Ashford and Simpson

Ashford & Simpson - The Boss (1982)

Motown writers perform a song that they wrote for Diana Ross. The footage was taken from an RCA styli driven video disc (CED) system. This is real vinyl video footage. Sadly the system never took off, but was great for concerts etc.

Nickolas Ashford (born May 4, 1942, in Fairfield, South Carolina) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946 in The Bronx, New York) are a successful husband and wife songwriting/production team and recording artists.

They met in the choir of Harlem's White Rock Baptist Church. After having recorded unsuccessfully as a duo, they joined aspiring solo artist and former member of the Ikettes, Josie Jo Armstead, at the Scepter/Wand label where their compositions were recorded by Ronnie Milsap ("Never Had It So Good"), Maxine Brown ("One Step At A Time"), as well as the Shirelles and Chuck Jackson. Another of the trio's songs "Let's Go Get Stoned" gave Ray Charles a number one U.S. R&B hit in 1966.

Ashford & Simpson then joined Holland/Dozier/Holland at Motown where their best-known songs included "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "You're All I Need To Get By", "Reach Out And Touch Somebody's Hand" and "Remember Me". As performers, Ashford and Simpson's best-known song is "Solid" (1984 US and 1985 UK).