NICKOLAS ASHFORD: RIP

[Rob Durkee]

By ROCKIN' ROBIN

Nickolas Ashford, who along with Valerie Simpson formed the legendary pop and soul songwriter team with hits from the 60's through the 80's, died of throat cancer Monday (August 22, 2011) in a New York Hospital. Sources differ as to Ashford's age, but it's believed he was between 68 and 70 years old.

Ashford and Simpson's biggest hit by far was "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," which was first a hit for Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell in 1967, then became a #1 remake for Diana Ross in 1967. The songwriting duo also wrote "You're All I Need To Get By," "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing" and "Your Precious Love" for the duo of Gaye and Terrell.

Their breakthough hit was Ray Charles' "Let's Go Get Stoned" in 1966. According to USA Today writer Steve Jones, they would go on to write hits for Chuck Jackson, the Shirelles, Maxine Brown, the Fifth Dimension, Chaka Khan and Whitney Houston. For the latter two singers, the Ashford and Simpson team wrote "I'm Every Woman."

The duo had two Top 40 hits also with "Found A Cure" in 1979 and "Solid" in 1984-85.

[dukelightning]

That is one of the biggest losses musically this year. BTW, the Diana Ross remake hit #1 in 1970 not 1967 and can be heard on this week's SXM show. This past week's Premiere show featured another Ashford & Simpson song done by Diana Ross, "The Boss". Nicholas Ashford was a huge contributor to R&B in 3 decades. Whatever accolades he has gotten he deserves. Many thanks for providing this music fan a lot of great songs to listen to over the years. RIP. Thanks Rob for the tribute.

This week's show features Quincy Jones' "Stuff Like That" in which Ashford and Simpson do the vocals.

[pizzzzza]

He was such a talented songwriter and perfomer....RIP Mr. Ashford.

[OldSchoolAT40Fan]

I may be a bit late posting to this thread, but I wanted to say that Nick Ashford was a legend, and they wrote remarkable material for Diana Ross, The Fifth Dimension, Whitney Houston, and other artists. It's kind of surprising he, along with Valerie Simpson, didn't write any songs for Michael Jackson or any of the Jackson 5. Though Ashford & Simpson did appear in the closing credits to the 1978 movie The Wiz - which did star Michael Jackson and Diana Ross, I believe.

Their relationship put real meaning to the title of their 1984 hit Solid (As A Rock) for sure. Not to mention that Solid was the only song the duo sung that I really remember.

Sad that Mr. Ashford left us, especially when it was just a few days before Valerie Simpson's birthday.