"Solid" is a hit single recorded by the husband-and-wife songwriting duo Ashford & Simpson

Ashford & Simpson

Nickolas Ashford , and Valerie Simpson , were a husband and wife songwriting/production team and recording artists....

. It was featured on their album, also titled Solid and released as a single in late 1984

1984 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1984.-Janury-March:*January 21 – "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood reaches number one in the UK singles chart, despite being banned by the BBC; it spends a total of forty-two weeks in the Top 40.*January 27 – Michael Jackson's...

.

It was written by the two and follows a similar template of most of their hits for other artists, except with a slight 1980s inflection to the music. In the lyrics, the narrators of the song celebrate the fact that, through all the difficulties and problems their relationship has faced, they made their love stronger by learning how to forgive and trust each other, and their love for one another remains "solid as a rock."

It remains as their biggest hit single as performers, topping the U.S. R&B chart

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

, peaking at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

, and peaking at number three on the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 in 1985. It was the 16th best-selling single of 1985 in the UK.

Music video

The video is set on a rainy afternoon in a park. Valerie Simpson exits a taxi in a park on a cloudy day, and escapes from a sudden downpour underneath a bridge. As she sings the opening of the song a cappella

A cappella

A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...

, she's joined by Nick Ashford, who joins in. As the video progresses, they're joined by others, who are also trying to escape the downpour.

Charts

Chart (1984/85)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	12
U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...	1
Austrian Singles Chart	4
Dutch Top 40	3
German Singles Chart	2
New Zealand Singles Chart	1
Swedish Singles Chart	13
Swiss Singles Chart	3
UK Singles Chart	3