"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" | ||||
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Single by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell | ||||
from the album You're All I Need | ||||
B-side | "Little Ole Boy, Little Ole Girl" | |||
Released | March 28, 1968 | |||
Recorded | 1967 | |||
Studio | Hitsville USA | |||
Genre | Soul, pop | |||
Length | 2:12 | |||
Label | Tamla T 54163 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Ashford & Simpson | |||
Producer(s) | Ashford & Simpson | |||
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell singles chronology | ||||
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"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" is a 1968 single released by American R&B/soul duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, on the Tamla label in 1968. The B-side of the single is "Little Ole Boy, Little Ole Girl" from the duo's United LP. The first release off the duo's second album: You're All I Need, the song—written and produced by regular Gaye/Terrell collaborators Ashford & Simpson—became a hit within weeks of release eventually peaking at number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot Soul Singles chart,[1] the first of the duo's two number-one R&B hits. In the UK "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" reached number 34.
Cash Box called it "a potent ballad", saying that "Detroit backing puts a beat into the session" and praising the "splendid vocals."[2] "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" was ranked as the 57th-biggest US hit of 1968.