"Ain't No Man" is a 1992 song by UK artist Dina Carroll. After singing on two singles with British dance production duo Quartz, Carroll was relaunched as a solo artist with the song. It was released as the first single from her album, So Close. Lyrically it is sung from the view of a woman singing to her man, telling him that there ain't no man that makes her feel like he do. Carroll told in an 1992 interview, "We wanted an anthemic, memorable song. For some reason, Nigel [Lewis] brought up 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough', and that idea evolved into 'Ain't No Man'."[1] The song peaked at number 16 in the UK charts, number 26 in the Netherlands and number 63 in Germany. A colorful music video was shot to accompany the song. It was directed by Pedro Romhanyi.[2]
Critical reception
Jon O'Brien from AllMusic described the song as "smooth disco-pop".[3]Larry Flick from Billboard wrote that Carroll has a "wonderful, belting voice that deserves to be embraced in pop radio circles." He added that this track "slams mighty hard".[4]Music Week called it "very classy and soulful".[5] Pop Rescue said it is "a lovely little piece of up-tempo light pop."[6] Davydd Chong from Record Mirror stated that it is "an absolute belter in the vocal department, and all others, the tune bounds along proudly, head held high, evoking the spirit of some mid-Seventies soul classic."[7] Phil Shanklin of ReviewsRevues wrote that the song has "the verve and drive of a Ce Ce Peniston hit", adding it as "a big song which needs a big vocal and Dina shines."[8] Adam Higginbotham from Select noted it as "solid, tastefully-cut soul bleeding subtly into brisk garage beats."[9] Johnny Dee from Smash Hits described the song as a "luxury, jazzy, summertime wobbler that sounds a bit like a Burt Bacharach tune from the '60s." He added that it "canters along, sweetly splish-splashing" and is "absolutely gorgeous."[10] In 2013, the song was picked as Official Chart's 'Pop Gem'. They called it a "stand by your man anthem" and labeled it as "an upbeat testimony that true love really did conquer all".[11]
