It’s only Tuesday and already it’s been an awful week. Particularly for songwriters, but really for the whole world.
Nick Ashford. Had a hit with his wife and songwriting partner Valerie Simpson, quite late in the game, with 1984′s “Solid.” Far more notable and celebrated, though, for the string of hits written for Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. You already know “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing” and ”You’re All I Need To Get By,” and maybe you already know Method Man and Mary J. Blige’s 1994 semi-cover “I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need To Get By.” My tribute comes in the form of Wale’s self-descriptive “The Remake of a Remake (All I Need),” from his great The Mixtape About Nothing from 2008, proof that for as lazy as many a cover or sample is, sometimes its just proof that pop is wise enough to know when to reuse its best ideas.
