New FAITH, HOPE & CHARITY CD To Hit The Streets!

[Philles/Motown Gary]

Yes....one of my favorite groups of all time. They were first "The State Department" in the late 60's, then "The Presidents" with "5-10-15-20 Years Of Love" by Van, then became "Anacostia" in '72 with "On And Off" by Van. Here is a medley I posted on youtube of those 2 amazing songs......

Hey John – thanks! The President’s "5-10-15....." album came out on CD a few years ago. [[Marvin Gaye did a version of "5-10-15...." as well for Motown.)

It’s a shame that Anacostia’s early Van McCoy material never made it onto an album. "On And Off" is a beautiful ballad which deserved to be a huge hit.

Let’s not forget Anacostia’s version of Marvin Gaye’s "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby". Van’s production on this is hot! This YouTube video is courtesy of scorpionsoulful’s channel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ3BKw1R4Mk

And lest we forget Van’s early production of the State Department’s version of "Wild Honey, which Van produced later on David Ruffin for Motown. This YouTube video is courtesy of Danny Linden:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QaRUWfvGZI

And, just for the heck of it: State Department’s Van-produced "Be Yourself". This YouTube video is courtesy of Ellezeta DiscoDynamite. How these hip recordings got lost in the shuffle and failed to make it to the top of the charts is mind-boggling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozXhRgZGasc

And, last but not least, Van’s production of State Department’s "I’m Counting On You", which he later produced on Peaches & Herb’s only MCA album. This YouTube video is courtesy of Ellezeta DiscoDynamite:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vRKdRPzM_k