#2: Girls by the Moments and Whatnauts

City: Quebec City, PQ
Radio Station: CJFM
Peak Month: July 1975
Peak Position in Quebec City ~ #3
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
Peak Position on UK Singles chart ~ #3
YouTube: “Girls”
Lyrics: “Girls”

The Moments are a group formed in 1965. After several lineup changes, the R&B group released their debut single “Not on the Outside” in 1968. It reached #5 on CKLW in Windsor (ON), and peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart. Al Goodman was born in 1943 in Jackson (MS). He was in an a cappella doo-wop group from the age of 14. In 1952, Al moved to New York City and got a position as a sound mixer with Sylvia Robinson’s All Platinum Records in Englewood, NJ. After she heard him singing to himself, she revamped The Moments to add Goodman to the lineup.

Another member of the classic Moments lineup was Billy Brown, who was born in 1944 in Swainsboro (GA). His family moved to New Jersey and Brown he started singing in his father’s choir at Friendship Baptist Church in Asbury Park at age four and continued until his teenage years. In 1962, Brown co-founded a vocal group named The Uniques and performed locally. By 1966, they changed their name to, The Broadways. He was asked to join The Moments by Sylvia Robinson in 1968.

Harry Ray was born in Long Branch (NJ) in 1946. By 1965, at the age of 18 Ray joined R&B group The Valtairs. They had a minor hit with a dance tune called “The Ko Ko Mo” that year. He joined the Moments in 1968. (He later sang a duet with Sylvia Robinson in 1973 titled “Sho Nuff Boogie”).

The Moments had a series of Top 15 R&B hits in the late ’60s. In 1970, they recorded a number-one Soul Singles hit with “Love On A Two- Way Street”. It topped the pop chart in Windsor (ON), and climbed to #3 in Toronto and Rimouski (PQ). Several more Top Ten soul singles followed that didn’t have much crossover to AM Top 40 radio. But in 1973, The Moments breathlessly sang “Sexy Mama”.

The Moments (1973 photo for release of “Sexy Mama”)

The single peaked at #3 on the Soul singles chart, #9 on CKLW in Windsor (ON) and #17 on the Billboard Hot 100. Harry Ray wrote the lyrics.

The Whatnauts were a trio from Baltimore (MD) comprised of Billy Herndon, Garrett Jones, and Gerard “Chunky” Pinkney. Each were born in Baltimore.

The Whatnauts on Reaching For the Stars album cover (1971)

The Whatnauts formed in 1969 and signed with Stang Records. They released a Top 20 R&B hit the following year titled “Message from a Black Man”. Another single from their debut album, Introducing the Whatnauts, was “I’ll Erase Away Your Pain”. It peaked at #14 on the Billboard Soul Singles chart in 1971.

In 1975, The Moments and The Whatnauts joined to record “Girls”.

Harry Ray and Al Goodman wrote the lyrics for “Girls”. The lyrics tell the singers like “girls” who are:
a) fat
b) tall
c) skinny
d) small
e) pretty
f) “even the ones that ain’t good lookin'”
g) “the ones that do the best cookin'”
h) “ones with lots of money”
i) “ones with lots of honey”
j) “with sunshine in their hair”
k) who wear perfume
l)) who do “freaky things”

The singer dreams that he’d like to be a magician and grab a magic wand. He’s be just like Houdini and after the count of one, two, three, he’d “have ten girls standing next to me.” The more females the better. And not just any females, but young ones who can be referred to as “girls.” The word girl is sometimes used to refer to a younger adult female, and in professional contexts like, for example ‘showgirls.’

“Girls” reached #3 in Quebec City, and #10 in New York City. It climbed to #3 in the UK.

In 1975, the Moments reached number-one on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart with “Look at Me (I’m in Love)”, written by Harry Ray who provided lead vocals. In 1977, their single “Jack in the Box” reached #7 on the UK Pop Singles chart. The Moments renamed themselves in 1979 when they moved to Polydor, due to a legal dispute over the group name. Consequently, they renamed themselves as Ray, Goodman & Brown. That year “Special Lady” topped the Hot Soul Singles chart, and made it to #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Ray, Goodman & Brown enjoyed modest success through the 1980s, with one more Top Ten hit on the R&B charts in 1986 with “Take it to the Limit”. As Ray, Goodman & Brown they released nine studio albums.

The Whatnauts released two more non-album singles in the early 1980s. They released three studio albums between 1970 and 1972. The group split up in 1983. The following year a single by the group was released titled ironically “This Is It”.

Over the years, The Moments/Ray, Goodman & Brown appeared on eight occasions on Soul Train. They had three appearances on American Bandstand. While Ray, Goodman & Brown appeared on The Merv Griffin Show, The Mike Douglas Show, The Midnight Special, The Toni Tenille Show, The John Davidson Show, and Showtime at the Apollo. 

Harry Ray died at the age of 45 from complications due to a stroke.

Long-time background singer for Luther Vandross, Kevin Owens became a member of the group after Harry Ray’s death. Throughout the 1990s, Brown along with, Goodman and Owens continued touring as Ray, Goodman & Brown. In 2003, they added singer Larry “Ice” Winfree to the group and became a quartet. That same year they were invited by Alicia Keys to back her up on her number-one Hip-Hop/R&B single, “You Don’t Know My Name”.

In 2008, Owens, Goodman, and Brown continued to record together and tour (sometimes with Winfree), performing hits from both the Moments and Ray, Goodman and Brown. In July, 2010, Goodman died at the age of 67 of heart failure while undergoing surgery at a hospital.

In 2014, Winfree was officially welcomed into the group as the replacement for Goodman, with Owens and Brown, bringing the group back to its regular trio status. In 2016, Brown suffered a stroke. Fortunately, after a short absence he fully recovered and continued to perform.

In February 2019, the act Ray, Goodman & Brown performed on the Soul Train Cruise. In 2022, Owens and Winfree were replaced with new members, while Brown carried on as the only original Moment/Ray, Goodman & Brown member.

On April 28, 2025, Ray, Goodman & Brown were inducted into The National R&B Music Society’s Atlantic City Walk of Fame in Brighton Park. Billy Brown was in attendance and accepted the honor.

December 17, 2025
Ray McGinnis

References:
“Soul singer Al Goodman dies at 67,” Associated Press, July 30, 2010.
“Ray, Harry (15 December 1946-1 October 1992),” feenotes.com.
Chris Jordan, “Asbury Park music legend Billy Brown returns for free Ray, Goodman and Brown show,” Asbury Park Press, July 14, 2022.
“The Whatnauts,” Soulwalking.uk.co.
The Moments, “Sexy Mama“, Stang Records, 1973.

CFOM-1350 AM, July 16, 1975