During his tenure on the show, Andy Gibb was abusing drugs heavily. He was often late for taping, and sometimes he didn't show up at all. A former writer once joked that two shows had to be prepared each week- one if Andy showed up, and one if he didn't.
Originally premiered as "Solid Gold '79", a 2-hour special in January 1980. Due to high ratings, it became a weekly series in September 1980.
It's been alleged that Wayland Flowers, whose scene-stealing puppet, Madame, was a recurring guest, was so high on cocaine that he frequently had to be carried on and off the set. Theme composer/musical director Michael K. Miller remarked, "I was at all the tapings of Solid Gold (and a lot of the Madame's Place (1982) tapings too) and I never once witnessed him as being anything other than fully focused and healthy."
Two episodes were taped every two weeks over the course of four days and nights.
The TV studio was not equipped to record high-quality audio, so in the days leading up to the tapings, musical director Michael K. Miller, his band and singers were at either at East West Studios or A&M Studios recording all the music. At the TV tapings, the live performers sang to prerecorded backing tracks.
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