his next album. Production Studio and personnel Station to Station was recorded primarily at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles. The studio opened in January 1975 and quickly became one of the city's busiest studios, attracting artists such as Rod Stewart and Frank Sinatra. Cherokee was more advanced than Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios, where Bowie had recorded Young Americans (1975); it featured five studio rooms, 24-track mixing consoles, 24-hour session times, more space and a lounge bar. According to O'Leary, on arriving at Cherokee, Bowie sang a few notes in Studio One, played a piano chord, and said: "This will do nicely." With a more advanced studio and no time constraints, the ethos of the sessions became experimentation. In terms of personnel, Bowie brought back producer Harry Maslin, who co-produced "Fame" and "Across the Universe" on Young Americans. Tony Visconti, who after a three-year absence had recently returned to the Bowie fold mixing Diamond Dogs and co-producing David Live and Young Americans, was not involved because of competing schedules. Also returning from the Young Americans sessions were guitarists Carlos Alomar and Earl Slick, drummer Dennis Davis and Bowie's old friend Geoff MacCormick (now known as Warren Peace). Bassist George Murray, a player from Weldon Irvine's group, was recruited to play bass. Bowie would use the lineup of Alomar, Murray and Davis for the rest of the decade. In mid-October, pianist Roy Bittan, a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, joined the ensemble at the suggestion of Slick. Bittan recalled: "David knew we were coming to town and he wanted a keyboard player. It must have only been about three days. It's one of my favourite projects I've ever worked on." Following the departure of Mike Garson, Bowie praised Bittan's contributions. Although NME editors Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray surmised it was cut "in 10 days of feverish activity", more recent scholarship contends that the album was recorded over a couple of months, with the sessions beginning in late September 1975 or early October and ending in late November. Initial working titles for the album included The Return of the Thin White Duke and Golden Years, named after the first track recorded. According to O'Leary, "Golden Years", which Bowie began writing before he began filming The Man Who Fell to Earth, was completed in ten days and issued as a single while the album was still being finished. Recording for