working with the Smiths was that Morrissey often positions himself in relation to what the bassline is doing. So when I worked on 'Suedehead' I made the bassline melodic, not just root notes." Release "Suedehead" was noted as a potential single early in the song's recording process. Street recalled, "I think that it was quite evident straight away that it was going to be a single. There was something about it that was really special." Morrissey commented in a 1988 interview that he was worried it "would gasp in the higher 30s and disintegrate" and that he was hesitant to release it but was "carried along on a wave of general enthusiasm." Street later disputed this, remembering, "Morrissey sent me a card saying, 'Don't read the interview'. I think he realised after he'd done it that he'd been a bit negative about things. The idea that he didn't want 'Suedehead' to be the single is utter rubbish, he was just as excited as anyone else about releasing it." The record label's affinity for the song helped assuage concerns with Street writing the whole Viva Hate album. "Suedehead" was released by Morrissey as his debut solo single in February 1988. The single was a commercial smash in the UK, peaking at number five on the UK Singles Chart and reaching the top 10 in Ireland and New Zealand. The single charted higher than any of the singles Morrissey released while in his former band the Smiths. The commercial and critical success convinced Morrissey to continue his collaboration with Street, who recalled, "It wasn't until 'Suedehead' came out at the end of February – and got fantastic reviews across the board – that he got back in touch with me again. If 'Suedehead' had come out and been a complete failure and hadn't been a hit, I'd never have heard from him again!" In addition to appearing on Viva Hate, the song appeared on Morrissey's 1990 compilation album Bona Drag. The music video, directed by Tim Broad, features Morrissey walking through the streets of Fairmount, Indiana, the hometown of actor James Dean, including shots of the school where Dean studied and the Park Cemetery, where he is buried. Other allusions to Dean in the video include a child (played by Sam Esty Rayner, Morrissey's nephew, who went on to direct the video for "Kiss Me a Lot" in 2015) delivering to Morrissey