Songoftheday 1/3/14 - And for love's sake each mistake you forgave, and soon both of us learned to trust...

Ashford & Simpson - "Solid"
from the album Solid (1984)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #12 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 11

Today's Song of the Day is from the songwriting/performing duo of Nick Ashford & Valerie Simpson, who met in the early 1960's, and were one of the stable of songwriters for Motown Records, where they penned classic records such as "You're All I Need To Get By" and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". Valerie also recorded some solo tracks, and her single "Silly Wasn't I" made the top-30 on the R&B chart and #63 on Billboard's Hot 100 pop chart.

After leaving the label in the early 70s the two married, and released their debut album as a singing act in 1974. The first single from the set, "(I'd Know You) Anywhere", was a minor pop hit and their first top-40 soul single together. As the decade rolled on, their music became more club-oriented, and they scored their first top-10 on the dance chart in 1976 with "One More Try" from their third album Come As You Are.

In 1978 they had their first top-ten soul hit with "Don't Cost You Nothing", then later that year went to the runner-up spot with "It Seems To Hang On". At the same time, they were writing still for other artists, and their "I'm Every Woman" was a big hit for Chaka Khan in 1978. The next year Ashford and Simpson finally cracked the US pop top-40 with "Found A Cure", which also topped the disco charts. They continued to have success in the clubs and on R&B radio, while having a minor pop hit in 1982 with "Street Corner".

For their 1984 release Solid, the pair moved away from disco back to soul music, and the title track of their twelfth album, a celebration of their marriage and commitment, became their biggest hit ever....

"Solid" became the couple's first and only top-20 pop hit in February of 1985, while going to #1 on the R&B chart, #34 on adult-contemporary radio, and #15 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club play list. Internationally, it was their only top-40 hit in England, but it was even a bigger hit there, topping out at #3.

Their follow-up single from the album, "Outta The World", peaked at #4 on both the soul and the dance charts, but failed to make the Hot 100 pop list altogether. The first single from their next album, "Count Your Blessings", made the same R&B rank and was their last pop hit reaching #84. In 1989, their ballad "I'll Be There For You" went up to #2 on the R&B format, and the following year, they had their last top-40 soul single with "Hungry For Me Again" from the movie Def by Temptation.

The 90s saw the duo more as a heritage act, touring and opening the Sugar Bar in New York. Their last minor R&B hit was "What If" with poet Maya Angelou in 1997. Sadly, after a fight with throat cancer, Nick Ashford died in 2011. But their legacy as songwriters and performers will never go away.

(Click below to see the rest of the post)


In 1988, rapper MC Lyte sampled "Solid" on the title track to her debut album Lyte As A Rock...

The Italian eurodance act USURA also interpolated the record on their 1992 single "Open Your Mind", which went to #7 in the UK and top-ten all across Europe...

Rapper DMX used the record on his mixtape track of the same name in 2010...

Finally, here's A & S themselves live with "Solid"...

Up tomorrow: an Angelic rocker is trying to telephone your aorta.