Solid Gold (TV series)

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Solid Gold was an American syndicated television series which ran from 1980 to 1988, usually on Saturday in the early evening timeslot. From 1987 to 1988 it was retitled Solid Gold in Concert.

The main premise of Solid Gold consisted of the "Solid Gold Dancers" doing elaborate (and sometimes borderline risqué) dances to the top ten hits of the week. Many other specials aired in which the dancers would dance to older pop hits as well.

[edit] Year-end Top 40 countdown shows

The first episode of the show in January 1980 would become a yearly tradition, as they counted down the Top 50 of 1979 in an epic 2-hour series premiere. The show was called Solid Gold '79 for that one episode. Every year thereafter through 1986, they would host a 2-hour year-end Top 40 countdown show.

All chart information for the Solid Gold countdown was taken from the Radio & Records magazine chart lists, which only tracked airplay (at the time Billboard did not have an airplay chart), and as such, the placement of singles on Solid Gold usually did not match Billboard. For example, "Her Town Too," a 1981 hit by James Taylor and J.D. Souther, lasted six weeks on the Solid Gold countdown, while it didn't even make the Top Ten on the main Billboard chart.

[edit] Hosts

The premiere and much of the first season was hosted by Dionne Warwick and Marty Cohen, known more commonly as "Partyin' Marty Hardy". At the beginning of the 1981-1982 season, Marilyn McCoo of The Fifth Dimension and Andy Gibb took over hosting duties. In the 1982-1983 season Rex Smith replaced Andy Gibb as Marilyn McCoo's co-host and in the 1983-1984 season Marilyn McCoo hosted alone. In September 1984, Rick Dees hosted the show with comedy bits added to the format. Dionne Warwick returned to the show as host in the 1985-1986 season before Marilyn McCoo would return as host in the 1986-1987 season along with Arsenio Hall and Nina Blackwood as co-hosts which would last until the end of the series in 1988.

[edit] The "Solid Gold Dancers"

The weekly one-hour show played segments from the Top 10 charting songs accompanied by the Solid Gold Dancers. Darcel Wynne was the principal dancer on Solid Gold during her five-year reign. She appeared on the show from 1980 to 1984, took most of the 1984-1985 season off and rejoined the cast for 1985-1986. In 1986, Darcel had many speaking roles on Solid Gold, regularly announcing the countdown re-caps towards the end of the show. Wynne and most of the other dancers left the program at the end of that season.

Other long-running Solid Gold dancers included Paula Beyers (1980-1982), Deborah Jenssen (1980-1984), Kahea Bright (1980-1984), Pam Rossi (1980-1986), Helene Phillips (1980-1982), Alexander Cole (1980-1983), Tony Fields (1980-1984), Janeen Best (1982-1983 & 1985),Gayle Crofoot (1982-1985), Cooley Jackson (1983-1986), Lezlie Mogell (1984-1985), Mark Sellers (1984-1986), Jamilah Lucas (1984-1988), Beverly Jeanne (1984-1986) Nicole Romine (1984-1986), Eileen Fairbanks (1985-1987), Gigi Hunter (1986-1988), and Regan Patno (1986-1988). Though Jamilah was not listed as Principal Dancer in the closing credits, she replaced Darcel as principal dancer after she left the show.

[edit] Guest performers and the usage of the Top 10

At times, artists who had a single among the week's Top 10 appeared as guest performers, although the songs were lip-synced and not performed live. Celebrities also occasionally served duty as guest hosts. During the 1986-1987 season, the Top 10 was no longer danced to by the Solid Gold Dancers and instead was just simply listed halfway through the show.

[edit] Solid Gold Hits

In the summer of 1984, a weekday half-hour format called Solid Gold Hits went into syndication; it was hosted by Grant Goodeve and showcased just a general grouping of the hits of the time. The main Solid Gold program was still airing on weekends.

[edit] External links

• "Solid Gold" at the Internet Movie Database
• the Solid Gold dancers photograph gallery