They only recorded a handful of singles, but their music earned them the reputation as one of Scotland’s best rock bands of the 1960s.
Now more than half a century later, as popularity in vinyl continues to soar and collectors strive to get their hands on original records, former Glasgow band The Poets is seeing buyers paying nearly £700 for its single That’s The Way It’s Got To Be.
Vinyl copies are being sold in ‘very good plus’ condition on music market place Discogs for as much as £659.50 for the two-and-a-half minute track, which featured on the soundtrack for 2006 film Factory Girl and Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster in 1965.
Ewen Duncan who owns Scotland’s largest vinyl store Europa Music, in Stirling, believes a combination of the ‘rarity’ of the single and the condition of the record and sleeve reflects the amount fans are willing to pay.
He said: ‘The Poets have always been well respected and a very collectible band – and there’s also the rarity of the single and how desperate someone is to get it.
‘It’s a tactile thing – they can say I own this. It’s also the warmth of the sound of it as well. You don’t listen to it in digital, you listen to it in analogue – and you have something to hold other than this thing in the ether you listen to.
‘It’s fine to have Spotify on your phone on your phone or ipod, but the quality is still not as good. For us vinyl is King.
‘There’s also the bragging rights, if you have a friend who’s into that sort of music you can say you have it.’
The group, dubbed the Scottish Rolling Stones, were one of the first Scottish groups to make the British charts, reaching Number 31 with their single Now We’re Thru in October 1964.
Steered by the Rolling Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham, the Poets, whose frontman George Gallacher died from heart failure in 2012 at the age of 68, had a devoted following as their rhythm and blues evolved into psychedelia.
But despite the Glasgow band becoming a victim of 1960s pop fashion, Mr Duncan said vinyl was ‘intergenerational’ as parents continue to introduce their children to their favourite bands.
The popularity of The Poet’s single comes a year after it was revealed that UK sales of vinyl LPs hit their highest level since 1990 following the revival of the physical music market.
Despite more than four-fifths of recorded music being consumed via streaming, vinyl sales rose for the 16th year in a row with fans seeing it as more collectible and having better sound quality.
The British Phonographic Industry, the trade body for the UK music industry, said the popularity of independent record stores had also helped.