In 1976, King was replaced by Graham "Buzz" Bidstrup on drums, Chris Bailey took over bass duties so Neeson could focus solely on vocals, and they changed their name to just 'the Angels'.

Competing versions of the group subsequently performed using the Angels name, until April 2008 when the original 1970s line-up reformed for a series of tours until 2011, when Neeson and Bidstrup left again.

"[8] During July and August 1974, they ran a series of ads in Go-Set, the national teen pop music magazine, announcing that "The Keystone Angels are coming".

[3] In January 1975, the remaining members performed, as a four-piece, at the Sunbury Pop Festival, then they supported AC/DC during a South Australian tour, and later that year they were the backing band for Chuck Berry.

Later that year, King was replaced by Graham "Buzz Throckman" Bidstrup on drums[2][3] and Chris Bailey (ex-Red Angel Panic, Headband) joined on bass guitar, which allowed Neeson to concentrate on lead vocals.

[3] The band's second single, "You're a Lady Now", was released in July 1977, which was followed a month later by their self-titled debut album, The Angels – also produced and recorded by Vanda & Young at Albert Studios, Sydney.

[12] Neeson's work as front man allowed the band to develop an energetic and theatrical live presence; he typically appeared on stage as a wild extrovert, dressed in a dinner suit, and sometimes a bow tie, and shaking maracas.

The Angels were often seen as a punk/new wave outfit, yet the high energy sound, powerful guitar riffing and muscular yet supple rhythm section took the band beyond such easy categorisations.

[26] Karen Hughes of the Canberra Times described the group's performance in New York, where the "relentless, hard edged, machine gun-like attack won from an extremely difficult audience dotted with rock luminaries Mick Ronson, Ian Hunter and Karla Devito, if nothing else, respect.

[2][13] Their performance of "No Secrets" on Countdown in August was described by The Australian Women's Weekly's Greg Flynn, "A towering and courteous gentleman named Doc Neeson, nattily dressed in white dinner jacket and sneakers, was given the nod by a floor manager and loped onto a black-and-white chequered set.

Music erupted from amplifiers dotted around the studio and Doc launched himself into a song about an actress who 'lives in a tower armed with defences she learnt from her mother and friends'.

"[33] Los Angeles-based session musician, Jim Hilbun (Holly Penfield, see Ian Ritchie), was recruited as his replacement on bass guitar, vocals, saxophone and organ.

[2][3] Bailey joined Adelaide-based rock group, Gotham City, in late 1982 alongside Bidstrup; two years later the pair were founders of GANGgajang in Sydney.

[4] Shane Pinnegar of 100% Rock Magazine revisited the album in May 2014 and felt it "wasn't so much a left turn for The Angels as a widening of their sound palette... [Hilbun was] to surprise the band as much as the fans when he proved to be a very capable sax player... a fascinating album, a collision of intellectual observational lyricism, a manic confrontational mix of personalities in the band, and a need to evolve slightly beyond the straight pub rock they had made a name for themselves playing for the previous ten years.

[37] In April 2010 Neeson appeared on ABC-TV's pop music quiz, Spicks and Specks, series 6, episode 12, where he claimed that Ray Davies (lead singer of the Kinks) was "scared about the applause we got as a support act.

"[2] The Canberra Times summarised an article from US-based, Musician, as "a glowing review... [which] recounted the long history of bum deals and legal problems which have kept The Angels off the American market" with the album showing a "wonderfully off-hand confidence.

Red Back Fever, their tenth studio album, had partly been recorded in Memphis with Terry Manning producing the basic tracks during the Beyond Salvation sessions, and was released in November 1991.

[13] Also in that month Mushroom re-issued the album as a two-CD set: Red Back Fever / Left Hand Drive; the latter contained unreleased and rare tracks.

[2][3] In July 1997, the Angels hit the road with the Lounge Lizard Tour, with guest vocalists Angry Anderson (from Rose Tattoo) and Ross Wilson (from Daddy Cool, Mondo Rock).

[56] In the episode Neeson described pub venues, "The stench would just hit you and the atmosphere was overwhelming, like a real energy built out of the claustrophobia... We looked forward to playing at the Lifesaver 'cause it was the sort of thing where you could go in and try anything.

"[57] In the meantime, Neeson, Hilbun and Westfield chief executive David Lowy formed Red Phoenix, releasing an album produced by Terry Manning and touring briefly during 2005.

He used the line-up of Hilbun, Lowy, Dave Leslie (ex-Baby Animals) on guitar and Paul Wheeler (ex-Icehouse), who was later replaced by Mick Skelton, on drums.

[57] In October 2007, Neeson's band joined the Tour de Force, which performed in the Middle East for 13 shows in 16 days for Australian service personnel in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait.

[63] It was directed by Ben Ulm, produced by Stu McCarney, edited by Francine Thomson, audio mixed by Mark Tanner and original score by Rick Brewster.

[42] Their 40-year journey is akin to a Shakespearean epic, with countless line-up changes, members taking legal action against each other, brothers falling out, incredible highs and stupid dumb lows ...

[citation needed] In May 2011, Bailey and the Brewsters recruited drummer Nick Norton, and Screaming Jets singer (and MMM FM radio DJ), Dave Gleeson to front the Angels.

In November and December 2012, the Angels with Dave Gleeson joined the Baby Animals and the Hoodoo Gurus for the national A Day on the Green tour,[66] resulting in a headlining show in front of 8,500 in Perth.

[70] The following year, the Brewster brothers joined Dune Rats in the ABC studios to record a cover of "Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again" for triple j's Like a Version segment.

[73] In January 2013, it was announced that Chris Bailey had been diagnosed with a throat cancer, and his place on bass guitar with the Angels was filled by John Brewster's son, Sam.

"[78] He performed two songs; other artists at the Enmore Theatre were members of Midnight Oil, Rose Tattoo, Noiseworks, Cold Chisel, Dragon and Mi-Sex.