1976. According to Seabrook, the label's executives considered the album to be "distinctly unpalatable" for the Christmas market. RCA eventually released Low on 14 January 1977—less than a week after Bowie's 30th birthday—with the catalogue number PL 12030. The album received little to no promotion from both RCA or Bowie, who felt it was his "least commercial" record to that point. He opted to tour as Iggy Pop's keyboardist instead. Low became a commercial success, entering the UK Albums Chart at number 37 before peaking at number two the following week; Slim Whitman's Red River Valley kept the album from the top spot. It remained on the chart for 30 weeks. In the US, Low entered the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart at number 82, peaking at number 11 four weeks later and remaining on the chart for 20 weeks. Singles "Sound and Vision" was released as the first single on 11 February 1977, with the instrumental "A New Career in a New Town" as the B-side. It reached number three on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Bowie's highest charting new single in the UK since "Sorrow" in 1973. The song did not fare so well in the US, peaking at number 69 on the Billboard Hot 100 and signalling Bowie's commercial downturn in the country until 1983. Although Bowie did not promote it, Pegg writes the single was an "instant turntable favourite" and was bolstered by the BBC's usage for television commercials. The single's UK success confused RCA executives. Bowie intimidated the label and persuaded RCA to release Pop's The Idiot in March 1977. "Be My Wife" was released as the second single on 17 June 1977, backed by the instrumental "Speed of Life". It became Bowie's first single that failed to chart since his pre-Ziggy days (1972). Despite this, a music video—his first since 1973—promoted the song. An extended version of "Breaking Glass" was released as a single in Australia and New Zealand in November 1978. The single edit was created by splicing in a repeated verse of the original album recording. This rare version was made available for the first time in 2017 on Re:Call 3, part of the A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982) compilation. Critical reception Upon release, Low divided critical opinion. Rolling Stones John Milward said that "Bowie lacks the self-assured humour to pull off his avant-garde aspirations" and found the