was looking on google quickly.. any chance the key is imported alrdy ?
It did import something, at one point the label 'dude' appeared (the label I was using) but the address was different and so was the private key. It's as though bitcoind said "well, you obviously want an address, no clue what you are doing with this one, we'll just make one up for you".
I have not been able to reproduce the step since with a new label 'dude2'.
Trying a different server now, maybe it's a local issue.