The early Moments (Mark Greene, Eric Olfus Sr., Richard Gross (R. Horsley) and John Morgan were formed in the mid 60's under Stang Records aka All Platinum Records by way of HOG Records. Joe and Sylvia Robinson owned All Platinum Records (later to become Sugar Hill Records) they were located in Englewood, NJ. In 1968 their was a change in personnel, Greene, Olfus and Gross were fired; Morgan was retained and Billy Brown was hired to take the place of lead vocalist, Mark Greene. At that time Al Goodman was a studio assistant, songwriter and vocalist at All Platinum. Shortly after Goodman, Brown and Morgan came together to reform the group, John Morgan was fired and Sylvia's brother in law Johnny Moore took his place. Moore's time with The Moments was short lived as he was also fired. In 1970 Harry Ray was hired, initially as a background vocalist to replace Moore. Prior to Harry's arrival to the group The Moments had gigs on the books so for a few months Billy and Al sang as a duo. Once Harry, Billy and Al came together to form the now legendary group The Moments there was no turning back, the trio fit together like hand in glove. Harry, Billy and Al stayed together as The Moments until 1979 when they decided to leave All Platinum due to contractual differences. The trio teamed up with former employee Barbara Baker who was head of foreign affairs at All Platinum. Baker and producer/musician Vinnie Castellano came together to form Dark Cloud Productions. Billy, Harry and Al were hired by Baker and Castellano and changed their name to Ray Goodman and Brown. Al Goodman was born on March 31st 1943 in Jackson, MS before relocating to Bronx, NY. While Al was still living in Mississippi he attended Jackson State University and he also sang with a local R&B group known as The Corvettes, one of their songs was entitled Little Miss Sweetness. In 1967 Joe and Sylvia Robinson hired Al Goodman to be a studio vocalist, studio assistant and songwriter. The Robinson’s owned a club in Bronx, NY called The Blue Morocco and that is where the couple met Al Goodman. Sylvia Robinson along with Mickey Baker, who was a prolific guitarist, made up the well known duo known as Mickey and Sylvia. They released the song called Love Is Strange which topped the Pop Charts in 1955. The duo split and Mickey Baker moved to Paris and continued his musical jounery which consisted of writing literature on how to play guitar. Sylvia continued recording songs under Mickey and Sylvia with the aid of Al Goodman. Their recordings were never released for public access and shortly after joining forces the duo came to an end. Sylvia went on to record as a single artist and in 1973 released the well known hit song Pillow Talk on record label Vibration which was also owned by The Robinson’s. In 1968 at the age of twenty four, Billy Brown was hired by the Robinson’s as the new lead singer of The Moments. Prior to joining forces with the Robinson's Billy was the lead singer for The Broadways, a local group from Asbury Park, NJ. The other members were Ronnie Coleman, Leon Trent and Ray Morris. The Broadways auditioned for The Robinson's but were never signed to the label. When the Robinson's were looking for a new lead singer to replace Mark Greene they had Brown in mind. Sylvia sent Larry Roberts (song writer and producer at All Platinum) to Asbury Park to a club called Big Bill's, Billy's usual hangout. After a full day of trying to track him down Larry eventually caught up with Billy and relayed the message that Joe and Sylvia were looking for him. The following morning Billy met with the Robinson's and with Ronnie, Leon and Ray's blessing he was hired as the new lead singer of The Moments. Al, John and Billy immediately rushed into the studio to rehearse for a show which was scheduled to take place in three days at The Convention Center in Baltimore, MD. In eagerness they hit the stage for the first time and sang the song Not On The Outside which was later re-recorded and put on The Moments first album entitled Not On The Outside, But On The Inside, Strong! Billy's most vivid recollection of that evening was the loud screams and applause when they hit the stage that it made his knees buckle. In 1969, Al, Billy, Sylvia and Larry (the writer of Not On The Outside) and a few of the studio vocalists recorded the first Moments album as mentioned above entitled Not On The Outside, But On The Inside Strong! It’s been wrongfully publicized on various media platforms that Mark Greene sang with The Moments (Harry, Billy and Al) as well as Ray Goodman and Brown. The truth of the matter is Green's voice is not on any recordings of The Moments since Billy Brown's inception nor with Ray Goodman and Brown. In 1970 Harry Ray joined The Moments and his vocal ability and unique smooth-silky sound was a perfect fit for Al and Billy. Billy met Harry in his home town of Long Branch, NJ in the mid 60's. Billy at that time originally from Swainsboro, GA lived in Asbury Park, NJ which was