UK single release: I Dig Everything

‘I Dig Everything’, David Bowie’s third and final single for the Pye label, was released in the United Kingdom on Friday 19 August 1966.

It was recorded on 5 July 1966, following an initial attempt on 6 June. Bowie also re-recorded the song in 2000 for the Toy album.

The single’s b-side, ‘I’m Not Losing Sleep’, was also recorded on 5 July. The songs were produced at Pye’s London studio by Tony Hatch.

This one was really awful when I recorded it. I hated it. It’s not my fault, really. It’s always everybody else’s fault, you know that, in life? Did you know that? If something goes wrong, don’t worry about it. It’s never your fault, it’s always everybody else’s fault. It’s a very good rule to remember.

In this case it was poor Tony Hatch’s fault. Tony Hatch was a very big producer at the time, and he’d just had a big hit called ‘Downtown’. And he really believed in me, really believed in my songs, but every one he produced always ended up sounding like ‘Downtown’. I said, ‘Can I have a loud electric guitar?’ ‘No, no, no, you don’t want to do that.’ [sings] “Dig everything, da-da-da-da-da… Downtown…”

‘I Dig Everything’ was released as Pye 7N 17157. As with all of Bowie’s pre-‘Space Oddity’ releases, it was not a commercial success and failed to reach the UK charts, although it did receive some radio airplay.