It Takes Two (Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston song)
| "It Takes Two" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "It's Got To Be a Miracle" |
"It Takes Two" was a hit single recorded in late 1965 by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston for Motown's Tamla label.
Produced by Weston's then-husband, longtime Gaye collaborator William "Mickey" Stevenson, and co-written by Stevenson and Sylvia Moy, "It Takes Two" centered on a romantic lyric which depicted many things in life (dreams, love, wishes, etc.) being better with two people instead of one. The single became Gaye's most successful duet single to date, later outperformed by Gaye's duets with Tammi Terrell.
Gaye and Weston's duet peaked at #14 on the Billboard Pop charts and #4 on Billboard's Soul Singles chart in January 1967. "It Takes Two" was also Gaye's first major hit in the UK, where it peaked at #16 on the British singles charts in the spring of that same year.
Also in 1967, soul singers Otis Redding and Carla Thomas covered the song for their duet album, King & Queen.
It was also recorded by Donny and Marie Osmond in 1974. It was from their gold album "I'm Leaving It All Up to You". The song also appeared on The Osmonds album "Around the World Live" in late 1975. Though it was never released as a single, the song was performed live at concerts.
Personnel
- All vocals by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston
- Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers and The Detroit Symphony Orchestra
- Produced by William "Mickey" Stevenson
Rod Stewart and Tina Turner version
| "It Takes Two" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "Hot Legs" (Live) |
In 1990 "It Takes Two" was covered by Rod Stewart and Tina Turner and featured in a television advertising campaign for Pepsi. It was released as the lead single from Stewart's album Vagabond Heart, produced by Bernard Edwards and released in late 1990. The duet was a European hit, peaking at #5 in the UK, and becoming a Top 10 single in several European countries. It later appeared on both artists' greatest hits albums: Turner's Simply The Best (1991), and Stewart's The Very Best of Rod Stewart (2001).
Versions and remixes
- Album version - 4:13
- Extended Remix - 4:51
Chart performance
Weekly charts
| Chart (1990–91) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[1] | 16 |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[2] | 15 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[3] | 6 |
| Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[4] | 7 |
| Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[5] | 12 |
| Germany (Official German Charts)[6] | 22 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[7] | 4 |
| Italy (Musica e dischi)[8] | 4 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[9] | 3 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[10] | 19 |
| Spain Radio (PROMUSICAE)[11] | 36 |
| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[12] | 11 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[13] | 10 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[14] | 5 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (1990) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Italy (Hit Parade Italia)[15] | 32 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[16] | 50 |
| Chart (1991) | Peak position |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[17] | 214 |
Other cover versions
- Billie Piper also covered the song in late 1998 as B-Side to her third single "She Wants You".
- Claude François, a famous French singer in the 1960s and 1970s (died in 1978) covered the song in French as Il faut être deux pour ça (lit. "We must be two to do (all) that")
- In 2009 Namibian singer Nianell and South African singer Dozi brought out an album of cover versions called "It Takes Two" which included the song of the same name.[18]
Use in television and other media
The original version of the song was featured on a 1982 advert for Talbot cars on British television.[19]
It was also used for a movie It Takes Two (1995 film), starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.
Detroit television station WJBK-TV, which broadcasts on Channel 2, used a reworked version of the song with revised lyrics called "It Takes 2" as part of its on-air imaging in the early 1990s. The new version was sung again by Kim Weston and Marvin Gaye's brother Frankie. Video on YouTube
Tower of Power, a funk/soul band has also covered the song.
Jennie Garth and Derek Hough performed the jive to a version of this song, on season 5 of Dancing With The Stars.
A small part of the song was used for Action 52.
References
- ^ "Rod Stewart & Tina Turner – It Takes Two". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
- ^ "Rod Stewart & Tina Turner – It Takes Two" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
- ^ "Rod Stewart & Tina Turner – It Takes Two" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
- ^ "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 22, 1990. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
- ^ "Singlet 1990-12 joulukuu" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
- ^ "Tina Turner - Top Titel" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – It Takes Two". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
- ^ "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. January 12, 1991. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
- ^ "Rod Stewart & Tina Turner – It Takes Two" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
- ^ "Rod Stewart & Tina Turner – It Takes Two". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
- ^ Fernando Salaverri (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ "Rod Stewart & Tina Turner – It Takes Two". Singles Top 100. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
- ^ "Rod Stewart & Tina Turner – It Takes Two". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
- ^ "Tina Turner: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
- ^ "I singoli più venduti del 1990". Hit Parade Italia. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
- ^ "Jaaroverzichten - Single 1990" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
- ^ "Jaarlijsten 1991" (in Dutch). Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
- ^ http://www.kalahari.com/Music/It-Takes-Two_p_34516058?gclid=CKeQ-t3v67sCFYUewwodXAsAGw Retrieved 7 January 2014
- ^ Video on YouTube
