Do You Love Me

1962 single by the Contours

"Do You Love Me" is a rhythm and blues song recorded by the Contours in 1962. Written and produced by Motown Records owner Berry Gordy Jr., it appeared twice on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, reaching numbers three in 1962 and eleven in 1988. It also became a hit for the Dave Clark Five, reaching number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. Instead, the Contours, who had turned up to the studio to record their song "It Must Be Love", were asked by Gordy to try singing "Do You Love Me". After several attempts, they sang it exactly how Gordy wanted, and it was then recorded the following day. Contours singer Joe Billingslea stated in an interview in 2009 that "The Temptations could never have sung that song because it wasn't suited to them but Berry had motivated us to sing it the way he wanted it". Gordy said that "getting the concept for the song was easy. I remembered the days when I could never get the girls I liked because I couldn't dance". The song was included on the 1962 album Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance). In 1987 the Contours' recording was included in the film Dirty Dancing. Re issued as a single from the More Dirty Dancing soundtrack album, "Do You Love Me" became a hit for the second time, peaking at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1988. Gordy viewed the song as an example of the musical overlap between rhythm and blues, pop, and rock and roll, telling Billboard in 1963, "It was recorded r. & b. but by the time it reached the half million mark, it was considered pop. And if we hadn't recorded it with a Negro artist, it would have been considered rock and roll."

Brian Poole and the Tremeloes first heard "Do You Love Me" on the Contours' album Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance). Other bands were also playing the Contours' songs and the group decided that "Do You Love Me" should be the follow up single to their top five hit version of "Twist and Shout". It was recorded in the same way as "Twist and Shout", with the group miking up a PA system in the studio in order to imitate their live sound. Brian Poole and the Tremeloes' version of "Do You Love Me" is noticeably different to the Contours' version, with writer and lecturer Andrew Flory describing it as "a refined version of a Motown rock song; instead of a raucous sound offered by the Contours, through pitch and rhythm normalization, instrumentation, and vocal timbre differences, the Tremeloes created a stereotypical Merseybeat interpretation". "Do You Love Me" was released as a single in late August 1963, with the B side, "Why Can't You Love Me", written by Tremeloes guitarist Alan Blakley. The single had been intended for release in late September, but was rush released on 31 August to capitalise on the success of "Twist and Shout" and to combat a version by fellow beat group the Dave Clark Five which was set for release on 6 September. Reviewing for New Musical Express, Keith Fordyce described "Do You Love Me" as "raucous and a strain on the vocal chords, but it's bursting with excitement". Don Nicholl for Disc described it as "a brash, noisy group working to produce a beat that is going to be just what the dancer ordered".

Following the rush release of Brian Poole and the Tremeloes' version, the Dave Clark Five released their version of "Do You Love Me" as a single. It was the band's fifth single and they had yet to have any charting success. "Do You Love You" would become their first charting single, though it only entered the charts in late September and/or early October 1963, and did not chart very highly in the UK. Following "Do You Love Me", the Dave Clark Five decided to release an original song as a single – "Glad All Over", released in November 1963, would go on to top the charts in the UK and become an international hit. Following the success of "Glad All Over" and the follow up "Bits and Pieces" in North America, Epic and Capitol Records decided to issue "Do You Love Me" as a single in the US and Canada, respectively, in April 1964. Whilst the original UK release featured "Doo Dah" (a cover/rewrite of "Camptown Races") as the B side, the North American release featured an older UK B side, "Chiquita". The single performed well, peaking at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 8 on the Canadian RPM chart.

In 1970, a cover by British rock band Deep Feeling peaked at number 34 on the UK Singles Chart. In 1984, a cover by British musician Andy Fraser (who was a former member of Free) peaked at number 84 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1995, a cover by Duke Baysee peaked at number 46 in the UK. In 2004, a cover by German pop girl group Preluders peaked at number 50 on the German charts.