On the evening of October 5th 1962 an Oldham-born DJ put a record on his turntable.
It was the seed for what would become a world-wide cultural revolution.
The DJ was Tony Prince, and the rare 'demonstration' single was by a young band from Liverpool.
He had a show on Radio Luxembourg - a magnet for teenagers throughout Europe.
The song was Love Me Do by The Beatles, and it was the first time they had been played on the radio.
Pop would never be the same.
Now, the actual single Tony Prince played is up for auction with a price of £15,000.
The record has the most famous spelling mistake in the history of EMI, with the songwriters being named as 'Lennon and McArtney'.
It is the star exhibit in a vast collection of Tony's which will go under the hammer at Omega Auctions in Warrington on January 28.
Tony inherited this single when he and colleagues were called to make room in the station’s record library.
"It was Radio Luxembourg that helped the Beatles to launch their phenomenal career", he said. "It was the only station playing Beatles from day one.
"The record I have placed in the auction is undoubtedly the very record which started the fans' stampede."
In the course of his life Tony, who was later at the forefront of disco and hiphop mixing, became a collector of memories.
He worked with Paul McCartney for ten years fronting his Buddy Holly Week celebration, he became Honorary President of the Elvis Presley Fan Club, met and interviewed Elvis twice, and was even tasked by Colonel Parker with introducing Elvis on stage in Vegas.
Tony's latest venture is United DJs Radio, which he and 32 legendary industry peers launched in April 2018.
Now, to keep the station streaming to its growing global audience, he has decided to release his vast record collection and personal memorabilia items for sale.
Other items Tony is releasing include Elvis’ transistor radio, given to 'The King' by the RCA record label and gold embossed with his initials EAP, with his ranch address on the reverse; letters signed by all members of Queen; a personal letter from Joe Cocker thanking Tony for playing ‘Marjorine’; a rare Schwinn Beatles Yellow Submarine bike; Dr.Feelgood limited edition Toby Jugs and a one-off bronze bust of Elvis Presley, by David Wynne OBE, commissioned by Tony.
Meanwhile, there are thousands of albums singles, sheet music, autographs and press photographs which will be grouped over the forthcoming auctions.
