The original members were: The band debuted as a recording act in 1973, issuing the non-charting single "I Need Your Love" on Decca in the UK.
By this time, Shep Lonsdale had been added as an official sixth member, playing drums and percussion alongside Gadd on all of Fight Dirty.
Colbeck and Organ left in 1980 amid some turmoil, after having finished recording of the group's planned fifth album, Here Comes Trouble.
Colbeck wrote, "Finally, the touring band line-up of Terry Thomas, John Anderson, Eugene Organ, Steve Gadd, and myself ceased operations once Arista refused to release Here Comes Trouble, and our caring, sharing management company immediately cut off all our money in 1980.
That's a whole other story but, for the record, our final gig was in 1979 at the Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island on Monday 29 October, alongside Foreigner".
[citation needed] Thomas commented, "Arista our new label in the U.S. wanted more songs – our company in the UK – Trident Audio Productions – refused to put us in the studio or spend any more money.
In 1982 Verity left to pursue a solo career and Terry Slesser joined the group as the new lead singer, while Thomas, still a member of the band, began concentrating more on the instrumentation.
For the 1986 Charlie album In Pursuit of Romance, Thomas is the only credited band member, though there are some contributions made by session musicians.
Thomas wrote, "This was basically a contractual album – Steve had gone off to work with Iron Maiden as a drum tech and John had a job in the telecommunications industry.
"[citation needed] After a long lay off, in 2009 Charlie released the first album of new material in 23 years, Kitchens Of Distinction.
It began life as a Terry Thomas solo project, but as the finished product included contributions from Martin Smith and Julian Colbeck amongst others, the decision was made to credit the CD to Charlie.