Handily beating the competition without ever looking back, the 1967 single "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was voted as the favorite duet between Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Many voters mentioned how difficult it was to make a selection. This is totally understandable because I don't think there was a weak song in the bunch. Out of the 5 choices, I would go with "You're All I Need To Get By"... or maybe "Ain't No Mountain High Enough... or possibly "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You"... no wait...Ironically, out of the 5 song choices in the poll, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was the least successful one on the Billboard Pop Singles chart (peaking at #19). However, it reached #3 on the R&B chart. In addition to Marvin & Tammi's version being an excellent tune, I feel that the song's optimism has helped it grow in popularity since it's release. Over the years, it has become a go-to song for movie producers looking to enhance a "feel-good" scene (it's been featured in such films as "Stepmom" and "Remember the Titans").
One thing that surprised me about the poll is that "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You" received no votes. A big hit in its day (#10 pop, #2 R&B), it probably receives the least amount of airplay today out of the 5 song selections. Still, I thought it would get some voter love.
Here are the final results:
Ain't No Mountain High Enough- 41%
Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing- 25%
You're All I Need To Get By and Your Precious Love- 16% each
If I Could Build My Whole World Around You- 0%
Here is a clip of Marvin & Tammi performing the winning song:
3 comments:
Your readers have excellent taste. I can't even watch this video without crying even though its not a sad song. I miss Marvin.
I guess I wasn't in the majority. But like I said earlier, this was a hard one. Too many good choices.
Barbara: Count yourself among the tasteful. I still remember where I was when I heard about the death of Marvin Gaye. It was a Sunday afternoon and our family went to Showbiz Pizza Place for one of my nephew's birthdays. As we were driving back home, the news of Marvin's death came on the radio.
X. Dell: Motown didn't release too many duds back in the day. I'll probably be doing some other Motown themed polls in the future.
Post a Comment