Moments / Leaders Interview

[boba]

Hi. Today on my radio show I actually went outside Chicago to Washington, DC to document the origins of one of the favorite groups on my show -- the Moments. I interviewed Mark Greene, who was the original lead singer on the Moments' first hit, "Not on the Outside". Mark met the other three members of the original group -- Eric Olfus, John Morgan, and Richard Gross, at Edgewood recording studios, immediately after they recorded their first single "Baby I want you" / "Pray for me" for the Hog label (which was run by Larry and Fonce Mizell and Freddie Perren). Freddie Perren (later famous as a member of the Motown songwriters known as "The Corporation") became the group's manager. In the late 60s, the group went to New Jersey to meet with Ed Townsend to try to get a record deal. Ed took them to Sylvia and Joe Robinson, who were looking for artists to sign to their newly formed All Platinum records label. This original lineup of the Moments recorded the first hit for All Platinum's Stang sub-label -- "Not on the Outside". In the interview Mark describes how, unbeknownst to him, Sylvia and Joe created a new "Moments" group, featuring Al Goodman and Billy Brown, only including original Moments member John Morgan (who was also replaced after a few more records). Stang records released "My Confession of Love" / "I'm So Lost" (which was actually recorded with the original Moments lineup before "Not on the outside"), billed as solo artist "Mark Greene". Mark was unsatisfied with his treatment by the label and did not continue on as a solo artist.

The Moments replaced John Morgan with singer Donald Spriggs and hooked up with producers Myrna March and Bert Keyes to sign with Stax / Volt records. The new group released two excellent records -- "Anyone Can" and "Which way" for Volt records under the name the Leaders. Unfortunately the records were not promoted well and the group soon broke up. In the mid-70s Greene joined members of a DC-area group called the Exceptions who had previously done backup work for Eddie Kendricks. The group cut an excellent never-released album in 1976 (which is just now available on CD as "The Moments Featuring Mark Greene - Urban Legacy"). Mark continued to record a lot of material from the 70s through today, and much of his material is available at cdbaby.com. The "Urban Legacy" album (which is especially good) is at: https://cdbaby.com/cd/momentsmg3

Check out my interview at the bottom of:

https://www.sittinginthepark.com/interviews.html

thanks for your interest,

Bob

[Jerry Hipkiss]

The Moments replaced John Morgan with singer Donald Spriggs and hooked up with producers Myrna March and Bert Keyes to sign with Stax / Volt records. The new group released two excellent records -- "Anyone Can" and "Which way" for Volt records under the name the Leaders.

Bob, was there any connection between these and the Leaders on Blue Rock?

[boba]

Bob, was there any connection between these and the Leaders on Blue Rock?

I think the leaders on blue rock, fontana, and calla are not connected to the volt group. I will ask him to confirm and let you know. I also meant to ask him about the end product on paramount (who were a similar sounding group also produced by bert keyes and myrna march), I will let you know if there's a connection there. Thanks.

[gazman]

Bob

Great interview, really enjoyed it, what an interesting man.

gary