I Dig Everything
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "I Dig Everything" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 2000 CD reissue | ||||
| Single by David Bowie | ||||
| B-side | "I'm Not Losing Sleep" | |||
| Released | 19 August 1966 | |||
| Recorded | 5 July 1966 | |||
| Studio | Pye, London | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 2:45 | |||
| Label | Pye | |||
| Songwriter(s) | David Bowie | |||
| Producer(s) | Tony Hatch | |||
| David Bowie singles chronology | ||||
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"I Dig Everything" is a single by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was his final single for Pye Records, released on 19 August 1966. The track was originally demoed with Bowie's then-band, the Buzz, but producer Tony Hatch was unhappy with their efforts and replaced them with session players. It is a pop song that musically and lyrically reflected the mid-1960s Swinging London era. The single was another commercial failure and resulted in the label dropping him. The original recording was included on the Early On (1964–1966) compilation in 1991.
Scottish trio 1-2-3 (later Clouds) performed the song during their live sets in the spring of 1967, becoming one of the first Bowie songs to be covered. After reviving the song live in 2000, Bowie re-recorded it in 2000 for the Toy project, which was initially shelved and released posthumously in 2021. The remake abandoned the original's production, becoming a guitar-driven rocker.
David Bowie and his backing band the Buzz first attempted to record "I Dig Everything" on 6 June 1966 at Pye Studios in London. With Tony Hatch producing, after having produced Bowie's two previous singles, the session featured Dusty Springfield's backing vocalists Kiki Dee, Lesley Duncan and Madeline Bell and trumpeter Andy Kirk of Dave Antony's Moods. However, the band were under-rehearsed and Hatch deemed the session a failure.[1][2] According to Buzz member John Eager, the Moods "were okay playing soul music but that's not what we wanted".[3]
Although Bowie and the Buzz intended to rehearse further at R. G. Jones Studio, Hatch was unimpressed with the Buzz and instead hired numerous local studio musicians for the official Pye session on 5 July, having Bowie solely perform lead vocals.[1] Hatch later said in 1990: "I frequently tried sessions with musicians recommended by singer/songwriters, often their own bands. Sometimes it worked and you could capture a natural raw quality."[2] The session also produced the single's B-side, "I'm Not Losing Sleep".[3][4]
Hatch centred the new take of "I Dig Everything" on Hammond organ, percussion and a flute countermelody in the second verse.[3] The final take is lighthearted, leading James Perone to describe it as a "rock-inspired pop song" that exemplifies the style of 1960s Swinging London.[5][6] Author Jon Savage compares it to the "burlesque sashay" of the contemporaneous song "Do You Come Here Often?" by English instrumental band the Tornados.[7] The musical style supports the lyric which, in Nicholas Pegg's words, is "a cynical celebration of a layabout lifestyle on London's transient teen-scene".[1] Perone states that Bowie would utilise similar characters as "I Dig Everything" in songs across his entire career.[5] According to Chris O'Leary, Bowie struggled to sing several notes that are evident in the finished take.[3] The arrangement is partially soul-influenced while the lyric emphasises Bowie's appreciation for American slang, which he would use prominently in later recordings.[1] Authors Marc Spitz and Paul Trynka later compared the song's sound and style to the Austin Powers film series.[8][9]
Release
Pye Records issued "I Dig Everything" in the United Kingdom on 19 August 1966,[1] with the catalogue number Pye 7N 17157.[5] Like his other singles, it failed to chart, resulting in his dismissal from Pye Records.[1] Hatch later called his first single with Bowie, "Can't Help Thinking About Me", their best collaboration, stating that with each subsequent single, "we were getting further away from what we had [then], rough as it was."[3] Hatch also acknowledged Bowie as a talented songwriter, saying, "I, particularly, recognised something special about Bowie. [...] I personally loved his take on London life and was very disappointed when we couldn't make others realise just how original he was."[8] Although Bowie and the Buzz had appeared on the ATV programme Ready Steady Go! earlier in the year,[10] the program rejected "I Dig Everything".[11] They performed the new single later in the year, by which point Bowie had signed with Deram Records and began recording his first full-length album.[1] The original recording later appeared on the compilation Early On (1964–1966) (1991).[12]
In the spring of 1967, Scottish trio 1-2-3 (later Clouds) included "I Dig Everything" in their live performances, becoming one of the first Bowie songs to be covered.[1] After he found out, Bowie befriended the band and later employed two members to play on some of his Ziggy-era demos.[1] In Bowie: A Biography, Spitz calls the track "wonderful" and the best of Bowie's Hatch-produced singles.[8] Reviewing the single retrospectively for AllMusic, Ned Raggett called the song an "enjoyable enough romp" that has "just enough fun and bite to connect in equal measure".[6] In a 2016 list ranking every Bowie single from worst to best, Ultimate Classic Rock placed "I Dig Everything" at number 106 (out of 119).[13]
