Bobby HebbGamble & Huff
What a combination!
The final 45 RPM on Philips Records by Bobby Hebb, catalog #40551, is a phenomenal slice of Northern Soul and Space Age Bachelor Pad music. "You Want To Change Me" b/w "Dreamy" borrows heavily from the sounds of Star Trek and The Fifth Dimension's rendition of Jimmy Webb's "Up, Up and Away" (take a ride in my beautiful balloon). Those elements aren't there in the demo of "Dreamy" that Bobby tracked at this point in time, circa 1968.
The Phenomenon of "You Want To Change Me" b/w "Dreamy"
It preceded the Love Games (Epic) album by two years - an album which itself would herald the sound that Gamble & Huff would make so popular, the Philly Soul Sound - T.S.O.P. - and now the single is bootlegged by Northern Soul connoisseurs on both vinyl and CD compilations as well as getting noteriety as a huge sales item. We've been monitoring the sales for the past 8 years or so on eBay, since around 1999 and "You Want To Change Me" b/w "Dreamy" consistently sells for anywhere from $35.00 to over $100.00 depending on how much people want it - supply and demand - on any given day. We've seen multiple copies go on eBay in one week - and the tracking we have on file.
eBay is a true and accurate worldwide market value as fans get to tune in to this site and make their bid. These prices aren't manufactured by musicologists who work for various R & B and collectors magazines, this is the marketplace determing the very high value for this remarkable single.
Read my review of LOVE GAMES to get more insight.
LOVE GAMES
http://www.windowsmedia.com/MediaGuide/Templates/AlbumInfo.aspx?a_id=R%20%20%20537188
The LOVE GAMES album features a re-make of "You Broke My Heart", a single Bobby did with Sylvia Robinson of "Pillow Talk" fame. It also features "Charms of The Arms Of Love" a song that was demo recorded when "Dreamy" first made it onto tape. "You Want To Change Me" b/w "Dreamy" as well as the "Dreamy" and "Charms of The Arms" demos would be perfect additions to the LOVEGAMES album, as would be this wonderful 45 RPM.
THE TRUE VALUE OF "YOU WANT TO CHANGE ME" b/w "DREAMY"
On August 26, 2007 the single sold for $33.01 a bargain on eBay
http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=200140723178
This writer put the first bid of 9.99 in and bid up to $18.00. The 9.99 held for most of the week but on 8/25 "puresoulie" bid 14.87, not matching my initial $15.00. Today
p1sshead
( 66
) bid 28.01 followed by Soul319 at $30.00. Our Top bid was going to be$20.00 as we already have a copy but P1sshead's 28.01 made that a moot point.
Plsshead came back at 32.01 and it looked like the winner until greeny41310
( private ) came in with about four seconds to go and grabbed it for $33.01. Trust us - that is a bargain for this single!That same date: August 26, 2007, it is priced at $143.51 by NetSoundsMusic on Froogle.com from Google http://www.froogle.com/
http://www.netsoundsmusic.com/nsudsii/2/324046970/789/2.html
CDExpress - Rockhouse Music Mailorder (NH, Netherlands) has it on both the
GEMM and MUSICSTACK sites for 92.63
http://www1.gemm.com/item/BOBBY--HEBB/YOU--WANT--TO--CHANGE--ME-l---DREAMY/GML942961344/
http://www.musicstack.com/item/23941720/hebb+bobby/you+want+to+change
Love Games on Musicstrands.com
http://mobile.musicstrands.com/album/1236516;jsessionid=DAA12F8BA8F747EA638F1CEF00410856.mob3
Iceberg Radio
http://www.icebergradio.com/album/537188/review
Bobby Hebb Biography on DJANGOMUSIC.COM
http://www.djangomusic.com/artist_bio.asp?pid=P++++30356&morebio=1
BOBBY HEBB BIOGRAPHY on VH-1.com
http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/hebb_bobby/bio.jhtml
Biography on Musicmatch.com
http://www.mmguide.musicmatch.com/artist/artist.cgi?ARTISTID=772770&TMPL=LONG
That's All I Wanna Know on DOSE.CA
http://lgg.dose.ca/music/?qt=trackId&q=T%20%208639768&city=toronto
THAT'S ALL I WANNA KNOW on FYE
http://www.fye.com/That-s-All-I-Wanna-Know-Front-Page_stcVVproductId5983427VVcatId455366VVviewprod.htm
That's All I Wanna Know on HMV
http://www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail/1444333
Here's a photo of a Kenny Gamble 45 RPM. There's going to be lots more information on the work created by Gamble, Huff and Hebb as well as explorations of other Bobby Hebb tunes like "Proud Soul Heritage". Keep watching this blog for links.
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Copyright (C)2007 Joe Viglione
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