Diamond Dogs rule, OK…
Along with a fair few countries around the globe, Diamond Dogs is often reported as having been a US and Canadian single release too, this was not the case but it’s easy to understand why this misconception came about.
The OPEC Oil Crisis of late 1973 had a knock on effect for some time and vinyl pressing was one of the early casualties. The UK economy was in a bit of a mess, to put it mildly, with industry having to endure a three-day working week to conserve electricity…or something like that. We all had a lot of fun with candles and the like during the power cuts though.
At the time of its eventual release, Friday June 14th, 1974, Diamond Dogs had already been delayed for a month. The promo actually states a May 15th release date. To make up for the shortfall copies of the single were pressed in both the US and Canada for export to the UK and you were far more likely to purchase a Canadian or US pressing than a UK 45 at the time.
After the first release from the Diamond Dogs album being the previously unheard Rebel Rebel, (02.15.2009 NEWS: REBEL REBEL IS THIRTY FIVE YEARS OLD TODAY) fans may have been a little disappointed to have a single release of a track they already knew well by the middle of June.
However, the B-side was a real treat and a lovely surprise: Bowie and The Spiders’ re-recording of the Mercury release, Holy Holy. To be honest, I don’t think I had even heard the Mercury version at the age of thirteen, so the B-side probably got far more needle time in my bedroom than Diamond Dogs.
Either way, at 6:03 minutes the record wasn’t exactly radio friendly and this was reflected in it’s UK chart position when it peaked at #21.