‘Rarest British soul record of all time’ selling for over £11,000

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There’s still time to bid on the ‘mythical’, ‘historically immense’ Northern Soul 7″.

People pay a lot of money for Northern Soul records, but it’s not often a record comes up on the marketplace so universally, mind-bogglingly rare even the BBC get in on the act. The record in question is London Records pressing of the Darrell Banks 45 ‘Open The Door To Your Heart’ / ‘Our Love’, and is thought to be the only copy left of the original run, the rest of which were destroyed when rival EMI won the rights to release the single in 1966.

Up for sale on raresoulman.co.uk, the 7″ is currently going for £11,227, with five days of bidding still remaining, with some collectors believing it could turn out to be more valuable than Frank Wilson’s Motown single ‘Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)’ which sold for £25,000 five years ago. The BBC quote collector and dealer Pete Smith, who helped identify the validity of the single on a forum, who calls it ‘the rarest British soul record of all time’.

The magnitude of the sale has not been lost on rare record dealer John Mansip of RareSoulMan, who says it is ‘not simply THE most important British Soul 45 to ever come to market. But also quite easily the most exciting record I’ve been in the presence of, in the whole of my record dealing career.’

Getting a little weak at the knees, the listing continues:

“No, this is not an apparition, the Darrell Banks STOCK copy – really does exist, yes it really, really does. The 48 years, mythical tales and vinyl dreams have now at last come true. When this escapee from the Decca factory scrap-skips, this vision of beauty was found in a deceased former employee’s “Decca/London” hoard…

It’s been in my possession now for 2 hours and my pulse is still racing. The high I’m on, is an intoxicating mix of disbelief and awe. I feel like French explorer of the New World, Father Louis Hennepin who allegedly travelled for weeks through uncharted territory, accompanied by an ever-increasing rumbling sound, until he eventually stumbled through a clearing onto the deafening vista of the Niagara Falls…

For the Northern Soul collector, this we feel is the most-prestigious 45 it is possible to own. Historically immense.. with both sides giving up the very embodiment of the Northern Soul Sound itself.”

You’ve still got five days to get in on the act, so head over to RareSoulMan to place a bid or content yourself with the YouTube version below.

Want to understand a little more about why records get your pulse racing? Read a psychological diagnosis of record collecting here.