Holy Holy Single: 1971

Bowie's Black Country Rock B-Side

Released as a 7-inch vinyl single in the UK on January 15, 1971, on Mercury Records (catalog number 6052 049), David Bowie’s “Holy Holy” — backed with “Black Country Rock” — was a non-album track recorded in November 1970 after completing The Man Who Sold the World. The single was created because the album was felt to lack an obvious single release. It did not chart.

David Bowie’s "Holy Holy" backed with "Black Country Rock", was released as a 7-inch vinyl single in the UK by Mercury Records (catalog number 6052 049) on January 15, 1971.The single did not chart. It was recorded in November 1970, after finishing the album The Man Who Sold the World, due to the belief that the album lacked an obvious single.

During this period, Marc Bolan's Tyrannosaurus Rex greatly inspired Bowie. As noted by NME editors Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray, "Bolan's influence is so prominent that it almost seems like a case of demonic possession" on this track. The B-side of the single featured another song with a Tyrannosaurus Rex vibe, "Black Country Rock," from The Man Who Sold the World. Bowie performed "Holy Holy" on Britain's Granada Television while wearing a dress, which he also donned on the cover of the upcoming UK edition of The Man Who Sold the World.

An energetic version of the song was recorded in late 1971 for The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Although it was omitted from the album, it later appeared as the B-side to "Diamond Dogs" in 1974. This version was also included as a bonus track on the 1990 Rykodisc reissue of The Man Who Sold the World (despite the sleeve notes mistakenly calling it the original cut) and on the Ziggy Stardust – 30th Anniversary Reissue bonus disc in 2002.

Bowie himself decided against including the original version at the last minute, opting for the remake instead, and the single remained the only official release of the 1970 recording until 2015, when it was featured on Re:Call 1, part of the Five Years (1969–1973) compilation.

Single Overview

Release Details

Label: Mercury Records.

Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Single.

Full Track Listing

Side A

Holy Holy

Side B

Black Country Rock

Production and Context

Recorded November 1970 (post-The Man Who Sold the World). A one-off single to fill a perceived gap in the album’s singles potential.

Chart Performance

No chart entry.

Do you have Holy Holy in your vinyl stack? Still holy? Share in the comments!

Sources

Information is drawn from my personal knowledge and supplemented by web sources, including Discogs, 45cat, AllMusic, Rate Your Music, Wikipedia, BBC Official Charts Company, Billboard Chart History and YouTube

Whilst every effort is made to provide accurate information, mistakes do happen. Simply leave a comment and the post will be updated. Thank you.