Join Patryce Banks FUNKIN' IT UP with Harry Elston-Friends of Distinction

Join Patryce Banks FUNKIN' IT UP with the "Friends of Distinction's" original founding member, Harry Elston.

About the guest:
Friends of Distinction were one of the most like-able and vocally cohesive singing groups of the late 60's and early 70's. Formed in 1968, Harry Elston, Floyd Butler, Jessica Cleaves and Barbara Love made some of the most memorable pop/soul music of all time.

Elston had been singing with the Hi-Fi's in the mid-60s, the opening act for Ray Charles. In 1968, Hi-Fi members Marilyn McCoo and Lamonte McLemore went on to co-found the Fifth Dimension, while Elston and Butler started the Friends of Distinction.

They signed with RCA Records and hit the popular music scene with a breezy California pop/soul sound, with hits like, "Grazin' In the Grass", "Going In Circles" and "Love or Let Me Be Lonely”.

The Friends of Distinction were quite prolific from 1969-73, releasing 6 albums.

Over the next two decades, there was a rediscovery of the great music that the Friends had made together, and several artists, including the Gap Band and Luther Vandross, covered their biggest hits.

In 2005, original member Harry Elston reformed Friends of Distinction. With a new and exciting lineup, the group currently tours and continues to entertain audiences nearly 40 years after the world first heard the Friends of Distinction.