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Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011), and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946), were a husband and wife songwriting/production team and recording artists.

Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carolina, and Simpson in the Bronx, New York. They met at Harlem's White Rock Baptist Church in 1964. After having recorded unsuccessfully as a duo, they joined aspiring solo artist and former member of the Ikettes, Joshie 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. That same year Ashford & Simpson joined Motown, where their best-known songs included "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "You're All I Need To Get By", "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", and "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)". Ashford and Simpson wrote many other hit songs including Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman" (1978) and Teddy Pendergrass's "Is It Still Good to You?" As performers, Ashford & Simpson's best-known duets are "Solid (As a Rock)" (1984 US and 1985 UK), and "Found a Cure" (1979). The duo was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002.

Ingepakt zijn:

1973 Gimme Something Real 
1974 I Wanna Be Selfish 
1976 Come as You Are 
1977 So So Satisfied 
1977 Send It 
1978 Is It Still Good to Ya? 
1979 Stay Free  
1980 A Musical Affair
1981 Performance 
1982 Street Opera 
1983 High-Rise
1984 Solid 
1986 Real Love 
1989 Love or Physical 
1993 The Best Of
2002 The Very Best Of Ashford & Simpson
2008 Hits, Remixes and Rarities
2009 The Real Thing