"Love on a Two-Way Street" is a

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

written by

Sylvia Robinson Sylvia Robinson (née Vanderpool; May 29, 1935 – September 29, 2011) was an American singer, record producer, and record label executive. Robinson achieved success as a performer on two R&B chart toppers: as half of Mickey & Sylvia with ...

, Lezli Valentine and

Bert Keyes Ebert Adolphus Mahon (September 11, 1930 – July 21, 1987), known professionally as Bert Keyes, was an American pianist, songwriter, singer, and arranger. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York, Keyes first came to prominence as accompanist ...

in 1968. The song was originally recorded by Lezli Valentine, an artist signed to All Platinum, the record label that Sylvia Robinson co-owned with her husband, Joe. The song was then recorded by The Moments, an R&B vocal group signed to All Platinum

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

Stang Records, as filler for their 1968 album ''Not on the Outside, But on the Inside, Strong!''. Sylvia and Joe decided to release the song as a single in March 1970 and it went on to become one of the biggest R&B hits of that year, spending five weeks at number one on Billboard's Soul Singles chart and reaching number three on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

chart. ''Billboard'' ranked the record as the No. 25 song of 1970. It was also certified gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for sales of one million copies.

Musical composition

Willie and The Mighty Magnificents provided most of the musical backing on the song and Bert Keyes created the string arrangement that was overdubbed onto the track while also playing piano on the recording session. According to the song's original vocalist, Lezli Valentine, she was a third contributor to the song, writing most of the song's lyrics:

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sampling

The Moments' version of the song has been sampled by The AB's formally known as Asamov in 2005 for the song "

Supa Dynamite Supa may refer to: Geography * Supa Dam, Western Ghats, Karnataka, India * Joida, new settlement for the people from the defunct town Supa. Supa town was immersed due to the construction of Supa Dam * Supa, Parner, village in Maharashtra, India * ...

", by

Caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

in the track "Subotnick" from 2005's

The Milk of Human Kindness ''The Milk of Human Kindness'' is the third studio album by Canadian musician Dan Snaith, released under the moniker Caribou on April 18, 2005, by The Leaf Label and Domino Recording Company. It is Snaith's first album credited under Caribou, wit ...

, and by

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

and

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

' single "

Empire State of Mind "Empire State of Mind" is a song performed by American rapper Jay-Z featuring American singer Alicia Keys from the former's 11th studio album, '' The Blueprint 3'' (2009). It was released on October 20, 2009. Produced by Al Shux, the song featur ...

" in 2009.

Stacy Lattisaw version

In 1981, 14-year-old artist

Stacy Lattisaw Stacy Lattisaw Jackson (née Lattisaw; born November 25, 1966) is an American R&B singer from Washington, D.C., United States. Career The 1979 song "Ring My Bell" was originally written for then twelve-year-old Lattisaw, as a teenybopper song ...

covered "Love on a Two-Way Street." It was the lead single from her ''

With You With You may refer to: Music * With You., an American house music group Albums * With You (826aska album), ''With You'' (826aska album) or the title song, 2023 * With You (Stacy Lattisaw album), ''With You'' (Stacy Lattisaw album) or the title s ...

'' LP. The song peaked at number two R&B, number 19 Adult Contemporary, and number 26 on the

. This version also peaked at number 23 on the ''Cash Box'' Top 100 during August of that year. The song was her second U.S. Top 40 hit.

Charts

Other cover versions

*The song was also covered by

Grant Green Grant Green (June 6, 1935 – January 31, 1979) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. Recording prolifically for Blue Note Records as both leader and sideman, Green performed in the hard bop, soul jazz, bebop, and Latin-tinged idioms ...

on his 1971 album,

Visions Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain un ...

''. *

Gloria Estefan Gloria Estefan (; born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García; born 1 September 1957) is a Cuban-American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is a seven-time Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been ...

included her version on her 1994 album, ''

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me" is a song written by Harry Noble and originally performed by Karen Chandler in 1952. It has been re-recorded several times since then, the most notable covers being by Mel Carter in 1965 and Gloria Estefan in 1994. ...

''. *

Brenda K. Starr Brenda Joy Kaplan (born October 14, 1966), known by her stage name Brenda K. Starr, is an American singer and songwriter. She is well known originally in R&B, dance and pop but now mostly in salsa-based music. She is also well known for her 198 ...

covered the song on her album, ''

Temptation Temptation is a desire to engage in short-term urges for enjoyment that threatens long-term goals.Webb, J.R. (Sep 2014). Incorporating Spirituality into Psychology of temptation: Conceptualization, measurement, and clinical implications. Sp ...

'' (2002). *The song was also covered by

Boz Scaggs William Royce "Boz" Scaggs (born June 8, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. An early bandmate of Steve Miller in The Ardells and the Steve Miller Band, he began his solo career in 1969, though he lacked a major hit until h ...

on his 2013 album, Memphis.

References

External links

Lyrics of this song
* *

{{authority control 1968 songs 1970 singles 1981 singles 2002 songs Songs written by Sylvia Robinson Stacy Lattisaw songs The Moments songs Brenda K. Starr songs Cotillion Records singles