Who Did It Better? Love On A Two-Way Street

Who Did It Better?

Love On A Two-Way Street

Today, we take a look at a little pop gem which got two tickets to the US Top 40, but not by the original artist who recorded it first and co-wrote its lyrics. We also get treated to a little bit of show business drama; a songwriting conflict as old as music itself, based on a brief testimonial from that same artist who almost didn't get credit for her contributions to the song.

This one goes out to my dear friend, Randall. Bless him. As a mere babe, during his very first visit to a gay bar, he fell in love with a hustler sitting on a bar stool as this song played on the juke box. Ah, young love! How it lingers... like crabs! My heart to you, boo. 

Love On A Two-Way Street was written by Sylvia Robinson, Lezli Valentine and Bert Keyes.

The song was first recorded by Lezli Valentine in 1968 for All Platinum, the record label that Sylvia Robinson co-owned with her husband, Joe. Sylvia Robinson was also a recording artist, using her first name only. She would enjoy a Top 10 hit with Pillow Talk in 1973. Valentine was a member of two singing groups: The Jaynettes who had a #2 hit with Sally Goes Round The Roses in 1963 and The Hearts who scored with Ooo-Wee in 1955. 

Valentine was backed by Willie and The Mighty Magnificents with Bert Keyes on piano. Keyes also  created the string arrangement which was overdubbed onto the track.  

Despite Valentine's contributions to the song, apparently there were issues with the songwriting credits. 

According to Valentine:

"Sylvia came into the office on the morning Two Way Street was created and said that she had a dream, but that the only thing she remembered was "Love on a Two-way Street, Lost on a lonely Highway." We went into Bert's office... Sylvia asked Bert to play what he felt (that became the melody)... I, Lezli Valentine, began to write the story line. "True love will never die, so I've been told but now I must cry, it is finally goodbye, I know. With music softly playing his lips were gently saying honey I love you". Sylvia wrote, "He held me in desperation, I thought it was a revelation and then he walked out". I, Lezli Valentine wrote, "How could I be so blind to give of love the very first time, to be fooled is a hurting thing". Sylvia wrote, "To be loved and fooled is a crying shame". Lezli Valentine wrote, "While I bear the blame, as he laughs my name". The rest was completed. I recorded it. The lead sheets were hand delivered by one of the original Moments, John, who lived in DC. The original application was altered without my knowledge (omitting Lezli Valentine's name as a lyric writer.)  There are three writers on I Found Love On A Two-Way Street; Joseph Robinson, Sr. definitely knew this. Joseph R.Robinson, Sr. said he would rectify this - evidently he never did. Each time I telephoned him on this he said he would take care of it, as did Ebert Mahon, AKA: Bert Keyes and several recording artists in the Soul Sound Studios at the time! This was nerve-racking and resulted in hospitalizations."

When Valentine's version of the song failed to chart, the song was then recorded by The Moments, an R&B vocal group who was also signed to All Platinum via a subsidiary, Stang Records. The Moments were previously featured as part of the Who Did It Better? series, when we took a look at the pop song, I Don't Wanna Go. After several line-up changes, they began having much more success and later evolved into the group known as Ray, Goodman & Brown, who are primarily remembered for their Top 5 hit, Special Lady.

Love On A Two-Way Street was supposed to serve as filler for the group's 1968 album Not On The Outside, But On The Inside, Strong!. However, Sylvia and Joe decided to release the song as a single in March of 1970 - and good thing they did! It went on to spend five weeks at #1 on Billboard's R&B chart and reached #3 in the US on the Hot 100 and #13 in Canada. Certified gold by the RIAA for sales of one million copies, the song ended up being on of the hottest soul singles of the year.

In 1981, 14-year-old artist Stacy Lattisaw covered Love On A Two-Way Street.

Lattisaw was no one-hit wonder, releasing ten albums between 1979-1990, (seven albums at Cotillion and three at Motown) before retiring from the pop industry, to devote herself to gospel music. Her debut was recorded at the age of 12. During her career she worked with a number of topline producers, including: Van McCoy, Narada Michael Walden, Michael Masser, Kashif, John "Jellybean" Benitez, Steve Barri, Tony Peluso, Leon Sylvers, Brownmark, Vincent Brantley, Aaron Zigman, Jerry Knight, Ron Kersey, Lou Pace, Gordon Williams, Phillip Damien, Hubert Eaves III, Kenni Hairston, Trevor Gale and LeMel Humes.  

Her second Top 40 hit, Love On A Two-Way Street served as the lead single from her With You album. In the US, it peaked at #2 on the  R&B chart, #19 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and #26 on the Hot 100. In addition is squeaked into the Canadian Top 40 at #39.

It should be noted that there are also cover versions by The Lost Generation, jazz guitarist Grant Green, Gloria Estefan, Brenda K. Starr, and Boz Scaggs - but for this competition we'll keep it to only the three artists who released it as a single.

