A good Bowie story.
My best friend used to be in the music business. Back in the mid 70's he had a pop/rock band in NYC. He had a deal with the sound guy at Electric Lady Studios to do his sound work in the wee hours of the AM. He probably paid for it in beer or grass. No one was ever there but him and his band. They were working on mixing a new song he had written when they heard someone coming in. He looked to see who it was .... It was David Bowie and John Lennon. He just said ,"Hello", ducked back in the booth, and kept on mixing. He and the other sound guy decided to start his song by cutting the tape of the opening sustained chord, reversing and splicing it, and using that as the opening sound. It made a rising Buzz sound. He left before anyone asked why he was there. His song never was picked up by a label or saw any play beyond his band and their records/CDs ( which almost no one bought). When he heard Fame, he recognized the opening note as being done the same way ... Coincidence - probably, but who knows. Maybe they (or the studio sound man) thought it sounded good - like I said, who knows?
Turned out that Lennon and Bowie were there to lay down the tracks for Fame, and did it all in one session.
