Sigma Sound Studios was a recording studio founded in 1968 by recording engineer Joe Tarsia. Located at 212 North 12th Street in
Philadelphia, it was one of the first studios in the United States to offer 24-track recording and the first anywhere to successfully employ
console automation. Tarsia also opened Sigma Sound Studios of New York City in 1977, at the Ed Sullivan Theater building.
From its beginning, Sigma Sound was strongly associated with Philadelphia soul and, in the 1970s, the sound of Gamble and Huff's
Philadelphia International Records (its driving rhythm a precursor to disco music), as well as the classic, sophisticated productions of Thom
Bell. Both featured large productions with strings and horns creating what became known as the "Philadelphia Sound". Their success
attracted many artistes and producers from various music genres across the US, as well as Europe and Japan.
By the late 1970s, Sigma was operating 10 music rooms on a 24-7 schedule. Sigma's long-time general manager, Harry Chipetz, managed the
business operations and worked hand-in-hand with Tarsia in developing a staff that numbered close to 50 at its peak. Sigma is credited with
well over 200 gold and platinum awards with an extensive client list that begins with Aretha Franklin and ends with ZZ Top.
Tarsia sold the New York studios in 1988 and the Philadelphia location in 2003, but they still retained the Sigma Sound Studios name. The
6,000 unclaimed tapes from Sigma's 35-year-old tape library are now part of The Drexel University Audio Archive.
David booked 2 weeks at Sigma commencing on the 8 August 1974. He was accompanied by Mike Garson and David Sanborn from the tour
band; new guitarist Carlos Alomar; Willie Weeks on bass (to replace Herbie Flowers who had returned home); and Andy Newmark on drums to
replace Tony Newman. In addition, Ava Cherry, Robin Clark (Alomar’s wife) and their friend Luther Vandross provided backing vocals.
The Young American
Sigma Sound Studios - August Session
On the 9 July 1974, Ava Cherry recorded 3 songs at Sigma Sound including a version of David’s ‘Sweet Thing’. The musicians came from
David’s tour band whilst he provided backing vocals and played saxophone. During his residency at the Tower Theatre news quickly spread
that David would be recording his next album at Sigma Sound the following month.
‘John, I’m Only Dancing (Again)’ is listed on the reel indexes as ‘Dancin’’, ‘Young Americans’ is listed as ‘Young American’ and ‘I’m A Laser’ is
listed as ‘Lazer’. In addition, comments made by David on the first tape suggests that ‘Can You Hear Me’ was always the correct title during
these sessions and not “Take It In Right” as it was known during the recording of Diamond Dogs.
The file numbers on the tape indexes suggest that another reel exists between Tapes 2 and 3 above, either recorded on 13 or 14 August. Its
contents and whereabouts are not known so it’s possibly lost or may have been carried over and used on later recording sessions.
There is a fourth tape held by the Drexel University Audio Archive which is a ¼” reel - possibly recorded from monitors by the Sigma Sound
staff. The first 45 minutes consists of Ava Cherry, Robin Clark and Luther Vandross performing their backing vocals to ‘Who Can I Be Now’
whilst the remaining 45 minutes are dedicated to the same treatment for ‘John, I’m Only Dancing (Again)’.
The full story of how these tapes came into the possession of Drexel University can be read here…
http://drexel.edu/now/archive/2014/October/Bowie-Archives/
Tape 3 – dated 14 August 1974
A 2” 16 track tape. Drexel has a digital copy and the physical tape is held by the Bowie
Estate.
1. Young Americans 5:39. A complete version although David gets a bit tongue tied
with the lyrics near the beginning.
2. John, I’m Only Dancing (Again) [first take] 0:40. An incomplete version with no
vocal.
3. John, I’m Only Dancing (Again) [second take] 5:26. A complete version with some
lyrical differences to the finished version.
4. Can You Hear Me 4:50. A complete version with slight lyrical differences to the
finished version.
5. After Today 4:07. Complete version and played at a similar tempo to the version
released by Ryko in 1989. At the end of the song David says, “That tempo’s a lot
better!”
6. It’s Gonna Be Me 6:52. A complete version with numerous lyrical differences to the
finished version - see lyrics below.
