Half-speed mastered and a picture disc will be available in January
January 23, 2026, marks the 50th anniversary of the release of David Bowie’s tenth studio album, Station to Station.
On the exact day of its Golden Jubilee, Rhino will reissue the project as a limited edition 50th anniversary half-speed mastered LP and a picture disc LP pressed from the same master with a reproduction of a poster used to advertise the album 50 years ago.
The album saw Bowie relocate to Cherokee Studio in Los Angeles and incorporate elements of his Plastic Soul period, coupled with much more experimental elements, which would become more prevalent over his next couple of albums. The first single from the album ”Golden Years,” released in November 1975, would give Bowie a Top 10 single on both sides of the Atlantic. The second single, ”TVC 15,” would, a decade later, be heard and seen by almost two billion people when Bowie chose it to open his set at Live Aid.
The sound of Station to Station was partly influenced by Bowie’s burgeoning interest in the electronic music and driving rhythms of bands coming out of Germany, such as Neu! and Kraftwerk, most notably on the ten-minute title track, while still embracing dancefloor-friendly grooves in songs such as ”Stay” and ”Golden Years.”
Harry Maslin, who had worked with Bowie on some of the tracks on his previous album, Young Americans, was chosen as Bowie’s co-producer. They entered the studio in September 1975 with a tight stripped-down band featuring Carlos Alomar and Earl Slick on guitars, George Murray on bass, Dennis Davis on drums, Bowie’s childhood friend Geoffe MacCormack (under the nom de plume Warren Peace) on backing vocals, and on loan from Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band, Roy Bittan on piano and organ. Maslin has since said that the vocals on the standout tracks ”Wild is the Wind” and ”Golden Years” were both Bowie’s first takes.
Ten days after the album’s release, Bowie started the Isolar Tour, which visited over 65 dates in 11 countries and is cited as being hugely influential for its use of banks of fluorescent white light set against black backdrops. At the end of the tour, Bowie started work on Iggy Pop’s debut solo album, The Idiot, when the pair and producer Tony Visconti moved to Berlin to mix the record. Bowie settled there, ready to begin his next groundbreaking musical adventure.
This new pressing of Station to Station was cut on a customised late Neumann VMS80 lathe with fully recapped electronics from 192kHz restored masters of the original Record Plant master tapes, with no additional processing on transfer. The half-speed was cut by John Webber at AIR Studios.
A1. Station To Station
A2. Golden Years
A3. Word On A Wing
B1. TVC 15
B2. Stay
B3. Wild Is The Wind
