In 1976, Rusty Day formed another version of Cactus in Longwood, Florida , where he had relocated. This version of Cactus featured Steve “Kahoutek” Dansby on guitar, John “Soybean Slim” Sauter (who later played on Ted Nugent ‘s Weekend Warriors ) on bass guitar and Gary “Madman” Moffatt (who currently…
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Collins and Rossington both had serious car accidents over Labor Day weekend in 1976, which slowed the recording of the follow-up album and forced the band to cancel some concert dates. Rossington’s accident inspired the ominous Van Zant/Collins composition ” That Smell “, a cautionary tale about drug abuse that…
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Their next studio album, Agents of Fortune (1976), was their first to go platinum and was again produced by David Lucas. It contained the hit single “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”, which reached number 12 on the Billboard charts and has become a classic of the hard rock genre. Other major…
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The album charted throughout 1976, eventually selling two million copies in the US
After their 1976 album Save the World , frontman Johnson left for a solo project. The band’s album, No Good Woman , in 1978 consisted of three unreleased tracks with Johnson and new material recorded by Malcolm with future Dire Straits keyboardist Alan Clark , vocalist Dave Ditchburn, bassist Frank…
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After the 1976 tour, Townshend took most of the following year off to spend time with his family. He discovered that former Beatles and Rolling Stones manager Allen Klein had bought a stake in his publishing company. A settlement was reached, but Townshend was upset and disillusioned that Klein had…
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On 6 December 1975, the Who set the record for largest indoor concert at the Pontiac Silverdome , attended by 78,000.
The band recorded Sad Wings of Destiny over two weeks in November and December 1975 at Rockfield Studios in Wales. The band stayed sober during the 12-hour recording sessions. The cover depicts a struggling, grounded angel surrounded by flames and wearing a devil’s three-pronged cross, which became the band’s symbol.…
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In December 1975, the band’s record companies released a greatest hits album without input from the band, titled We Sold Our Soul for Rock ‘n’ Roll .
Its second single, ” It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll) ” (December 1975), had a well-known promotional video made for the ABC-TV pop music programme Countdown , featuring the band miming the song on the back of a flatbed truck.