Today’s classic song of the day was a hit for two (and in the UK, three) separate artists. The song is “Do You Love Me” and the lucky performers were the Contours in 1962 and the Dave Clark Five in 1964.
“Do You Love Me” was one of the very first Motown hits. The song was written by Motown owner Berry Gordy and the initial recording was released on his Gordy label.
That initial recording was by a group called the Contours with backing by the Funk Brothers (including Joe Hunter on piano, James Jamerson on bass, and Benny Benjamin on drums). The group released their version in June of 1962 and it went to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, #2 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #1 on Billboard’s Hot Rhythm & Blues Songs chart. It was the group’s only big hit.
A year later, after hearing the Contours’ version of “Do You Love Me,” a British group called Brian Poole and the Tremeloes released a cover of the tune on the Decca label. Released in August of 1963, this version went all the way to #1 on all the UK charts, as well as in Ireland and Australia. This one wasn’t released in the U.S., although one of the group’s later singles, 1967’s “Silence is Golden” went all the way to #1 here.
The final big version of “Do You Love Me” was recorded by another big British group, the Dave Clark Five. This slightly more raucous version, released in September of 1963 in the UK, didn’t do much there as it followed too quickly on the Tremeloes’ version. Epic Records, however, decided to release the single in the U.S. in April of 1964. The timing was right and the song charted at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #8 on the Cash Box Top 100.
So that’s the whole story of “Do You Love Me.” Well, almost the whole story. The rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say, is that the Contours’ original version of the song was included in the 1987 film, Dirty Dancing and released on the More Dirty Dancing soundtrack album. That version, rereleased as a single in August of 1988, went all the way to #11 on the Billboard Hot 100. Not bad for what was then a 25 year-old recording!
And, for your daily bonus video of the day, here’s Patrick Swayze, Cynthia Rhodes, and the rest of the cast dancing to “Do You Love Me” in Dirty Dancing. Where’d they learn to do that?
