They garnered fame as teen idols in the 1970s after their prime-time series debuted as a summer replacement for The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour in 1974.

The resulting popularity led to their Saturday-morning half-hour sketch comedy series for CBS, The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show, which ran from 1974 to 1975.

[1] They also released numerous hit singles during this time for producer Bernie Taupin, including "So You Are a Star" (1974), "Rendezvous" (1975), "Lonely School Year" (1975), and "Help Wanted" (1976).

[2] The three brothers had been raised in Portland, Oregon, by their Italian American mother who was also a singer and encouraged the boys to play music.

To support the singles, the group toured with several popular music acts, such as Buffalo Springfield, The Supremes, Johnny Nash, and The Buckinghams.

[4] By October 1968, The New Yorkers had switched to Jerry Dennon's Pacific Northwest label Jerden Records and issued "Adrianne" (#906), following that up with "Land of Ur" (#908) in March 1969.

[3] Under the name Hudson, the US Rocket label released "If You Really Need Me" (MCA-40141), which was recorded in France and produced by Taupin and mixed by Andy Scott.

[8] Their first release as The Hudson Brothers came in September 1974 with their single "So You Are a Star" on Casablanca Records (NES 0108),[3] which peaked on the Billboard charts at #21 in November 1974.

The song was taken from the "Hollywood Situation" LP, but the single version featured added percussion and was backed with the non-LP track, "Me and My Guitar".

[3] John Rockwell of The New York Times, reviewing one of the group's summer shows in 1975, wrote: They make a hard rock sound and, at least in a club context, they try to project a raunchier image than television might lead one to expect...

A second Arista single, "I Don't Wanna Be Lonely," failed to chart and was backed with the non-LP track, "Pauline," which the Hudsons wrote and produced.

Richard Unterberger of AllMusic wrote of the group: "Those that remember the Hudson Brothers usually think of them as a bubblegum act of sorts, due to the fact that they hosted some comedy-variety TV shows in the mid-'70s.

But they were in fact a real group, extremely Anglophile in orientation, with heavy debts to the Beatles and Beach Boys, and occasional hints of the Kinks.

"[13] The long (2:45) introduction to The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show was featured in 2021 in the Family Guy episode "And Then There's Fraud".