This Motown Song Was Nearly Lost Forever. Now Original Copies Are Worth A Fortune

In 1965, Frank Wilson composed and recorded for the legendary label where he worked as an in-house songwriter and producer, a bright and giddy soul gem called "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)." While it wasn't a hit in the U.S. at the time, it's the kind of Motown song that will still get boomers in their dancing shoes. It sounds like so many classic '60s Motown singles — plaintive, lovelorn, echoing vocals, backed with strings, horns, harmonizing background singers, and joyful percussion — but the record was killed shortly after Wilson finished the recording session. Had Motown boss Berry Gordy's orders been followed, all traces of the song would've been eliminated; yet, somehow it survived, and a vintage copy from its first test pressing is now worth six figures. 

Wilson (who was one of two Motown staff musicians by the name of Frank Wilson in the '60s), worked out of Detroit-based Motown's Los Angeles office, composing for artists including Patrice Holloway and Stevie Wonder. Wilson attempted to shine the light on himself with "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)," but Gordy didn't think that he should veer away from the production side. Somewhere around 250 copies were supposed to be destroyed; two copies remained in the Motown vaults. But then, somehow and someway, a decade later, "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" became a hit, sending the value of those existing copies sky-high.

Motown Records division Soul Records was ready to release Frank Wilson's "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" in late 1965, until Berry Gordy pulled it from the schedule. By that time, the pressing plant had already made 250 or so copies, and all but two — kept for the Motown archives — were supposedly eradicated.

About a decade later, Northern Soul clubs in the U.K. emerged as a major market for old Motown singles. Disc jockeys spun records to packed halls, favoring lively and danceable American-style R&B. The Wigan Casino was an epicenter of the scene, and Russ Winstanley was among its most popular DJs, and he made "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" a Northern Soul club hit. He'd received a bootleg from Simon Soussan, a record dealer and producer. Motown had let Soussan poke around its vault for inspiration, wherein he located "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" and made as many as 2,000 unauthorized clones.

With very few copies from the original pressing that escaped oblivion floating around, it's rare that they ever go for sale. But when they do, it's big news for collectors. In April 2009, a disc jockey named Kenny Burrell sold his for $39,924, setting a Guinness World Record for "most expensive music single sold at auction." In 2020 the rare original copy was sold again to a British collector for £100,000, or about $132,000.