"Golden Years," David Bowie
From Frampton to Frampton's childhood buddy . . .
Peter Frampton was walking around with his father in his London neighborhood of Bromley and noticed a boy about three years his senior and asked his farther, an art teacher, about him. "That's Jones," the elder Frampton said. "Quite a clever lad." The Jones boy was a student in Owen Frampton's art course.
Peter Frampton and David Jones - who later became David Bowie to avoid being confused with Davy Jones of the Monkees - broke through commercially on the American singles charts within a few months of each other in the mid-seventies, when Bowie scored a number-one hit with "Fame" (which he wrote with John Lennon and Bowie guitarist Carlos Alamar) and Frampton enjoyed three Top Twenty singles from Frampton Comes Alive! a year after. And a week after Frampton Comes Alive! was released, Bowie released his 1976 album Station to Station, which featured "Golden Years," which had come out a couple of months earlier in advance. My Music Video Of the Week is a promotional video for "Golden Years" to mark the fiftieth anniversary (today, January 23) of Station to Station's release.
"Golden Years" has been defined as a love song that doesn't mention love. As Wikipedia explains, "The song's narrator offers a companion hope of entering a limousine and being sealed off from the outside world. He assures his companion that he will always protect her no matter what and promises her a brighter future." A couple of English critics said that "Golden Years" was about "an air of regret for missed opportunities and past pleasures."
The song peaked at number ten on the Billboard singles chart, while Station to Station reached number three on the Billboard album chart. The album also featured the ten-minute title track and the radio favorite "TVC15." Enjoy the video.
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