Ain't No Man (Dina Carroll song)

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"Ain't No Man"
Single by Dina Carroll
from the album So Close
B-side"You'll Lose a Good Thing"
Released29 June 1992 (1992-06-29)
GenreDisco-pop[1]
Length3:44
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Dina Carroll
  • Nigel Lewis
Producer(s)Nigel Lowis
Dina Carroll singles chronology
"It's Too Late"
(1991)
"Ain't No Man"
(1992)
"Special Kind of Love"
(1992)

"Ain't No Man" is a song by British singer-songwriter Dina Carroll. After singing on two singles with British dance production duo Quartz, she was relaunched as a solo artist with the song, which was released in June 1992 by A&M and 1st Avenue Records as the first single from the singer's debut album, So Close (1993). Lyrically, the song is sung from the view of a woman singing to her man, telling him that there ain't no man that makes her feel like he do. Carroll told in an 1992 interview, "We wanted an anthemic, memorable song. For some reason, Nigel [Lowis] brought up 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough', and that idea evolved into 'Ain't No Man'."[2] The song was well received among music critics and peaked at number 16 in the UK charts, number 26 in the Netherlands and number 63 in Germany. Its music video was directed by Pedro Romhanyi.[citation needed]

Critical reception[edit]

Jon O'Brien from AllMusic described the song as "smooth disco-pop".[1] Larry Flick from Billboard felt that Carroll has a "wonderful, belting voice that deserves to be embraced in pop radio circles." He added that this track "slams mighty hard".[3] Andy Beevers from Music Week called it "very classy and soulful".[4] Ian McCann from NME felt it's "delivered with some real energy", complimenting it as "classy garage".[5] In an retrospective review, Pop Rescue declared it as "a lovely little piece of up-tempo light pop."[6] Phil Shanklin of ReviewsRevues wrote that it has "the verve and drive of a Ce Ce Peniston hit", praising it as "a big song which needs a big vocal and Dina shines."[7]

Davydd Chong from the Record Mirror Dance Update stated, "An absolute belter in the vocal department, and all others, the tune bounds along proudly, head held high, evoking the spirit of some mid-Seventies soul classic."[8] Adam Higginbotham from Select declared it as "solid, tastefully-cut soul bleeding subtly into brisk garage beats."[9] Johnny Dee from Smash Hits described it as a "luxury, jazzy, summertime wobbler that sounds a bit like a Burt Bacharach tune from the '60s." He added that it "canters along, sweetly splish-splashing" and is "absolutely gorgeous."[10] In 2013, the song was picked as an Official Chart 'Pop Gem'. They called it a "stand by your man anthem" and "an upbeat testimony that true love really did conquer all".[11]

Track listings[edit]

  • 12-inch single, Germany (1992)
  1. "Ain't No Man" (Lowmac mix)
  2. "Ain't No Man" (Master mix)
  3. "Ain't No Man" (Mackmaster mix)
  4. "You'll Lose a Good Thing"
  • CD single, Europe (1992)
  1. "Ain't No Man"
  2. "You'll Lose a Good Thing"
  • CD single, UK and Europe (1992)
  1. "Ain't No Man" (Lowmac 7-inch) – 3:44
  2. "Ain't No Man" (Lowmac 12-inch) – 5:15
  3. "Ain't No Man" (Master mix) – 7:29
  4. "You'll Lose a Good Thing" – 3:10

Charts[edit]

Chart (1992) Peak
position
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[12] 66
Europe (European Dance Radio)[13] 3
Germany (Official German Charts)[14] 63
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[15] 26
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[16] 34
UK Singles (OCC)[17] 16
UK Dance (Music Week)[18] 6

Release history[edit]

Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United Kingdom 29 June 1992
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
[19]
Japan 25 January 1993 Mini-CD A&M [20]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b O'Brien, Jon. "Dina Carroll – The Very Best of Dina Carroll". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  2. ^ "DJ Directory: Dina Carroll" (PDF). Record Mirror. 27 June 1992. p. 11. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  3. ^ Flick, Larry (4 September 1993). "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. p. 63. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  4. ^ Beevers, Andy (27 June 1992). "Dance" (PDF). Music Week. p. 10. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  5. ^ McCann, Ian (30 January 1993). "Long Play". NME. p. 31. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Review: "So Close" by Dina Carroll (CD, 1993)". Pop Rescue. 19 June 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  7. ^ Shanklin, Phil (2 May 2015). "100 Essential Albums- Number 86– So Close – Dina Carroll ( A&M 1993)". ReviewsRevues. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  8. ^ Chong, Davydd (27 June 1992). "DJ Directory: Dina Carroll" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental insert). p. 11. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  9. ^ Higginbotham, Adam (1 April 1993). "Reviews: New Albums". Select. p. 73. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  10. ^ Dee, Johnny (8 July 1992). "New Singles". Smash Hits. No. 355. p. 51. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  11. ^ "Official Chart Pop Gem: Dina Carroll, Ain't No Man". Official Charts Company. 9 August 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  12. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. 1 August 1992. p. 33. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  13. ^ "European Dance Radio Top 25" (PDF). Music & Media. 1 August 1992. p. 30. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  14. ^ "Dina Carroll – Ain't No Man" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  15. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Dina Carroll" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  16. ^ "Dina Carroll – Ain't No Man" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  17. ^ "Dina Carroll: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  18. ^ "Top 60 Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 11 July 1992. p. 20. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  19. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 27 June 1992. p. 21.
  20. ^ "エイント・ノー・マン | ディナ・キャロル" [Ain't No Man | Dina Carroll] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 28 November 2023.