BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1988
“It Takes Two” is a song by New York Hip house artists Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock that became a top 40 hit single was later certified platinum by the RIAA. Over the years the song has been covered and sampled by various recording artists. As stated by music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the All Music Guide, “There are many critics and listeners who claim that Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock’s “It Takes Two” is the greatest hip-hop single ever cut. It’s hard to disagree with them.”
The song samples heavily from Lyn Collins’ 1972 song “Think (About It)”, using multiple drum breaks, the well known “Yeah! Woo!” sample, as well as the lyric sung by Collins which gives It Takes Two its title. The famous introduction of the song is spoken over a sample of “Space Dust” by The Galactic Force Band (1978).
In the Uk the song peaked at #24 while in the US it peaked at #36 in August 1988.
SIDE A:
It Takes Two 5:00
SIDE A:
It Takes Two (Instrumental) 5:00
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | It Takes Two | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #36 |
| 198 | It Takes Two | U.S. Billboard Hit R&B Hip-Hop Songs | #17 |
| 1988 | It Takes Two | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play | #3 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Profile Records – PRO-7186
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1988
Genre: Hip Hop
Style: Hip Hop
CREDITS:
Engineer – Dave Kowalski
Executive-Producer – William Hamilton
Mastered By [Vinyl Cut] – HW*
Producer – Rob Base, W. Hamilton*
Written-By – R. Ginyard*
NOTES:
Recorded at Hillside Studios, New Jersey
Executive Producer for World To World Recordings.
Special thanks to Rhonda Parris
Contains a sample of “Think (About It)” as recorded by Lyn Collins.
Contains a sample of “Spaced Out Disco” track A4 “Space Dust” as recorded by The Galactic Force Band.
Find the 12″ on DISCOGS
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Tung-Sol 12AX7ECC803-S Gold Electron Tube
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
Oh, bless your cotton socks! LET’S BOOGIE. 🙂 Thx.
Thanks for this – can’t wait to hear it again after so many years!
One of the all time greats. Love the video too. Thanks!
This is a nice surprise to see this classic posted.
Thank you Paul 🙂
What a CLUB-BURNER!!!!!!!
“I wanna rock right now”
“It takes two to make a thing go right”
Two turntables 1210 MK2
“It takes two to make it outta sight”
Cool DJ + great crowd
Love this track! This is a prime example of a song that is usually thought of as a much bigger hit in its day that it actually was. Not bad numbers, but it longevity leads people to believe that this was a Top Tenner upon its initial release. But who needs big numbers in ’88 when every grandmother gets up at weddings to groove to your song in 2015?
This one never gets old! Thank you.
Thank you Paul!!! great classic.
You’re welcome Guss 🙂
Always loved this song. A true classic. Also always sounds great up loud on a decent car stereo! No doubt even more so given your rip! Thanks.
You’re welcome Neil :0
The perfect record to start off the weekend Paul! This song did some serious damage in the clubs when it was first released. The energy of the track could make the dead dance! It still has the power to move and certainly defines what a “classic” record is all about. The “Woo! Yeah!” sample soon was in a lot of tracks after that. I mean, it even made it into The Belle Stars dance mix of “Iko Iko” of which you have on your site too. Yes, this track can still put a crowd on its feet. Thanks Paul for… Read more »
You’re welcome Jeff. I’m sure this is something a lot of my readers would not expect from me. As I have said before my taste is all over the genre spectrum. This track is a classic and deserves to be here with all of the rest. Have a wonderful weekend.
xxx