Full Text of HR0076 96th General Assembly
HR0076 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 |
| Representatives are pleased to honor Nickolas Ashford and | 4 |
| Valerie Simpson for their many years of success as the musical | 5 |
| duo Ashford & Simpson; and
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| WHEREAS, Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson's | 7 |
| award-winning collaborations began in 1964, when the duo | 8 |
| recorded an original song, "I'll Find You", as "Valerie & | 9 |
| Nick"; the two met earlier that year in New York at the White | 10 |
| Rock Baptist Church after Mr. Ashford moved to New York from | 11 |
| Detroit in pursuit of a theater career; being homeless upon his | 12 |
| arrival, he happened upon Bronx native Valerie Simpson, who had | 13 |
| studied piano since the age of five and was playing and singing | 14 |
| with the Harlem church's legendary choir; Mr. Ashford joined | 15 |
| the choir and the two began writing songs, selling their first | 16 |
| batch for $75; and
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| WHEREAS, Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson were soon signed | 18 |
| to the legendary Scepter Records as staff songwriters, breaking | 19 |
| through in 1966 when Ray Charles landed a major hit with their | 20 |
| composition "Let's Go Get Stoned"; their success led to both of | 21 |
| them being signed with Motown Records, where they penned the | 22 |
| classic Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell hits "Ain't No Mountain High | 23 |
| Enough", "Your Precious Love", "Ain't Nothing Like the Real |
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| Thing", "You're All I Need to Get By", and "Good Lovin' Ain't | 2 |
| Easy to Come By"; they also wrote hits for other Motown greats, | 3 |
| most notably Diana Ross, who launched her solo career with a | 4 |
| hit remake of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", that was also | 5 |
| produced by Ashford & Simpson; the two also wrote hits such as | 6 |
| "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" and "The Boss"; and
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| WHEREAS, Not content with simply writing hit songs, Nick | 8 |
| Ashford and Valerie Simpson had their own recording/performing | 9 |
| aspirations as well; from 1973 to 1981, they released nine | 10 |
| albums, creating hit songs such as "Send It", "Don't Cost You | 11 |
| Nothin'", "It Seems to Hang On", "Love Don't Make it Right", | 12 |
| "Is It Still Good to Ya", and "Found a Cure"; their hitmaking | 13 |
| continued after a move to Capitol Records in 1982, with "Street | 14 |
| Corner", "Highrise", "I'll Be There for You", and "Solid", | 15 |
| which topped the R&B chart in 1984 and crossed over to number | 16 |
| 12 on the pop singles chart; during their successful career, | 17 |
| the two continued writing and producing songs for other | 18 |
| artists, including Ben E. King, Gladys Knight and the Pips, | 19 |
| Chaka Khan, and Quincy Jones; and | 20 |
| WHEREAS, Ashford & Simpson were the only R&B act to perform | 21 |
| at the historic Live Aid event in 1985, where they brought out | 22 |
| Teddy Pendergrass to join in on "Reach Out and Touch | 23 |
| (Somebody's Hand)" in Mr. Pendergrass' first performance | 24 |
| following his tragic car accident; the duo later starred in |
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| concerts celebrating Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday and | 2 |
| President Bill Clinton's first inauguration; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1996, the duo's "Reach Out and Touch | 4 |
| (Somebody's Hand)" was used as the theme for the Summer | 5 |
| Olympics in Atlanta; in that same year, they formed their own | 6 |
| label, Hopsack & Silk, and released "Been Found", an acclaimed | 7 |
| music/poetry album collaboration with their friend, Maya | 8 |
| Angelou; also in that year, the American Society of Composers | 9 |
| And Publishers (ASCAP) presented them with its highest honor, | 10 |
| the Founder's Award; in 1999, they received the Pioneer Award | 11 |
| from the prestigious Rhythm & Blues Foundation; in 2002, they | 12 |
| joined the pantheon of popular music songwriters when they were | 13 |
| inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame; and | 14 |
| WHEREAS, The partnership between Nick Ashford and Valerie | 15 |
| Simpson is currently hotter than ever; a two week stint at | 16 |
| Feinstein's at the Regency in New York in 2006 was so | 17 |
| successful that they were brought back for three weeks in 2007, | 18 |
| garnering some of the best notices of their career; they | 19 |
| followed their show with concerts in London and Amsterdam that | 20 |
| drew ecstatic audiences, then returned to work on a musical | 21 |
| adaptation of E. Lynn Harris's novel "Invisible Life"; and
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| WHEREAS, Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson are the operators | 23 |
| of the Sugar Bar, a popular Manhattan restaurant known for its |
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| renowned Thursday Night Open Mic events, where anyone can | 2 |
| perform a song with the stellar house band; the Sugar Bar has | 3 |
| featured acts such as Patti LaBelle, Stevie Wonder, Paul | 4 |
| Shaffer, Michael McDonald, Jimmy Buffett, Queen Latifah, and | 5 |
| John Rich; and | 6 |
| WHEREAS, Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson are continuously | 7 |
| involved in community service; Val currently serves as a member | 8 |
| of the ASCAP Board of Directors and as national spokesperson | 9 |
| for the Speaking of Woman's Health organization; Nick currently | 10 |
| serves on the Board of Directors for George Faison's Firehouse | 11 |
| Theatre; together, they regularly perform at important charity | 12 |
| events, such as Atlanta's recent 24th Annual Mayor's MASKED | 13 |
| Ball (Mankind Assisting Students Kindle Educational Dreams), | 14 |
| an event supporting the United Negro College Fund; and
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| WHEREAS, Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson have been the | 16 |
| recipients of many honors and awards; two honors, however, | 17 |
| stand out as special milestones for the duo; Val's special | 18 |
| milestone consists of her name on a street sign in the Bronx | 19 |
| Walk of Fame, in commemoration of her achievements by her proud | 20 |
| neighborhood; Nick's special milestone is an inscription from | 21 |
| Val that says "Nick Ashford slept here" on the park bench in | 22 |
| Bryant Park that he called home when he first came to New York, | 23 |
| symbolizing the long journey they've traveled together since | 24 |
| that fateful day at White Rock Baptist; and
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| WHEREAS, Ashford & Simpson are well known throughout the | 2 |
| music industry and their legions of devoted fans as one of the | 3 |
| most acclaimed and admired creative couples in contemporary | 4 |
| music; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 6 |
| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 7 |
| honor Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson for their many years | 8 |
| of success and wish them continued success and happiness in the | 9 |
| future; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 11 |
| presented to Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson as a symbol | 12 |
| of our esteem and respect.
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