The Whatnauts

The Whatnauts were an American soul group from Baltimore, Maryland founded in 1969, Gerard 'Chunky' Pinkney , Billy Herndon and Garrett Jones. The group had several hit singles in the early 1970s, including the socially conscious single "Message From A Black Man" in 1970 on A&I International, "Please Make The Love Go Away" also in 1970 but on Stang Records, and their biggest success "I’ll Erase Away Your Pain" in 1971. They performed with fellow Stang Records artists The Moments for the hit single "Girls" in 1974. The Whatnauts' music has been sampled by numerous artists including their hit "I'll Erase Away Your Pain" in Kanye West's "Late" (2005); "Why Cant People Be Colors Too?" from 1974 sampled in "Oh My God" by A Tribe Called Quest feat. Busta Rhymes (1993); and "Help Is on the Way" from 1981 in both "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" by De La Soul (1991), "Act Like You Know" by Fat Larry's Band (1982), "Sex With You" by Heavy D & the Boyz (1994), "Greatest Day" by Beverley Knight (1998) and "Ain't Leavin Without You" by Jaheim (2010). One of the most consistent R&B aggregations of the '70s, the Moments enjoyed a string of major hits throughout the decade. The Hackensack, NJ, trio introduced themselves and the Stang label with "Not on the Outside" in 1968, and topped the R&B charts in 1970 with the gold-plated "Love on a Two-Way Street," produced by Sylvia Robinson (one half of Mickey & Sylvia). Other major soul smashes by the Moments included "If I Didn't Care" and "All I Have" in 1970, "Sexy Mama" in 1973, and another number one R&B item, "Look at Me (I'm in Love)," in 1975. Members Harry Ray, Al Goodman, and William Brown changed their billing to Ray, Goodman & Brown in 1978 and topped the soul lists the next year with the slickly harmonized "Special Lady" on Polydor. The renamed trio remained potent soul hitmakers through the '80s. ~ Bill Dahl, Rovi Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.