The 45 rpm 7" vinyl single Do I Love You (Indeed I Do ) by Frank Wilson on Tamla Motown record label, value £25,000, original pressings, 1979 re-release £30, DJ copies, £60.
I AM frequently asked, "What is the highest value for any recording?" writes MICHAEL BROOKS. Readers of this column may recall my story of the acetate That'll Be The Day 1958 by The Quarrymen (later to become The Beatles) which is valued upwards of £100,000, also the LP The Beatles and Frank Ifield 1964, a mint copy was discovered and auctioned and sold for around £15,000. This single is the highest selling 7"vinyl disc.
Frank Wilson (1940-2012) was an American songwriter, singer and record producer for Tamla Motown records who had written and produced many hit records for Motown artists, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, The Miracles, The Four Tops, Diana Ross/The Supremes and many others. One day, he decided to cut a single of his own for release. The song was first pressed and recorded in 1965. No one is absolutely sure of how many demos were made; 250 is the accepted figure, but some say it could be higher. After playing it for Berry Gordy, head of Motown records who gave the song a lukewarm opinion, Frank had all the demos destroyed, although two, possibly three copies survived, one of which, when auctioned, sold for £25,742 in May 2009.
In the early seventies a type of music emerged that was known as Northern Soul and became firmly established. Throughout the country thousands of young people spent their weekends at all night dance clubs, where they discovered a love for discarded soul records, mainly recorded by black American singers that led to energetic dance styles that became uptempo, frenetic, featuring spins, flips, karate style kicks even backflips. The major venues in the north were The Twisted Wheel (Manchester), Blackpool Mecca and Wigan Casino. This led to people searching into the roots of soul music recordings. Due to its scarcity this record remains as one of the most collectable discs by Tamla Motown especially for followers of Northern Soul music. Recently, it became popular when it was featured in a KFC advert on TV. It is available on CD format, including streamlining. This is quite simply not just a great song to listen to, but also to dance to. If this doesn't get you out of your chair, nothing will. This 45 rpm record is the Holy Grail of rare records.
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