It’s Gonna Be Me (early version)
Hey Jack you better shake it up
Put her right out of your head
Think you balled just another young girl last night
Brother you left a woman in that morning bed
I’ve been on that trip so many times
Good God, that was really yesterday
Tried it so many, many, many, many, many ways
I’ve lied and taken off into the day
Leaving another conquest to weep over the breakfast tray
I’ve seen her before you came
Hit me Jack cos I’m gonna love her
Come back my babe, be holy again
You gave her, ooh maybe, maybe
Gotta give her, ooh baby, baby
Your kind of love can only destroy
You gave her, ooh baby, baby
Get it down if you’re gonna be her baby
Or it’s gonna be me
Was no rain check for me
All those little things walked by
But I couldn’t nearly stammer out my name
When that angel on your arm caught my eye
I’ve seen her before you came
Stallions and lightning won’t hold me back
Come back my babe, be holy again
You gave her, ooh maybe, maybe
Gonna give her, ooh baby, baby
Your kind of love can only destroy
You gave her, ooh maybe, maybe
Get down, be her baby
Cos it’s gonna be me
She’s playing a funky phonogram
And waiting for the telephone to ring
Wearing a little glitter and a glam bag clutched in her hand
All the motor cars sound like they’re pulling in the drive
But oh no, no
I see her now
Little tear running down her cheek
Lost, let down
Maybe looking for me?
Wanna race down her street and knock hard, hard, hard on
the door
Til the drama breaks down like a treasured toy
And I feel her pain
I’ll be strong again and again
Come back my babe, I’m holy again
I’ll take you, ooh baby, baby
We’re gonna have a, ooh baby, baby
My kind of love can only bring you joy
I’m gonna be there baby, baby
Gotta give ya, ooh baby
It’s gonna be me
Shilling The Rubes
Lay in the corner
How long have you been awake?
You lay out your life
How much did he take?
Never counting the change
Passed into another
It’s only a ferris wheel
It’s only a house of fear
It’s only a three-ring circus
Ringmaster, cannonball
Never counting the change
Passed into another
Now he’s gone
Gone, the day that he left town
Gone, he was shilling the rubes
Gone, let the tears of a clown
And he’s gone, he was shilling the rubes
Fifteen new faces
Fifteen new days
Still won’t forget him
Hot boiling craze
Never counting the change
He passed into another
Now he’s gone
Gone, the day that he left town
Gone, he was shilling the rubes
Gone, let the tears of a clown
And he’s gone, he was shilling the rubes
Gone, the day that he left town
Gone, he was shilling the rubes
Yeah gone, let the tears of a clown
Oh, he was shilling the rubes
I Am A Laser
Let’s hear it for the gouster (yeah)
Baggy pants and a watch chain
Dressed down like the spirit and his game
But mirror, mirror on the wall sees all
But your doo-wop rag made you look tough
Razor blades in her bra
Mirror, mirror on the wall
I am the laser
Burning through your eyes
And I know what kind of flame you have
I know what fear you hide
Hear it for the t-shirt
Oh, those crew cuts that hurt
Clicking jigaboo so Lenny Bruce
Mirror, mirror on the wall sees all
Dog tooth or paisley?
Processed or strained?
But mirror, mirror on the wall says
I am the laser
Burning through your lies
You’ll join my other world some day
Then gaze in through outside
I am the laser
Burning through your lies
You’ll join my other world some day
You’ll gaze in through outside
Oh yeah!
An acetate of two of the tracks recorded by Ava Cherry at Sigma Sound on 9 July 1974.
(Left) The A-side ‘Sweet Thing. (Right) The B-side ‘Everything That Touches Me, Touches You’.
Thanks to the Drexel University Audio Archive, it’s possible to appreciate some of these very early Sigma recording sessions. The Audio
Archive holds 2 physical tapes which have been digitised plus they have digital versions of 2 other tapes which are now in the hands of the
Bowie Estate.
Tape 2 – dated 13 August 1974
A 2” 16 track tape which has been digitised although Drexel still has the physical tape
in its possession.
1. Young Americans [first take] 0:21. An incomplete version with no vocal.
2. Young Americans [second take] 2:52. An incomplete version which ends with David
laughing after singing “President Nixon.”
3. Young Americans [third take] 5:37. A complete version with slight lyrical differences
to the finished version.
4. Shilling The Rubes 5:16. Complete version – see lyrics below. Towards the end of
the song David says, “That’s going to be very nice when it’s got its hat on!”
5. I’m A Laser 6:06. Complete version – see lyrics below.
6. After Today 4:09. Complete version but played at a much faster tempo than the
version released by Ryko in 1989.
