Both this and Lodger were re-issued with black RCA labels and RCALP catalogue prefixes in October 1981 (also Young Americans and Station To Station) but were quickly replaced by the green-label RCA International versions.They (the RCALP versions) are listed and dated in the The Essential Guide to Rock Records compiled by Fred Dellar and Barry Lazell (Omnibus Press, 1983), so the RCALP series had to have been available late 1981-early 1982, i.e. prior to the publication of the book. All of which means that the green label version is a re-issue of a re-issue!
Hi Nick, I assume that you bought it new, and that it isn't a case of a previous owner replacing his worn-out copy with the repressing, but keeing the cover? Anyway, evidence is contradictory, but I think the green label is the first one, and the black label might come from around 1984, there were some other Bowie albums reissued in the RCALP series at around the same time, which was shortly after the success of LET'S DANCE, so I suspect that RCA, finding themselves with increased back-catalogue sales in the wake of the hit, renumbered them to put them into a slightly higher price point.
I've got this, but the record inside is a black label (regular RCA) carrying catalogue number RCALP 3004... the outer sleeve, however, is the same as the one here. What's goin' on there, then??