, and we made a record out of it!" After the group solidified the riff, they emerged with something that was in the hand of "black American music" at the start of 1975: a "cousin" of "
Hollywood Swinging" by
Kool & the Gang, "
The Payback" by
James Brown, and "
Do It ('Til You're Satisfied)" by
B. T. Express. (Later in 1975, Brown released the song "
Hot (I Need to Be Loved, Loved, Loved)," whose main riff was borrowed directly from "Fame.") Doggett writes that other potential influences were the 1972 song "Jungle Walk" by
the Rascals and the 1974 songs "
Pick Up the Pieces" by the
Average White Band and "Brighter Day" by
Keith Christmas, a friend of Bowie's. Overall, Doggett believes "Fame" resembled "
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" by
Sly and the Family Stone which, like "Fame", is in the funk style with "viciously pointed" lyrics. "Fame" is a
funk rock song that represents Bowie's (and Lennon's) dissatisfaction with the troubles of fame and stardom, including "money-grabbing managers, mindless adulation, unwanted entourages and the hollow vacuity of the limousine lifestyle". Lennon's voice is heard interjecting the falsetto "Fame" throughout the song. Doggett found it "striking" that the falsetto expanded three octaves, from "
Yoko Ono soprano" to "
Johnny Cash basso profundo". Along with "Fame", Bowie worked with Lennon again when he decided to record a cover of Lennon's
Beatles song "
Across the Universe"; Lennon played rhythm guitar on the cover. According to Spitz, "Fame" and "Across the Universe" were both last-minute additions to
Young Americans. Although
Young Americans was mostly co-produced by
Tony Visconti, he was not present at the sessions for "Fame"; instead, both songs were co-produced by engineer
Harry Maslin. In the song, Bowie sings "What you need, you have to borrow" with, according to Spitz, the same "venom" that
Jimi Hendrix sang, "Businessmen they drink my wine," on his cover of
Bob Dylan's "
All Along the Watchtower". ==Release and reception==