Jamaica Girls......with Brenda Hilliard of Faith, Hope and Charity

**blueskies** · 08-17-2014, 01:40 PM

http://musicrareobscure.blogspot.com...ica-girls.html

Always thought Brenda had great voice. Never knew she was in another group after Faith, Hope and Charity. Precious little is written about whatever happened to the group members, except Zulema......who passed away last year. Did find this on Diane Destry.

Destry, Diane

Vocalist who joined Albert Bailey and Brenda Hilliard in 1974 to reform Faith, Hope & Charity, a Van McCoy-produced trio who released a self-titled album the following year. It peaked at #100 on the Billboard album chart and yielded the #1 R&B hit, “To Each His Own”. They followed it up with “Life Goes On”, which reached #13 on the Disco chart and #65 on the R&B chart in 1976.

Other albums on which she appeared include La Diva by Aretha Franklin, The Very Best of Stacy Lattisaw, The Disco Kid, My Favourite Fantasy, The Real McCoy and Rhythms of the World by Van McCoy, Peaches & Herb, Everything’s Coming up Love and The Great David Ruffin: The Motown Solo Albums by David Ruffin, and Z-Licious by Zulema.

As a songwriter, she co-wrote “Tryin’ to Make the Best of It” with Al Blake and Van McCoy.

Diane’s last album with Van McCoy was 1979’s Lonely Dancer. She passed away shortly thereafter of complications from AIDS and drug abuse.

And to end on an exciting note: Coming Sept. 30th 2014
Following up the 2014 worldwide DEBUT reissue of the trio Faith Hope & Charity s self-titled 1975 RCA debut album, Real Gone Music in association with SoulMusic Records is happy to present the follow-up set, Life Goes On, in an expanded edition featuring four bonus tracks also produced by the renowned producer/singer/songwriter Van McCoy.

The original group [[then known as The Lovelles) was from Tampa, Florida, and formed in 1966 with a line-up of Albert Bailey, Brenda Hilliard and Zulema Cusseaux. Their first hit single in 1970 was on Maxwell Records with So Much Love, produced by McCoy who had been instrumental in securing their first record deal. After switching to Sussex Records, Cusseaux left for a solo career, and in 1975, Hilliard [[ Faith ) and Bailey [[ Hope ) were joined by Dianne Destry [[ Charity ) just prior to signing a new contract with RCA, reuniting with Van McCoy as their producer.

Following the success of the No. 1 R&B single, To Each His Own and their best-selling first RCA LP, McCoy brought the trio back into Media Sound Studios in New York to record a follow-up album. Several tracks gained considerable club play and sales, notably You re My Peace of Mind [[#9 Disco Singles, #83 R&B Singles); A Time for Celebration [[#14 Disco Singles) and a special disco single combining You re My Peace of Mind, Life Goes On and Positive Thinking [[#14 Dance Music/Club Play Singles).

Imaginative In its scope and production, each track included a short live spiral based on the opening Life Goes On overture that preceded the title cut; among the highlights are an upbeat medley of the pop classics Cherish and Monday, Monday, along with the McCoy-penned ballads I Want A Man and You ve Gotta Tell Her [[both with additional background vocals from former original member Zulema).

This expanded edition includes a shortened version of Life Goes On along with extended mixes of You re My Peace Of Mind [[close to eleven minutes in length), Gradually and Positive Thinking [[both in excess of seven minutes each). Liner notes are by SoulMusic Records founder David Nathan. Another worldwide CD debut!