Over the past four decades, Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson have penned hits for some of the music industry's foremost stars, including Ray Charles, Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, and Chaka Khan. And more recently, their work has inspired a generation of newer, younger artists who were raised on their timeless hits: Amy Winehouse on "Tears Dry on Their Own" ("Ain't No Mountain High Enough"), 50 Cent on "Best Friend" ("Silly Wasn't I") and Whitney Houston on the ubiquitous "I'm Every Woman."
Although Nickolas and Valerie are best known for being a successful songwriting and production duo, they developed quite a reputation as performers, too. After a three-week stand in New York at Feinstein's at the Regency, Ashford & Simpson decided to tape their live show and chronicle the experience — dubbing it as The Real Thing. Living up to its name, the concert does not disappoint.
Upon review of The Real Thing, Ashford & Simpson managed to squeeze some time out of their busy schedule and settle down for an interview with Clayton Perry — reflecting on Barack Obama, "Gimme Something Real" and the arduous task of writing the score for E. Lynn Harris' Invisible Life.
In this day and age, it's exciting to see real artists performing real music with real instruments. Your latest release, The Real Thing, comes several years after your last studio offering, however. Is there a reason why you chose to reintroduce yourselves with a live concert DVD?
Nickolas Ashford: Well, we hadn't put out any music in a long time and we were doing this show at Feinstein's and people were really enjoying it. Eventually, I said, 'Well, why don't we tape it for posterity?' We didn't know all this was going to happen.
Since this project was completely unexpected, what forces brought it to the masses?
Nickolas Ashford: Sony Records got interested in it. Right, honey?
Valerie Simpson: Actually, we were picked up by Media Push Entertainment who had a deal with Sony. It was Media Push's first project, so they wanted to do something that they could stand behind and they picked this project. So we were thrilled. We were the first thing for them. And Sony loved it. They've been working 100% — actually 150% — on the project, so we all are in love right now.
Well, they had something great to stand behind to push [laughing]. But I love the fact that you're performing in a small, intimate setting. What value do you find in connecting with your fans and how does that elevate your performance?
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