Bowie had been cultivating his decadent rock persona in the character of Ziggy Stardust for several years when he took an abrupt turn into soul man territory for his \"Young Americans\" LP of 1975. His name for his style of music was \"plastic soul\", which was personified by his first #1 Hot 100 hit, \"Fame\". John Lennon joined him in the studio along with guitarist Carlos Alomar to complete the writing and recording of the song. You can hear Lennon near the end of the song whispering \"Fame\"...another summer long favorite of mine. There is fake news regarding Bowie being the first white performer on Soul Train. The truth is that Dennis Coffey, a prominent guitarist for the Motown Record Company who had a solo hit in 1972 with \"Scorpio\" was there first.
