It Takes Two (Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston song)



"It Takes Two" is 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 that 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.

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
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

Other cover versions

 * Susan Jacks remade "It Takes Two" for her 1982 album Forever: her duet partner on the track was Tom Lavin.
 * In 1990, Kim Weston teamed with the late Marvin Gaye's brother, Frankie Gaye, to record a new version of the song called "It Takes 2", which was used as promotional imaging for Detroit television station WJBK-TV Channel 2.
 * 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.