David Bowie: "Diamond Dogs" Single (1974)

David Bowie’s "Diamond Dogs" backed with "Holy Holy", was released as a 7-inch vinyl single in the UK by RCA Records (catalog number APBO 0293) on May 17, 1974.

The lyric introduces the listener to Bowie's latest persona and his environment; Halloween Jack dwells on top of an abandoned skyscraper ("Manhattan Chase", a.k.a. One Chase Manhattan Plaza) in a post-apocalyptic Manhattan. The guitar sound is heavily influenced by The Rolling Stones, and signalled Bowie moving away from glam rock and closer to a proto-punk Stooges-influenced sound.

The track was considered by many commentators to be an unconventional single, and it only reached number 21 in the United Kingdom. According to NME critics Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray, "As a potential hit single, the title track from Diamond Dogs was something of a non-event. Too long, too bleak in vision, too tough to dance to... you know the drill."

Although it was not issued in the US as a single (despite the fact that copies were pressed in the US for shipment to the UK and were commonly imported into the US for sale in shops that sold imports), the song became a central part of Bowie's North American tour in 1974.

The B-side was a version of Bowie's 1971 single "Holy Holy", re-recorded during the Ziggy Stardust sessions the same year.

courtesy Wikipedia