DONALD HEPBURN, keyboardist, song writer and founding member of 70s band, Pleasure has died aged 73. The news was posted by his brother and bandmate, Michael, though he gave few details of the circumstances of Donald’s death.
Pleasure was formed via the merger of two local Portland bands, The Franchise and The Soul Masters (which was founded by Donald Hepburn) and with the support of Grover Washington, they won a contract with Fantasy Records where, working with Wayne Henderson, they recorded a slew of successful records, like ‘Joyous’ and ‘Glide’.
Pleasure broke up in the early 80s with various band members going on to other projects. Over time various “new” iterations of Pleasure surfaced each featuring an old band member/members.
