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R&B group
from Washington, D.C., that started out in the 1960s with
a line-up of Mark Greene, Richard Gross, John Morgan, and Eric Olfus, Sr.
Their first
chart success came in 1963, with the release of “Walk Right In”
on the Era label. The song
reached #82 on the U.S.
pop chart.
They were
signed by Hog Records in 1965 and issued the single, “Baby I Want You”
b/w “Pray for Me”.
Then they label-hopped to Stang Records,
which was run by Joe and Sylvia Robinson.
In 1968, they
reached #57 on the pop chart and #13 on the R&B chart with “Not
on the Outside”/”Understanding”. Its
accompanying LP, Not on the Outside,
but on the Inside, Strong! managed #8 on the
R&B album chart. More hits
followed: In 1969, “I Do”,
“I’m So Lost”, “Lovely Way She Loves” and “Sunday”
all made the R&B rolls, with “I Do” reaching the top ten.
Mark Greene,
Richard Gross and Eric Olfus, Sr. left the group
and William “Billy” Brown and Al Goodman joined John Morgan on the
new roster. “Love on a
Two-Way Street” became their first big hit, peaking at #3 on the Billboard
Hot 100 and topping the R&B chart, where it stayed for five weeks in
1970.
John Morgan
was briefly replaced by Johnny Moore, but when Moore failed to appear at a live
engagement, he was replaced by Harry Ray. In the early ‘70s, they
released an eclectic pair of concert albums: Live
at the Miss Black America Contest and Live at the New York State Women’s Prison.
They teamed up
with The O’Jays for 1974’s O’Jays Meet the Moments and The Whatnauts on “Girls Parts 1 and 2”, which
went to #3 in the U.K. In 1975, they reached the U.S.
top 40 and scored their second R&B #1 with “Look at Me (I’m
in Love)”. “Jack in
the Box” reached #7 on the British charts in 1977.
In 1979,
Brown, Goodman and Ray left Stang for Polydor and billed themselves as Ray, Goodman &
Brown. There was a legal issue
with the use of the name “The Moments” which wasn’t
settled until much later. Mark
Greene won use of the name and released Unspoken Moments on the FAJR
label.
Ray died of a
stroke in 1992. Goodman passed
away on 27th July 2010.
Greene continues to perform, record and
tour with Loren Brown and Solomon Cunningham as “The Moments
featuring Mark Greene”.
Much of The
Moments’ output is available in CD form: their live albums and My Thing and The Other Side of the Moments have been re-released, as well as
compilations such as The Best of the
Moments: Love on a Two-Way
Street.
The Moments recordings
Jack in the Box (Al Goodman/ Harry Ray/Tommy Keith)
All Platinum
6146 318 (UK
single)
Sources:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray,_Goodman_%26_Brown
- http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Moments.html
- http://www.discogs.com/artist/Moments,+The
- http://www.amazon.com/The-Moments/e/B000APWCWE
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