seven miles from Long Branch. Billy and Harry had rival groups from the NJ shore area. Harry sang with The Valtairs aka The Establishment and Billy sang with The Uniques later to be known as The Broadways. As fate would have it in 1970 Harry and Billy bumped into each other at The Monmouth Park Race Track in Ocean Port, NJ. Harry mentioned to Billy that he and his guys were going to California in a few days to try and get a break in the music business. Billy mentioned that Sylvia and Joe were looking for talent and for him and his group to go audition, which they did. Joe offered Harry an opportunity to fill the vacant spot with The Moments and after careful considerationn Harry made the decision to leave his group. One of the factors in his decision making was that Joe promised to record The Establishment, which sadly never took place. Harry's inception to the group came right on time because Billy was having problems with his throat which impaired some of his vocal range, so Harry sang lead on a few of the songs. For example the song, If I Didn't Care, previously recored by The Ink Spots in 1939. That song was The Moments next release after Love On A Two Way Street. On that particular song Billy was only able to hit the last two words of the song which was (for you.) Harry did an amazing job on that song and If I didn’t Care was his first recording and release with The Moments singing lead. For the next eleven years before the three left All Platinum and with the aid of their managers Joe and Sylvia, the guys recorded many songs in the states and overseas as well; well known hits such as Sexy Mama, Look At Me, Girls and My Thing just to name a few. Harry, Billy and Al have often made it know on various social media platforms that during those nine years as The Moments under the umbrella of Joe and Sylvia Robinson it wasn’t all peaches and creme. Although the three are grateful for the opportunity the Robinson’s extended to them they never reaped the rewards of their labor. On a good note they had the opportunity to travel the world and appear in TV commercials ex: Mogen David Wine and they appeard on most major TV show’s such as: Soul Train, American Bandstand, Mike Douglas, Oprah Winfrey, Dinah Shore as well as cindicated radio stations world wide. In 1978 prior to Harry, Billy and Al leaving All Platinum and changing their name to Ray Goodman and Brown Billy left the group for four months because he was tired of how they were being treated and tired of working and not receiving the monies owed to him by way of recording royalties foreign and domestic, this went on for ten years. After his short absence and a conversation with Henrietta Goodman (Al's wife) Billy returned to All Platinum and shorty after his return the three were summoned by Joe to go to England to appear on Top Of The Pops which was a TV show which featured various music artists. During their stay in the UK the three met up with Tony Powell (an executive of Phonogram Records.) Powell was in charge of the distribution of song from artists that recorded back in the states for All Platinum Records. Under the direction of Tony Powell and Nigel Grange the three recorded the songs Dolly My love and Rain In My Backyard. The recent recordings and time spent with Tony And Nigel prompted the guys to inqurie about why they haven't received any royalties for songs that were distributed in the UK such as the song Girls. The reply they received from Tony shocked them to their very core because he said that All Platinum was given five million dollars to be distributed to all the artists that recorded under All Platinum. Al was an executive at All Platinum head of A&R so he was able to exam the books and see firsthand that the distribution was sent to Joe and Sylvia. The funds were never distributed to not only The Moments but Shirley and Company (Shame, Shame, Shame) George Kerr (producer/writter) Linda Jones (Hypnotized) to name a few. Needless to say this was the final straw for Billy and the realization and confirmation for Al and Harry as to why Billy left months prior. Within weeks of their return to the states all three made up their minds to call it quits with Joe and Sylvia. Harry, Billy and Al changed their name to Ray Goodman and Brown and were immediately signed to Polydor Record label. The three quicky experienced for the first time what it felt like to receive the rewards of their labor by way of royalty checks; which was something they never received under the management of Joe and Sylvia Robinson. As the last surviving original member of The Moments and Ray Goodman and Brown Billy decided to write a tell all book where he will go into great detail about the good, the bad and the ugly as it pertains to Harry, Billy and Al’s singing career mainly as "The Moments." The book will also include the great memories he has of working with two extremely talented men, his good friends, his extended family, Mr. Al Goodman and Mr. Harry Ray in whom he misses dearly.