Nick Ashford, who rose to fame during the 1970s as half of Motown's legendary songwriting duo Ashford & Simpson, passed away on Monday at the age of 70 in a New York hospital after a prolonged battle with throat cancer.  Together with his wife and musical partner, Valerie Simpson, Ashford wrote a handful of classic Motown hits for artists like Diana Ross, Chaka Khan, Marvin Gaye and others, in addition to several classics they wrote for themselves.  Perhaps their best known single was 1984's "Solid", which reached No. 1 on the R&B chart while climbing as high as No. 12 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.