There’s no doubt about it, DARRELL BANKS’ ‘Open The Door To Your Heart’ is a mighty fine soul record. The Ohio born singer recorded the song in 1966 for Revilot Records and ‘Open The Door To Your Heart’ became an instant classic (though oddly, the song’s original title and under which it’s copyrighted is ‘Baby Walk Right In’). Produced by Don Davis and in part written by Donnie Elbert, the song was a massive US hit and it was all set to win a UK release on the Decca subsidiary, London Records…. when thing got murky.
The record was never officially released on London but it was always thought that some copies were pressed up. Up till now, though, no copies have ever surfaced. Its believed that all the London singles were destroyed when EMI eventually won the licensing rights to the record. Now, however, one copy of the London issue of ‘Open The Door To Your Heart’ has materialised.
It seems the “mythical” single is owned by someone who worked for Decca in the mid 60s and he’s now putting it up for sale by on line auction…. and if you have a spare £10,000 to spare you might want to make a bid. Collectors and dealers, though, are predicting that it will fetch much more … maybe even more than the £25,000 someone paid for a copy of Frank Wilson’s ‘Do I Love You’ in 2009.
