"One of a Kind" is a song recorded by the American R&B vocal group The Spinners

The Spinners (U.S. band)

The Spinners is a soul music vocal group, active for over 50 years, and with a long run of pop and R&B hits especially during the 1970s. The group, originating from Detroit, still tours regularly ....

 (known as "Detroit Spinners" in the UK). The song was
written by Joseph B. Jefferson and produced by Thom Bell

Thom Bell

Thomas Randolph "Thom" Bell is an American songwriter and producer, best known as one of the creators of the Philadelphia style of soul music in the 1970s. He moved to Philadelphia as a child.-Biography:...

. Bobbie Smith

Bobby Smith (R&B singer)

Robert "Bobby" Smith is an American R&B singer, noted as the principal lead singer of the soul vocal group, The Spinners, also known as the Detroit Spinners or the Motown Spinners....

 and Philippé Wynne

Philippe Wynne

Philippé Wynne , born Phillip Walker, was an American R&B singer. Best known for his role as the lead singer of The Spinners , Wynne scored notable hits such as "How Could I Let You Get Away", "The Rubberband Man",and "One of a Kind ",...

 share lead vocals on the song. Released as the third single from their 1972 self-titled album on Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

, "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

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 chart and was certified gold

RIAA certification

In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...

 by the RIAA.

Personnel

• Lead vocals by Bobbie Smith
  Bobby Smith (R&B singer)
  Robert "Bobby" Smith is an American R&B singer, noted as the principal lead singer of the soul vocal group, The Spinners, also known as the Detroit Spinners or the Motown Spinners....
  
   and Philippé Wynne
  Philippe Wynne
  Philippé Wynne , born Phillip Walker, was an American R&B singer. Best known for his role as the lead singer of The Spinners , Wynne scored notable hits such as "How Could I Let You Get Away", "The Rubberband Man",and "One of a Kind ",...
  
  
• Background vocals by Bobbie Smith, Philippé Wynne, Pervis Jackson
  Pervis Jackson
  Pervis Jackson was an American R&B singer, noted as the bass singer for The Spinners, and was one of the group's original members.-Life and career:...
  
  , Henry Fambrough
  Henry Fambrough
  Henry Fambrough is an original vocalist and current member of the R&B quintet The Spinners . He is one of two active original members of the Spinners...
  
   and Billy Henderson
  Billy Henderson
  William "Billy" Henderson was an English professional footballer. He was born in Whitburn, County Durham.Billy Henderson, a right-back, began his career with his local side Whitburn from whom he joined Brighton & Hove Albion...
  
  
• 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

Profanity

Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...

 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". Over the years both the "censored" and the "uncensored" versions of the song have been used for the numerous CD

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

 appearances that "One of a Kind (Love Affair)" has made.

Chart history

Chart (1973)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Chart Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	11
U.S. Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...	1