Simply for their songwriting and production work for Motown's Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell ("Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "Your Precious Love" and others), Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson deserve a place in the R&B history books. But their recordings in the '70s and early '80s for Warner Bros. (and, later, for Capitol) were just as formidable, and brought a similar mix of emotional universality and soulful urbanity. LIke Barry White who they undoubtedly inspired, Ashford & Simpson were philosophers of love who delivered their soul-searching on the dance floor. The difference was that the pair was also a married couple whose bond was reflected in their music. If they were feeling as solid as a rock, they'd spell it out in song. If they struggled, they'd share that too in tracks like "Love Don't Make It Right."

The quirk in their Warner Bros. output is that most of their hits were never sold to the public in their fullest versions. You either had to be a DJ or a dancer to hear their promo-only extended mixes, which were often far superior: Boasting jaw-dropping percussion breaks, the 12-inch of "One More Try" is twice as long as its… read more »