One of a Kind (Love Affair)

"One of a Kind (Love Affair)"
Single by The Spinners
from the album Spinners
B-side	"Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You"
Released	April 1973
Format	7 inch single
Genre	R&B
Length	3:17 (censored version) 3:31 (uncensored version)
Label	Atlantic
Writer(s)	Joseph B. Jefferson
Producer	Thom Bell
The Spinners singles chronology
"Could It Be I'm Falling in Love" (1972) "One of a Kind (Love Affair)" (1973) --- "Together We Can Make Such Sweet Music" (1973) "Ghetto Child" (1973)

"One of a Kind (Love Affair)" is a song recorded by the American R&B vocal group The Spinners (known as "Detroit Spinners" in the UK). The song was written by Joseph B. Jefferson and produced by Thom Bell. Bobbie Smith and Philippé Wynne share lead vocals on the song. Released as the third single from their 1972 self-titled album on Atlantic Records, "One of a Kind (Love Affair)" would become the group's third consecutive number one on the U.S. R&B Singles Chart, spending four weeks at the top spot. It also reached the number eleven position on Billboard Pop Singles chart^[1] and was certified gold by the RIAA.

Personnel

• Lead vocals by Bobbie Smith and Philippé Wynne
• Background vocals by Bobbie Smith, Philippé Wynne, Pervis Jackson, Henry Fambrough and Billy Henderson
• Instrumentation by various Philadelphia area musicians

Controversy

When the single was first released, there was some confusion as to whether the song contained a curse word in the section that immediately followed the instrumental break of the song. Supposedly, some heard the lyric Philippé Wynne sang like this:

One of a kind love affair

Makes you want to love her

You just got to fuck her, yeah

However, there were others who heard the allegedly offensive line as "You just got to hug her, yeah". Regardless, Atlantic quickly responded to the complaints by reissuing the song with the three lines edited out and the "One of a kind love affair makes a lame man walk, makes a blind man talk about seeing again" lyric was moved up to right after the instrumental break. To add to the confusion, there are some lyrics web sites that have the line as "You just have to hurt her, yeah".^[2] Over the years both the "censored" and the "uncensored" versions of the song have been used for the numerous CD appearances that "One of a Kind (Love Affair)" has made.

Chart history

Chart (1973)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Chart	11
U.S. Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles	1

References

1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 545. 
2. ^ The Spinners One of a Kind lyric on Yahoo! Music

Preceded by "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby" by Barry White

Billboard's Best Selling Soul number one single June 9, 1973 - June 30, 1973

Succeeded by "Doing It to Death" by Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s