Golden Years: Happy Birthday To Elvis And David

Elvis Presley and David Bowie were both born on this day in 1935 and 1947 respectively. For a small celebration here is the song Bowie wrote for Elvis back in 1975, the still stunning GOLDEN YEARS. Bowie had it in mind to produce Elvis and wanted very badly for him to record this masterful song. Angie Bowie is said to have gotten the demo to one of Elvis's friends in 76 but it is unknown as to whether he ever heard the track.
Bowie went ahead and recorded the song in 76 for his stunning STATION TO STATION album, and he would score a major hit with it. Listen close and you can hear he is clearly emulating Elvis, and the song sounds absolutely custom made for the King. I often wonder what would have happened had Elvis recorded this song in that fateful year before he passed away. It might have changed nothing, or it very well could have changed everything. We'll never know...still Bowie's version is a masterpiece and is a highlight from STATION TO STATION, one of his very best albums.

Also here is some of the footage influential filmmaker Jonas Mekas shot of the one time Elvis and Bowie were in the same building together, during Elvis' historic run at Madison Square Garden in 1972. Bowie came dressed as Ziggy Stardust and still talks about the mindblowing show to this day. Also in attendance that night were members of Led Zeppelin, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Paul Simon, and rumors have suggested Andy Warhol and members of The Velvet Underground including Lou Reed...