Everybody Needs Somebody/ You Just Cheat And Lie

This is a new, unplayed promo copy from the Louise Neal 45 Collection. This is one of Hill's most sought-after singles, mostly because of that wonderful Northern Soul dance number on the flip. The A side is a more Deep Soul/RnB-style ballad. Note: This beautiful copy has Mint labels (see scan), and the B side ("Cheat and Lie") vinyl looks untouched as well, producing pristine Mint audio. Unfortunately, the A side vinyl has experienced some storage wear in the form of a few scuffs, at least one of which produces very light surface noise that's occasionally audible. Separately, I'd grade the A side audio Near Mint.

Collector Nerd Alert: In this case, I put the single in the "Other Northern Soul" genre because that's where fans of this single will look for it, on the strength of the B side in that market. Sadly, the market for Deep Soul (think: Otis Redding, Joe Simon, Joe Tex, Sam & Dave, the Isley Bros.(1950s 45s like "Shout")) isn't as fervent or competitive as that for Northern Soul, so a Mint original pressing of "When A Man Loves A Woman" by Percy Sledge — a Deep Soul anthem if there ever was one — would probably not fetch more than $25 or $30 here at Classic 45s, and I doubt that eBay auctions for the single ever go beyond those values. Yet middling Northern Soul soundalikes (great though they may be) like "Baby Don't You Leave Me" by Telma Laverne recently fetched us $2,400 in a Facebook-groups private auction. And that was for a VG+ copy! Having a Mint original of that Percy Sledge classic should be as basic to a Soul lover's collection as a single can be, and really Mint copies are quite rare, whereas used — lightly or heavily — copies are a $1 commodity quite easily obtained from various sources these days. Mint copies should generate at least $40-50 in a well run auction, but I'd be surprised if that's the case. The same is true of other "Southern Soul" genres like what I call "Funky Soul". A Mint copy of "Respect" by Aretha Franklin or "Soul Man" by Sam & Dave simply don't fetch prices appropriate to the rarity of either new, unplayed or extremely lightly used specimens of those very popular titles. Again, I'm comparing these prices to those I've seen in the Northern Soul market, especially since selling items from the Louise Neal collection starting a year ago now. Rarity in numbers should not be the sole basis on which to judge the value of a given 45. The value of the music the 45 contains should also play a part, yet too often I see extremely rare but musically mediocre Northern Soul 45s selling for eye-popping 3 and 4-figure values, while the cream of the Southern Soul crop tops out below $50 in most cases. Perhaps a fan base for Southern Soul will eventually develop to rival that for Northern Soul, but until then you can still get terrific Deep Soul and Funky Soul masterpieces for reasonable prices. Enjoy!