Rock On Records, in Stamford, put rare Indian 78 release of The Beatles first number one, Please Please Me, on sale for £3,500
A very rare Beatles record first released in India is set to go on sale at a town record shop which could earn a charity thousands of pounds.
Rock On Records, in All Saints’ Street, Stamford, is selling the 78 RPM version of Please, Please Me – the Fab Four’s second single release and first number one hit which topped the charts in 1963.
A copy is currently on sale on eBay for £5,817.58, but Rock On owner Ted Carroll, from Ketton, is putting his on the market for the comparative bargain price of £3,500.
Earlier this year, Ted resurrected Rock On, a former cult London record shop and music label with a star-studded customer base, and opened the shop in March.
All profits from the shop go to charity, with Ted pledging every penny from the sale of Please Please Me to Medecins Sans Frontieres, the international humanitarian medical charity.
What makes the record a sought-after collector’s item is its provenance, having been released as a 78 in India.
The subcontinent was one of just four countries, alongside Argentina, Colombia and the Philippines, to still be producing 78s when The Beatles found global fame.
But how did this musical gem find its way to the Rock On vaults?
A friend and former bandmate of Ted, Des Bonner, lived out in India in the 1960s and 1970s and was asked to look out for Beatles 78s.
“About a year later, Desmond was back in London with his girlfriend Joan and about 25 almost-mint Beatles 78s,” Ted recalled.
“I can’t recall how much I paid for these, but I do recall selling 10 different titles to Elton John for his 78 jukebox for £500.”
Des got back in touch with Ted about two years ago after he found some more of the Beatles 78s bought from a recor shop on the outskirts of Calcutta.
“Des and Joan had divided the stash of 78s between them,” Ted explained.
“Joan’s share ended up in America, where they had remained forgotten in a box behind the sofa in her sister’s flat until a couple of years ago.
“Desmond arranged to have these records shipped to me in the UK.
“Most of them have now been sold, but a few have just turned up squirreled away in a lock-up.”
Rock On Records is open from Monday to Saturday, 11am to 6pm.
