Usually airing on Saturday evenings, Solid Gold was one of several shows that focused on the popular music of any given week; other examples included the long-running American Bandstand and Soul Train.

"[1] Solid Gold was created by Al Masini as part of his Operation Prime Time production unit, and was developed by Bob Banner.

Operation Prime Time continued to produce Solid Gold until Masini elected to merge it with Television Program Enterprises in 1987 (TPE did not, however, share in any distribution or packaging as Paramount assumed that themselves).

Beginning in September 1984, Paramount, who had previously owned the Golden West facility in the early days of television, moved production of Solid Gold to its studios with a redesigned set.

Miller stayed on for the entire series and composed the theme song for Solid Gold with Academy Award-winning songwriter Dean Pitchford providing the lyrics.

The first episode in January 1980 would become a yearly tradition, as it counted down the Top 50 songs of 1979 in a two-hour television pilot special, titled Solid Gold '79, hosted by Dionne Warwick and Glen Campbell.

[citation needed] Dionne Warwick hosted the first season of Solid Gold, aided by comedian Marty Cohen, with veteran Los Angeles DJ Robert W. Morgan announcing.

The title of the series added the current year to it and American Bandstand announcer Charlie O'Donnell replaced Robert W. Morgan in that role.

Linda Greene of the Peaches and Herb duo ("Reunited" and "Shake Your Groove Thing" hits) was also offered the hosting duties according to the January 2015 TV One Unsung broadcast.

Other dancers who appeared on Solid Gold were: Pam Rossi (1980–1986), Helene Phillips (1980–1982), Laura Melton (1980), Michael Perea (1980), Kahea Bright (1980–1984), Janeen Best (1982–1983 & 1985), Macarena Gandarillas (1982), Tricia McFarlane (1983), Jamilah Lucas (1983 & 1984–1988), Chelsea Field (1983–1984), Kelly Stubbs (1983), Lezlie Mogell (1984–1985), Steve La Chance (1984), Mark Sellers (1984–1986), Arlene Ng (1984), Beverly Jeanne (1984–1986), Nicole Romine (1984–1986), Eileen Fairbanks (1985–1987), Leslie Cook (1986–1988), Gigi Hunter (1986–1988), Audrey Baranishyn (1986–1987), Darrell Wright (1986–1988), Paul Michael Thorpe (1986–1988), Regan Patno (1986–1988), Andrea Moen (1987–1988), and Betsy Harris (1987–1988).

Another example is Chelsea Field, whose movie credits include Commando (as an airline stewardess), Masters of the Universe (she was Teela), and The Last Boy Scout (as Bruce Willis's philandering ex-wife).

During that season, she became a de facto co-host as she took on a more active voice role in the series, regularly announcing the countdown re-caps toward the end of each program.

[citation needed] During the 1986–87 season, the Top 10 was no longer accompanied with dancing from the Solid Gold Dancers but instead was simply listed halfway through the show.

Solid Gold won Robert A. Dickinson three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lighting Direction (Electronic) for a Series (two of which were co-won by Frank Olivas).