Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing

"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing"
A-side label of the U.S. vinyl single
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
"If I Could Build My Whole World Around You" (1967) "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" (1968) "You're All I Need to Get By" (1968)

"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.