"You're a Special Part of Me" was a successful duet single for

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

singers and

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

label mates

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

, released in 1973. The original duet was one of the few originals featured on their famed album, ''

Diana & Marvin ''Diana & Marvin'' is a duets album by American soul musicians Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye, released October 26, 1973 on Motown. Recording sessions for the album took place between 1971 and 1973 at Motown Recording Studios in Hollywood, Californi ...

'', and was among the most successful of the songs the

label mates made reaching #4 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' R&B Singles chart and #12 on the ''Billboard'' Pop Singles chart. ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said that "the combination f Ross and Gayeis beautiful.

Remixes

There are several mixes of this song which have been released: the single mix, the album mix, the Japanese Quadraphonic album mix, and an alternate mix released in 1995 on the "Motown Year By Year: 1973" CD, which clocks in at 4:29.

Personnel

*Lead vocals by

and

*Background vocals by The Devastating Affair *Instrumentation by

The Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

Chart performance

References

1973 singles Diana Ross songs Marvin Gaye songs Male–female vocal duets Song recordings produced by Berry Gordy 1973 songs Motown singles {{1970s-single-stub