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'''. The song was also sampled by 9th Wonder on Murs's "Silly Girl" in the album ''Murray's Revenge''. Ashford & Simpson were featured singing selections from Simpson's solo albums on the PBS TV show Soul!, hosted by Ellis Haizlip in 1971. They left Motown in 1973, after the albums Simpson recorded for the label received poor promotion and the company refused to release an album of the two of them recording a collection of their most famous songs for other artists.
In 1974 Ashford & Simpson got married, and they resumed their career as a duo with the Warner Bros. album Gimme Something Real. This was followed by the hit singles, "Don't Cost You Nothin'," in 1977, "It Seems To Hang On" in 1978, "Is It Still Good To Ya" in 1978, "Found A Cure" in 1979, "Street Corner" in 1982, and their biggest hit, "Solid", which they recorded in 1984.
In 1978, they were featured as vocalists, along with Chaka Khan, on the hit single "Stuff Like That" from Quincy Jones' Sounds...And Stuff Like That album and contributed to the writing of the soundtrack to The Wiz.
Simpson appeared (with Melba Moorman) as part of the "Blood, Sweat & Tears Soul Chorus" on the band's Al Kooper led debut, Child Is Father to the Man.
On his own, Ashford produced, along with Frank Wilson, the mammoth hit "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me", which was recorded by Diana Ross & the Supremes in collaboration with the Temptations in 1968. He also appeared in the movie New Jack City (1991), as Reverend Oates, an ordained minister who was part of Nino Brown's entourage.
Simpson's brothers were in the record business as well: Ray Simpson replaced Victor Willis in the Village People and their brother Jimmy Simpson, produced the group G.Q., (who had big hits with "Disco Nights" and "I Do Love You"), and was in great demand as a mixing engineer during the disco era.
Recent yearsIn recent times, Ashford & Simpson have recorded and toured sporadically and in 1996, they opened the restaurant and live entertainment venue Sugar Bar in New York City, which has an open mic on Thursday nights where performers have included Queen Latifah and Felicia Collins
. They recorded the album Been Found with poet Maya Angelou in 1996. Around this time, they were also featured disc jockeys on New York's KISS-FM radio station.
On August 16th, 2006, Playbill Online reported that they are writing the score for a musical based on E. Lynn Harris's novel Invisible Life.
[1] In January 2007, they, along with Tina Turner, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Sidney Poitier, director Spike Lee and comedian Chris Tucker, accompanied Oprah Winfrey when she opened up the school for disadvantaged girls in South Africa.
The duo continues to write and score today. They are given writing credit on Amy Winehouse's 2007 CD Back to Black for the single "Tears Dry On Their Own". The track is based on a sample of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's 1967 Motown classic hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". They have started performing their live act in intimate spaces such as Feinstein's at the Regency in New York and the Rrazz Room in San Francisco, and in January 2009, they released a CD and DVD of their live performances entitled The Real Thing. On June 22nd 2009 they made a guest performance at a party at Tribeca Rooftop, New York, to celebrate Virgin Atlantic's Birthday party.
DiscographyAlbumsValerie Simpson- 1971: Exposed (Motown)
- 1972: Valerie Simpson (Motown) - US #162, R&B #50
- 1973: Keep It Coming (Motown)
Ashford & Simpson- 1973: Gimme Something Real (Warner Bros.) - US #156, R&B #18
- 1974: I Wanna Be Selfish (Warner Bros.) - US #195, R&B #21
- 1976: Come as You Are (Warner Bros.) -US #189, R&B #35
- 1977: Send It - (Warner Bros.) - US #52, R&B #10
- 1977: So So Satisfied (Warner Bros.) - US #180, R&B #30
- 1978: Is It Still Good to Ya (Warner Bros.) - US #20, R&B #1
- 1979: Stay Free (Warner Bros.) - US #23, R&B #3
- 1980: A Musical Affair (Warner Bros.) - US #38, R&B #8
- 1981: Performance (Warner Bros.) - US #125, R&B #45
- 1982: Street Opera (Capitol) - US #45, R&B #5 (digital release from Stateside Records) [2]
- 1983: High-Rise (Capitol) - US #84, R&B #14 (digital release from Stateside Records) [2]
- 1984: Solid (Capitol) - US #29, R&B #1 (digital release from Stateside Records) [2]
- 1986: Real Love (Capitol) - US #74, R&B #12 (digital release from Stateside Records) [2]
- 1987: Solid Plus Seven (Capitol)
- 1989: Love or Physical (Capitol) - US #135, R&B #28 (digital release from Stateside Records) [2]
- 1993: Capitol Gold: The Best of Ashford & Simpson (Captiol)
- 1996: Been Found (Hopsack & Silk) - R&B #49
- 2002: The Very Best of Ashford & Simpson (Rhino)
- 2007: The Best of Ashford & Simpson (Stateside Records[2])
- 2008: Hits, remixes and rarities (Rhino) 2CD (Partly released in UK as 5 vinyl 12" singles box-set)
- 2009: The Real Thing ( live in concert ) CD & DVD
SinglesValerie Simpson- 1971: "Can't It Wait Until Tomorrow"
- 1972: "Silly Wasn't I" - US #63, R&B #24
Ashford & Simpson- 1974: "(I'd Know You) Anywhere" - US #88, R&B #37
- 1976: "It'll Come, It'll Come, It'll Come" - R&B #96
- 1976: "Somebody Told a Lie" - R&B #58
- 1977: "Over and Over" - R&B #39
- 1977: "Send It" - R&B #15
- 1977: "So So Satisfied" - R&B #27
- 1977: "Tried, Tested and Found True" - R&B #52
- 1978: "By Way Of Love's Express" - R&B #35
- 1978: "Don't Cost You Nothing" - US #79, R&B #10
- 1978: "It Seems to Hang On" - R&B #2
- 1979: "Flashback" - R&B #70
- 1979: "Found a Cure" - US #36, R&B #2
- 1979: "Is It Still Good to Ya" - R&B #12
- 1979: "Nobody Knows" - R&B #19
- 1980: "Happy Endings" - R&B #35
- 1980: "Love Don't Make It Right" - R&B #6
- 1981: "Get Out Your Handkerchief" - R&B #65
- 1981: "It Shows in Your Eyes" - R&B #35
- 1982: "Love It Away" - R&B #20
- 1982: "Street Corner" - US #56, R&B #9
- 1983: "High-Rise" - R&B #17
- 1983: "It's Much Deeper" - R&B #45
- 1984: "I'm Not That Tough" - R&B #78
- 1984: "Solid" - US #12, R&B #1, Can. #7
- 1985: "Babies" - R&B #29
- 1985: "Outta the World" - R&B #4
- 1986: "Count Your Blessings" - US #84, R&B #4
- 1989: "I'll Be There for You" - R&B #2
- 1990: "Hungry for Me Again" - R&B #40
- 1996: "Been Found" - R&B #80
- 1997: "What If" - R&B #94
Copyright Citations
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