L.T.D.

L.T.D. - Love, Togetherness & Devotion, which they used as the title of the first album - are an aggregation of American funk and R&B musicians who had hits in the 1970s and have released several albums with varying line-ups over the years. Only saxophone player Arthur 'Lorenzo' Carnegie and trumpeter Carle Wayne Vickers remain of the original band, which now features singer Mark Vincent Brown aka Tresure and guitarist Johnny McGhee with Aya Iwata and Herbert Lee Woods on keyboards, Steve Toussaint on bass and Tefere Hazy on drums. They are known best for the singles 'Love Ballad' (1976) and 'Holding On (When Love Is Gone)' (1978), which both went to number one on Billboard's Hot R&B Chart. They formed in North Carolina in 1968 with Carnegie, Vickers and saxophonist Abraham 'Onion' Miller who had played with Sam & Dave's Fantastic Soul Men Orchestra, joined by Jimmy 'JD' Davis on keyboards. Relocating to New York, they added sax player Toby Wynn, drummer Jeffrey Osborne, Billy Osborne on keyboards and synthesiser, singer Celeste Cole, bassist Henry E. Davis and percussionist Robert Santiel for their 1974 debut album 'Love, Togetherness & Devotion', which reached number 54 on Billboard's R&B Chart.

Their second album 'Gettin' Down' went to number 40 on the R&B chart. Guitarist John McGee signed on and drummer Jeffrey Osborne became lead singer for the 1976 album 'Love to the World' which reached number seven on the Billboard 200. The lead song 'Love Ballad' went to number one on the R&B Singles Chart and number 20 on the Hot 100 while the title track peaked at number 91. 'Holding On (When Love Is Gone)' (1978), from their 'Togetherness' album, also topped the R&B Chart and reached number 49 on the Hot 100 and the title track from 'Shine On' (1981) went to number 40 on the 100. The outfit disbanded following their 1983 album 'For You' but picked up again later with more line-up changes for the albums 'Brothers 'n' Love' (1996), 'Marry You' (1999) and 'Bringing It Home' (2007). The current band still tours with an announcement of 2018 appearances promised on their website.