Right (From Young Americans – 1975)
The journalistic cliché with Bowie is to dub him a ‘musical chameleon’ but as some have rightly pointed out, chameleons adapt and blend into their background: the exact opposite of what Bowie did. Forever pushing boundaries, Brixton’s most beloved ditched the glittery glam rock of Ziggy Stardust… and Aladdin Sane in 1973 – just as the rest of the world was beginning to appreciate his extraterrestrial androgyny – in favour of the slick rock opera of Diamond Dogs and Philadelphia soul for 1975’s Young Americans. Choosing a favourite Bowie track is a near impossible task, but ‘Right’, the fourth track on Young Americans, the Thin White Duke’s delve into Philly soul, is a particularly memorable one for me. Bowie himself believed the sound on his ninth studio release to be “plastic soul” and “the squashed remains of ethnic music … written and sung by a white limey”, and the early R&B and influence of black musicians is undeniable, especially on ‘Right’.
Featuring backing vocals from an as-yet-undiscovered Luther Vandross and Bowie’s then-girlfriend Ava Cherry, not to mention long-time collaborating guitarist Carlos Alomar and Sly & the Family Stone drummer Andy Newmark, funk and dancehall run through the veins of this track. Starting with sweet saxophone and a sensuous bassline, Bowie croons “Taking it all the right way / Never no turning back” over the gritty layered vocals of his band, equally rich and passionate. The harmonies on the song were painstakingly rehearsed and re-recorded for days before Bowie was content he’d crafted the perfect sound he was after, yet the vocals seem gorgeously impromptu on record. Although often eclipsed on the album by Bowie’s first US #1 ‘Fame’, ‘Right’ is not to be overlooked as a song that is mellow, groovy and just downright sexy.
Words by Kristen Sinclair
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifIi6ewkFvs&w=740&h=422]