How "Solid As Barack" Was Born

The song "Solid As Barack" didn't start as an SNL spoof, it turns out. At a party at Sugar Bar for legendary singer/songwriters Ashford & Simpson, Valerie Simpson told me it all began during a concert they did in California. Simpson held the mic out to the audience during their performance of "Solid as a Rock," and a couple of women started to improvise "solid as Barack." The whole crowd joined in and Simpson remembers, "It felt so good!" Free inspiration always does! So the couple did the song that way in concert in New York, it later became a spoof number on TV, and now it's a special digitial download feature of A&S's The Real Thing CD/DVD. And where is SNL shot, by the way? Everybody now: 30-Barack!