It Takes Two

Album: Take Two (1967)
Charted: 16 14
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Songfacts®:

  • Kim Weston (from Mojo magazine February 2009): "Marvin and I went into the studio together to record the album Take Two. We didn't pick the tracks, they were picked by Mickey Stevenson, my then-husband, and our producer, but 'It Takes Two' had been written by him and Sylvia Moy especially for us and it really worked. Being in the studio with Marvin, I saw a new side to him. I'd traveled and shared bills with him so we knew how each other worked. In the studio he was really encouraging. He added little ad libs, intonations here and there and suggested things for the arrangements. I saw the genius shine out of him but also the frustration. You could hear it in his voice. He wanted more control.
    It was a shock when they released the song as a single. I'd already left Motown and gone to MGM. I don't think Motown knew I was going to leave and I was upset that this came out after I'd gone. I regret never having the chance to sing it live with Marvin. I felt my duets with Marvin really paved the way for what he did with Tammi Terrell next. Our songs influenced theirs, and if I'd stayed at the label I think I'd have been singing those songs with him instead."
  • This song celebrates sharing dreams, wishes and experiences with your lover. Rock critic Dave Marsh writes in his book The Heart of Rock and Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made that the lyrics "flies in the face of rock mythology… Here, Marvin Gaye, probably the greatest iconoclast pop has ever known, speaks with tender care in favor of the most intimate collectivity."
  • Though Gaye had already racked up a number of hits in the US, this was his first Top 40 hit in the UK.
  • Among the other duos to cover this tune were Otis Redding and Carla Thomas, Donny and Marie Osmond, and Rod Stewart and Tina Turner. Stewart and Turner's version, which was recorded for a Pepsi Cola advert, was a Top Ten hit throughout Europe in 1990. In 2009, Tower of Power recorded the song with Joss Stone for their album The Great American Soulbook.
  • Other than a similar sentiment, this has nothing to do with Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock's 1988 Hip-Hop hit of the same title, which is the only other "It Takes Two" to chart. The Rob Base song reached #36 in the US.
  • Beverly Hills, 90210 alumnus Jennie Garth performed the jive to "It Takes Two" with partner Derek Hough on season 5 of Dancing with the Stars.

Comments: 5

  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn March 18, 1967, Marvin Gaye performed "It Takes Two" on the Dick Clark ABC-TV Saturday-afternoon program, 'American Bandstand'...
    At the time the song was in it's second of two weeks at #32 on Billboard's Top 100 chart, two weeks earlier it had peaked at #14 {for 1 week} and it spent twelve weeks on the Top 100...
    "It Takes Two" was actually a duet with Kim Weston, but for this appearance on 'Bandstand' Mr. Gaye appeared with a large rag doll, the reason being that Ms. Weston was no longer with Motown, she had signed a contract with M-G-M Records.
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn January 1st 1967, "It Takes Two" by Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #88; and eight weeks later on February 26th, 1967 it peaked at #14 {for 1 week} and spent 12 weeks on the Top 100...
    It reached #4 on Billboard's R&B Singles...
    The duo had one other record make the Top 100, "What Good Am I Without You"; it peaked at #61 on the chart and #28 on the R&B Singles chart...
    R.I.P. Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. {1939 - 1984} and Ms. Weston, born Agatha Nathalia Weston, celebrated her 75th birthday twelve days ago on December 20th {2014}.
  • ... from Seattle, WaThe wonderful Marvn Gaye, such pleasant songs.
  • Jerro from New Alexandria, PaTrue, but don't forget about Kim Weston. She was a talented singer who didn't get the promotion and recognition that she rightfully deserved.
  • Teresa from Mechelen, BelgiumWonderful song of Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston. Marvin Gaye, a talented singer who left us much too soon.
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