Crushed velvet seats, riding in the back

Monday again - and the torrential rain last night has meant it's all a bit of a swamp out there! And there's more to come. Deep joy.

Rock fans are no doubt wetting their leather pants today in celebration of the 75th birthday of the gravelly-voiced multi-million-selling superstar Bruce Springsteen. Me, I'm ambivalent. He's had some good songs, but most of his stuff is not really my cup of tea. However, as a songwriter - well, that's a different matter!

Blinded by the Light by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, Fire by The Pointer Sisters, and (of course) Patti Smith's "magnum opus" Because the Night – they were all given away by The Boss.

As was, on this Tacky Music Monday, this slice of nonsense!!

Natalie Cole - Pink Cadillac

Have a good week, dear reader.

Indeed I Do!

Unaccustomed as I am, dear reader, to feature artists like Bruce Springsteen on this here blog [not normally "our kind of music" at all], an article in The Guardian yesterday piqued some interest...

...for @adecadeago, I published this:

RIP Frank Wilson, soul music producer, who died on Friday. Who? You may ask...

Mr Wilson would have been admired for his sterling work in the music industry - but little else - had it not been for the fact he recorded one of the rarest popular music tracks of all time.

The story of how the man's recording of his own song for Motown back in the 60s eventually led this obscure and deleted pressing to be the most expensive 7" single ever is indeed a fascinating one.

Read the story on Soul Source.

Largely revived from obscurity by the fanatics of the Northern Soul scene in the UK in the 1970s, a copy of Frank Wilson's under-rated original sold in 2009 for more than £25,000!

Here is that very song, Do I Love You? (Indeed I Do):

Frank Wilson - Do I Love You? (Indeed I Do)

[2022 update: new video featurung the legendary Northern Soul venue Wigan Casino]

Oh, and by the way - Frank Wilson also wrote this rather more familiar classic:

Supremes - Stoned Love

Now, ten years down the line, there are rumours that Mr Wilson's rare record may well have recently changed hands for £100,000...

...and to top it all - "The Boss" has revived this Northern Soul classic for his new single, bringing it a whole new audience in the USA, where it originated yet remains completely unknown:

Bruce Springsteen - Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)

Frank Wilson would have been so proud.

His original remains the far superior version, of course.