David Bowie | Station To Station (50th Anniversary)

January 23, 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of the release of David Bowie's tenth studio album, STATION TO STATION.

On the very day of the album's golden anniversary, STATION TO STATION is being released as a limited 50th anniversary LP, half-speed mastered, as well as a picture disc LP printed from the same master and featuring a reproduction of a poster used to promote the album 50 years ago.

For this album, Bowie moved to Cherokee Studio in Los Angeles and incorporated elements from his Plastic Soul period, combined with much more experimental elements that would increasingly characterize the next few albums. The first single from the album, "Golden Years", was released in November 1975 and gave Bowie a top 10 single on both sides of the Atlantic. The second single, "TVC 15", was heard and seen by almost 2 billion people a decade later when Bowie chose it as the opening song for his performance at Live Aid.

The sound of STATION TO STATION was partly inspired by Bowie's growing interest in electronic music and the driving rhythms of German bands like NEU! and Kraftwerk, particularly evident on the ten-minute title track, while he still embraced dance-friendly grooves in songs like "Stray" and "Golden Years".

Harry Maslin, who had worked with Bowie on some of the songs from the previous album YOUNG AMERICANS, was chosen as Bowie's co-producer. They entered the studio in September 1975 with a tight, stripped-down band consisting of Carlos Alomar and Earl Slick on guitar, George Murray on bass, Dennis Davis on drums, Bowie's childhood friend Geoff MacCormack (under the stage name Warren Peace) on backing vocals and, borrowed from Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band, Roy Bittan on piano and organ. Maslin has since stated that the vocals on the signature songs "Wild Is The Wind" and "Golden Years" were both Bowie's first takes.

Ten days after the album's release, David embarked on the ISOLAR TOUR, which included over 65 concerts in 11 countries and has since been cited as highly influential for its use of rows of fluorescent white lights against black backdrops. At the end of the tour, Bowie began work on Iggy Pop's debut album, "The Idiot," as the two and producer Tony Visconti moved to Berlin to mix the album. Here, David settled in, ready to begin his next groundbreaking musical chapter.

This new edition of STATION TO STATION was cut on a custom late Neumann VMS80 cutter with fully re-recorded electronics, based on 192kHz restored masters of the original Record Plant master tapes – with no further processing during transfer. The half-speed master was cut by John Webber at AIR Studios.

Several other of Bowie's classic albums have also gone through this process. You can find our selection of David Bowie Half-Speed Masters & Picture Discs here.