NOTE. David Sanborn joins the session from track 5 onwards.
Lyrics
David wasn’t pleased with the recorded sound from the initial rehearsals and asked Tony Visconti to fly over from England to take control of
the recording. Visconti arrived 3 days into the sessions and immediately took charge. He recalls:
I
arrive
in
Philadelphia
from
London
around
8pm.
I've
just
finished
a
Thin
Lizzy
album
and
I
am
tired!
I
am
rushed
to
Sigma
Sound
by
limo.
I
am
shown
the
control
room,
and
can
see
a
large
band
playing
full
tilt
with
Bowie
walking
around
pensively
among
them.
I
am
immediately
intimidated
because
the
band
contains
three
musicians
I
am
in
complete
awe
of
–
Andy
Newmark
on
drums,
Willie
Weeks
on bass and David Sanborn on sax. These are super session men, and I'm just a Brooklyn kid who did good in England!
I
ask
the
engineer,
Carl
Paruolo,
"Who
is
engineering?"
I've
never
seen
a
console
as
funky
as
this
–
it
looks
like
it
was
handmade
in
someone's garage on weekends.
He
says,
"You
are!"
He
was
originally
selected
to
engineer
by
Bowie,
having
recorded
many
Philly
hits,
but
he
told
me
that
Bowie
wasn't
pleased with the sound. Bowie told Carl, "Tony will be handling the recording once he arrives."
David
and
the
band
had
been
recording
their
rehearsals
for
three
days,
and
I
could
hear
the
problem
he
had
with
the
sound.
In
those
days,
in
America,
engineers
recorded
"dry"
and
"flat",
waiting
for
the
mix
to
add
the
equalization,
reverbs
and
special
effects.
But
the
British
often
recorded
with
the
special
effects
right
on
the
session!
I
was
British-trained
and
David
was
used
to
this
sound!
So
I
rolled
up
my sleeves and got right into it. By 2 am we'd recorded our first official backing track – "Young Americans."
The
session
guys
were
great
to
record
with.
My
fears
were
quickly
dispelled.
To
contrast
the
"slickness"
of
Newmark,
Weeks
and
Sanborn,
David
was
trying
out
a
gang
of
NYC
kids
from
the
Bronx,
whose
manager
had
sent
in
a
demo
tape
weeks
earlier.
They
were
Carlos
Alomar
on
guitar,
his
wife
Robin
Clark
on
vocals
and
their
vocalist
friend
Luther
Vandross!
What
a
lineup!
Mike
Garson
on
piano
was the only link left over from the Spiders From Mars days.
It
was
agreed
we
had
to
record
live,
no
overdubs!
But
David
also
wanted
to
record
his
vocals
live
in
the
same
room!
This
presented
a
big
problem
because
the
instruments
were
much
louder
than
his
voice,
so
I
had
to
rig
up
a
special
microphone
technique
which
canceled
the
band
but
recorded
his
voice.
This
required
two
identical
microphones
placed
electronically
out
of
phase.
In
other
words,
the
diaphragm
of
one
mike
is
pushing
when
the
other
is
pulling.
The
band's
sound
is
picked
up
by
the
two
mikes,
but
is
out
of
phase
and
consequently
cancelled!
David
was
told
to
sing
only
into
the
top
mike
so
that
his
voice
was
not
canceled!
For
the
non-technically-minded
this
probably
doesn't make any sense, but it saved the day, and what you hear on the recordings is about 85% "live" David Bowie.
Throughout the two weeks of recording sessions a small army of fans – affectionately referred to as the Sigma Kids – waited patiently outside
hoping to glimpse David as he came and went. On the final day at the studios (in the early hours of Friday 23 August 1974) David invited the
Sigma Kids into the studio to listen to the completed recordings. The memories of one such Sigma Kid can be read here…
https://onmanorsmind.wordpress.com/2016/06/14/
In addition, there is a detailed article on the Sigma Kids in Philadelphia Weekly (US) - 24 July 2002: David Bowie's Young Americans
A total of 10 tracks were completed during these sessions - John, I’m Only Dancing (Again); Somebody Up There Likes Me; It’s Gonna Be Me;
Who Can I Be Now?; Can You Hear Me; Young Americans; Right; Shilling The Rubes; I’m A Laser; and After Today. The first 7 of these were
selected for inclusion on the new album tentatively titled ‘One Damn Song’.