A. The Epitome Of Sound - You Don't Love Me
B. The Epitome Of Sound - Where Were You
“YOU DON’T LOVE ME” is one of the truly great, iconic records, that deserves all of it’s accolades and (pardon the pun) “epitomises” the “sound” of Northern Soul. Since it exploded onto the scene circa 1974 it has remained close to our hearts and finds itself, quite rightly, in the top ten of the Northern Soul Hall of Fame.
The Epitome Of Sound were born in the mid-sixties as The Megatons and released a solo 45, the aptly named, “Detroit Sound”, in 1965. The original 3-piece, Bob Ligatino, Eddie Dill and lead singer Eugene Thomas were later joined by Mike Paladino and Joe DeJohn – the line-up that would become Epitome Of Sound. It was Mike’s brother, Robert Paladino, that wrote the now legendary “You Don’t Love Me” and “Where Were You” and he organised the recording session at the all-new Venture Sound in Bound Brook, New Jersey. Paladino produced the session and studio co-owner Tony Camillo handled the arrangement adding horns and strings. Alvin Cash and Jerry Ross (manager of Jay and the Techniques) both offered to buy the rights in order to re-record the songs but the group preffered to go with a new local start-up label called Sandbag. The record was an instant regional hit reaching #11 in Cleveland before the label fell into bankrupcy signaling the end for the Epitome Of Sound… the rest is history!
