‘Would You Believe’: The rare mod record worth thousands
Sharp suits, Italian scooters, and more amphetamines than Haçienda-era Manchester, the mod subculture typified the youth of Britain during the 1960s, but it was the music produced by the scene which has kept the spirit of mod alive to this day.
As with any half-decent subculture, the inherent sound of the mod movement has changed a lot over the years. In the very early days, for instance, the mods who hung around at Soho’s Flamingo Club were entranced by the jazz and R&B sounds of figures like Jimmy Smith, while the influences of Jamaican ska and rocksteady pioneers like Prince Buster came shortly thereafter.
Essentially, those early mods adored whatever was the freshest, hip and happening sound in the nightclubs and dancehalls of London. Before too long, young mods frequenting these clubs started their own groups, giving rise to the next incarnation of their sound, in the form of R&B and blues-influenced rock and roll. Of course, these hip new sounds required a hip new label to house them, which is where Andrew Loog Oldham’s Immediate Records comes into play.
Originally founded by The Rolling Stones’ manager, along with his business partner Tony Calder, back in the modernist golden age of 1965, Immediate was run by young music fans for young music fans. Although its roster was dominated by iconic acts like The Small Faces and soul star PP Arnold, the label also played host to a range of more obscure, experimental artists, too. Billy Nicholls was one such figure, and his Immediate album, Would You Believe, remains one of the rarest and most sought-after records of all time.
Taking inspiration from the earth-shattering nature of The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, Nicholls set about creating his own revolutionary record while still in his teens. Would You Believe was the product of that experiment, blending the mod beat sounds of his immediate surroundings with the profound psychedelic influence of the many expansive concept albums being released at that time.
It might have been one of the defining records of the swinging sixties, had Immediate Records not been experiencing some financial difficulties at the time. You see, the issue with a bunch of drugged-up party animals in their mid-20s running a successful record label is that any ideas of financial stability or responsibility fly out of the window.
It only took a few years before the wheels began to fall off the Immediate bus, and Nicholls’ album was one of the many victims. Only 100 copies of Would You Believe were ever pressed, as a promo run, and it never saw mainstream release, but music-obsessed mods still flocked to it in droves.
Given how heavily the demand outweighs the supply when it comes to the album, it is no surprise that original pressings still fetch a pretty penny. In previous years, copies of the record have fetched as much as £8,000, depending on the condition, and it took until 1998 for the album to be reissued in any capacity.
Nicholls himself later found success during the 1970s, though mainly as a songwriter for other artists. His chance at true musical stardom during the pinnacle of Britain’s cultural creativity was sadly stripped away from him due to financial mismanagement, but he can still claim to have released one of the rarest and most sought-after vinyl records in history.
