Solid (Ashford & Simpson album)

Solid
Solid
Studio album by Ashford & Simpson
Released	1984
Genre	R&B; boogie; soul;
Label	Capitol
Producer	Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson
Ashford & Simpson chronology

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	B+^[2]

Solid is the eleventh studio album recorded by American vocal duo Ashford & Simpson, released in 1984 on the Capitol label. The album features the song "Solid", which became the songwriting duo's biggest hit as performers.

Commercial performance[]

The album peaked at No. 1 on the US R&B albums chart. It also reached No. 29 on the Billboard 200. The album's title track peaked at No. 1 on the Hot Black Singles chart, No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart.^[3] Also featured are two other chart singles: "Outta the World" and "Babies".

Track listing[]

All tracks are written by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, except where noted.

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Solid"	5:04
2.	"Outta the World"	5:48
3.	"The Jungle" (from the Motion Picture Body Rock)	2:51
4.	"Honey I Love You"	3:58

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
5.	"Babies"		5:50
6.	"Closest to Love" (from the Motion Picture Body Rock)	Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Phil Ramone, Phil Gladston	4:10
7.	"Cherish Forever More"		3:48
8.	"Tonight We Escape"		3:14

1987 CD release – *Solid...Plus Seven*
No.	Title	Length
9.	"Side Effect"
10.	"It's a Rush"
11.	"My Kinda Pick Me Up"
12.	"Still Such a Thing"
13.	"Make It Work Again"
14.	"Mighty Mighty Love"
15.	"Part 1: Working Man / Reprise: Working Man"

Personnel[]

Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson – vocals
Sid McGinnis – guitar
Francisco Centeno – bass
Valerie Simpson – synthesizer, piano, bass
Ed Walsh, Joseph Joubert – synthesizer
James Newton Howard – keyboards, drum programming
Chris Parker, Brian Brake – drums
Jimmy Simpson, Sammy Figueroa, Ralph MacDonald – percussion
Tim Cox – Linn drums, recording engineer
Vinny Della Rocca, Michael Brecker – saxophone
Joe Mosello – trumpet
Sephra Herman - strings
Ashford & Simpson, Ray Simpson, Ullanda McCullough, Vivian Cherry – backing vocals

Charts[]

Chart (1984)	Peak position
US Billboard Top Pop Albums^[4]	29
US Billboard Top Black Albums^[4]	1
UK Albums Chart^[3]	42

Singles

Year	Single	Peaks
Year	Single	US ^[4]	US R&B ^[4]	US Dan ^[4]	UK ^[3]
1984	"Solid"	12	1	15	3
1985	"Outta the World"	—	4	4	—
1985	"Babies"	—	29	—	56

References[]

^ Ruhlmann, William. Solid review at AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
^ Christgau, Robert (1990). "A". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved August 16, 2020 – via robertchristgau.com.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c "Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "US Charts > Ashford & Simpson". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-10-01.^{[failed verification]}

External links[]

Solid at Discogs (list of releases)

[1] Ruhlmann, William. Solid review at AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-10-01.

[Christgau-2] Christgau, Robert (1990). "A". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved August 16, 2020 – via robertchristgau.com.

[officialcharts.com-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c "Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 4 May 2017.

[us-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "US Charts > Ashford & Simpson". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-10-01.^{[failed verification]}

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