In June 1973 he was asked by Virgin Records's boss Richard Branson to play percussion with Mike Oldfield for the premiere of Tubular Bells (1973), to replace the incapacitated Robert Wyatt.
Moerlen left and returned to Gong several times to tour with Les Percussions de Strasbourg (he created with them Musik im Bauch by Karlheinz Stockhausen and Hiérophonie V by Yoshihisa Taïra at Festival international d'art contemporain de Royan, 1975), and although he recorded You (1974) he left just before the tour promoting that album began.
(1976) album (released as Expresso in the US) with Allan Holdsworth on guitar, following which Malherbe left, leaving Moerlen as the only link with the "classic" Gong line-up.
At this point the band – which included American musicians Bon Lozaga (guitar) and Hansford Rowe (bass) – were playing jazz fusion rather than the Canterbury scene-influenced psychedelia of old.
After spending several years as orchestra pit musician for various musicals, he returned to active service in 1997 when he joined the British jazz-rock outfit Brand X for international touring in 1997.
He then concentrated on putting together a new PMG line-up and repertoire, which resulted in the studio album Pentanine (2004), recorded in Moscow in 2002.