Solid Gold on 80s TV
by Molly Duke
Filed under 80s TV Shows
“The music has magic.
You know you can catch it.
If you let the songs take control,
the sound starts to glisten,
the more that you listen,
and slowly it turns into gold.”
Solid Gold 80s TV
80s TV would have been nothing without the weekly top ten music countdown that was Solid Gold. Few other 80s TV shows captured the essence of the 80s the way Solid Gold did, featuring hit 80s music, hot Solid Gold dancers, performances from the biggest artists of the decade, and some of the most popular 80s music videos.
The show started out as a one-time special in 1980, with a countdown of the top 40 songs from 1979. It was such a huge hit that a regular, weekly show launched, featuring a countdown of the top ten hits of each week. Most songs were played in clips as the famous and totally sexy Solid Gold dancers performed awesome choreographed routines. Each week, special guests came to perform their hit songs and all the biggest 80s stars stood on the Solid Gold stage during the course of the show’s run.
There were also Solid Gold specials throughout the year, which gave credence to older pop hits but followed the show’s regular format. An annual special honored the show’s humble beginnings with a yearly top 40 countdown. Unfortunately, Solid Gold came a end in 1988, which was the show’s final season.
Solid Gold Dancers
There were plenty of other 80s TV shows that mimicked Solid Gold – other countdown shows and programs that featured popular artists performing their latest hits – but none could rival the show’s truly golden offering: the Solid Gold dancers.
Their routines were complex and their outfits were risqué. They were total 80s icons, with big hair, leotards, and sometimes leg warmers. They danced to the hits and to the artists’ performances. They even danced in the show’s opening and closing segments. Every little girl (including me) wanted to grow up to be a Solid Gold dancer, but none had the chance since the show went off the air before the decade was over (and before we were all grown up).
Ironically, the Solid Gold dancers gave their final performance together, not on Solid Gold, but in the 1988 motion picture, Scrooged
Solid Gold Hosts and Solid Gold Theme Song
According to Wikipedia:
At the start of Solid Gold’s first season (1980), Michael Miller was chosen by Dionne Warwick to be the show’s Musical Director – a role he continued on with for the entire run of the series. Michael also composed the Solid Gold theme song, along with Academy Award-winning lyricist, Dean Pitchford, who wrote the theme’s words.
Dionne Warwick and Marty Cohen hosted most of the first season, setting the stage for a revolving door of Solid Gold hosts. During the 1982-1983 season, hosting duties were transferred to Marilyn McCoo (of the Fifth Dimension) and Andy Gibb. McCoo hosted the following season solo. Other hosts that appeared included Rick Dees, Arsenio Hall, and Nina Blackwood, who later went on to become an MTV veejay.
Lip Syncing on 80s TV Shows
Live performances were unheard of on Solid Gold. Other 80s TV shows may have offered a venue for performing a song live, but Solid Gold wanted audiences to hear the hits just as they sounded on the radio. So, artists lip synced their performances – all artists except one. Stevie Nicks refused to lip sync and instead did her two Solid Gold performances (Stand Back and Nightbird) live. She even brought in her own dancers.
NOTE: One commentator stopped by to say that he was the musical director for Solid Gold and wanted to clarify that about half of the performances were, in fact, live. Scroll down to view the comment.
Mad Love for 80s TV Shows
If we were counting down the top ten shows of the 80s – or the top 40 80s TV shows for that matter – Solid Gold would totally be number one. The music. The dancers. The hosts and the videos! The theme song and the special guests. We loved all of it back then and we totally still do. Long live 80s TV!
I was the Musical Director and Theme Composer for SOLID GOLD throughout its entire run and, although I enjoyed reading what you’ve written, I’d like to correct you on one part of this article. Your statement, “Live performances were unheard of on Solid Gold” is just not true. More than half of the acts on the show sang live. Sometimes they’d sing live to their own instrumental backing track, and sometimes I’d go into the recording studio with my Solid Gold Band to record a new backing track for them to sing to. By doing it this way, we’d have the advantage of having a recording studio-quality band sound (it wasn’t easy to get a good band sound on a TV sound stage in those days) along with the spontaneity of a live vocal performance.
Thanks for stopping by with your feedback. The information about live performances came from a Wikipedia article about the show, and from viewing various performances (Stevie Nicks was the only one that appeared to be live) in an effort to double check what Wikipedia stated. I will let your comment stand as a correction and will stay alert for articles that cite live performances on the show. Personally, I thought the show was lip synched because the performances sounded exactly like the recorded versions of the songs. Not that I minded — Solid Gold was one of the best music/entertainments shows ever — lip synching or not. Someone should bring it back!
Thanks, Molly, for writing back. I have to tell you that the Wikipedia information about Stevie Nicks being the only performer to ever sing live on Solid Gold is just not true! That Wikipedia article has now been corrected. Perhaps the false information came from the fact that I was a stickler for creating tracks that sounded just like the records. We had some of L.A.’s top studio players in the Solid Gold Band, and we made sure to never leave the recording studio until the tracks were perfect. That said, there were still plenty of artists who lip-synched, but more than half of them through the years sang live. Thanks again for all you do…
Michael
That’s absolutely true. I was the assistant engineer on those Solid Gold Band recording sessions. Lots of Sundays in the studio.
(Hello Michael!!)
That’s rad Clyde!
There’s a video on Youtube of Toni Tennille singing “How High the Moon” from Solid Gold. Is there any way you can tell me who plays the bass on this tune?
Thanks
Hm, I totally don’t know! I bet you could Google it, though.
I’ve googled it to death. I was hoping Mike Miller could tell me but don’t know how to email him. I thought maybe he might see my post here.
Thanks
I bet it’s in the liner notes for the CD.
Hello, I am looking to purchase the song “solid gold” sung by Dionne or Marilyn–who’s CD could I find it on–thanks
That’s a good question. I don’t know if that song was ever released as a single or on an album. I checked iTunes and it’s definitely not there. You can totally watch it on YouTube though.
In 2010 I found Paul Davis’ Cool Night performance on YouTube.
Amazing song. Even if it is fake. Still beautiful.
Neat site here. I like the colors.
Oh yes! I totally remember that song! Thanks Richard.
Hi Michael,
Solid Gold is a very very nice teenage memory for me – we saw the show for a short time here in Austria and I never could forget the opening/ending title of this show. I am trying to find/buy versions of the song ‘Solid Gold’ in high quality – can you point me to somewhere I can buy the song (download/CD/DVD)??