And that's the whole story.

Now? On To the competition!

The Song: Love On A Two-Way Street

The Competitors: Valentine vs. The Moments vs. Lattisaw 

 Love On A Two-Way Street - Lezli Valentine

 Love On A Two-Way Street - The Moments

 Love On A Two-Way Street - Stacy Lattisaw

Lezli Valentine

Dramatic opening. Sounds like a holiday number until that third chord. Such a classic sound and time. 

Oh, I think Ms. Valentine sounds oh, so fine. Makes me think of Darlene Love. 

The mix is not good, nor is the recording quality - but that is also part of it's charm. I enjoy that chugging piano and thwacked guitar. Trouble is, the vocal is mixed too low. Needs to be on top - where I can hear it. Maybe she needed to lean into the mic more? 

Overall it reminds me of the very early recordings of Burt Bacharach songs.

The arrangement is quite on point. Those strings? Mighty tasty and well-placed. 

Valentine gets pitchy now and then... especially when reaching for those notes in her lower range. 

Bottom line: what a great song. Constructed perfectly and this arrangement shows off its dramatic side wonderfully. 

Can't believe this didn't get airplay.

The Moments

Same opening... a little more with those strings on the bottom there churning away... 

Great voice. Placed in the mix perfectly. A lot going on in the middle of that mix, though. And, just so you know, this was to be such a nothing burger that the label just grabbed the backing tracks that were used for Valentine's version and had The Moments sing over the top of it. Remixed it a little and that was it. 

The sound brings to mind one of my all-time favorite hitmakers - The Stylistics. 

A bit of a muddle just before we launch into the first proper verse. 

Billy Brown, the lead vocalist, sounds heavenly, doesn't he?

I want to slow dance with someone! This is shoulder-clinging music. 

The backing vocals are a nice addition to that C-section. Although, I would have played with the syncopation a bit... sort of like bells ringing one after the other.

And it just continues to soar. Those strings sure sell this thing.

And the adlibbed  "bye-byes'? Priceless. 

Just lovely. A perfect slice of vintage pop. 

Stacy Lattisaw

A drum roll? Really? To launch this. Okay...

Oh, my - bit on the ponderous side, don't you think? Beefed up, but why? I keep expecting The Theme From Rocky.

She's got pipes. So pretty. And pure. And clean. That's a tasty sound. 

Don't agree with how she leans into 'highway' - practically making it three syllables. But, it's pop, so... 

As sung by a female voice it eliminates that hollow pitchiness that we hear when men sing falsetto.

Pitchy at the start of verse one. 

She loses strength in her bottom range, too. The arrangement is airtight and seamless - kind of lacking a certain authenticity. It feels a bit overwhelming given the obvious age of the singer. 

"Honey, I love you..." - nope, don't buy it.

It's weird. She sounds great, but she's not living in the song. She's hitting notes and singing syllables - frequently placing emphasis on the wrong one when it comes to the latter. 

I miss the backing vocals on the C-section. And, again, she's a young singer, like a young actor playing a much older part - the line readings simply aren't believable. 

Like the doubled-vocals. 

I do like when she stretches out a bit on "Lo-ove on a two way street." 

Huh. I thought they would do a build or something, given the instruments on hand, but the arrangement seems to be on cruise control. Only thing driving this is Lattisaw's vocals. 

Oh, gawd save me from a damn synth flute solo. Flutter butter. Ugh. I suppose it worked at the time when this was released. 

The ending? Meh. 

The Verdict

I thought this would be tougher. 

I love Valentine's version. That arrangement is spot on, which is why they didn't mess with it when The Moments re-recorded the song two years later. And Valentine actually has a lovely sound, but her vocals are lost in the mix, so it's difficult to get a proper latch onto them to analyze. What suffers most in her version is the song itself... the story simply doesn't come through - not because Valentine fails to tell it, but because we can't hear it. 

The Moments fair much better. It's a clear, clean reading, full of dramatic, romantic fun. That muck up just before verse one bothers me, but otherwise, how lovely is this? That C-section works perfectly and from there to the end it's magic time. 

Lattisaw is a young singer and her age betrays her time and again. I bet that later in life, singing this live, she changed things up a bit, because an adult does not sing like a child; adults typically make more musical sense of things. That is at the heart of the problem when listening to her version. Her voice? Pure. Lovely tone. But the interpretation of the material is not focused. She clearly does not, because she cannot at her age, live this song. It's a matter of experience. And while she does a perfectly fine job of singing it, she doesn't fool me for a second. 

So, this goes to The Moments, though I would love for someone to take Valentine's version apart and remix it. She deserved this hit. And credit for co-writing this amazing song.

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And that's enough of me.

Okay, your turn. You know what to do: leave your thoughts and choice in the comments section. I love to hear a second opinion. 

That's all for now.

Until next time...

Thanks for reading... and listening!

 Love On A Two-Way Street - Stacy Lattisaw