[3] Stunned, Tony Silvester and Luther Simmons re-grouped with new lead singer Cuba Gooding Sr.,[3] who had served as a backing vocalist on some of their previous recordings, and had filled in on tour during McPherson's brief illness.

By this point, however, Tony Silvester was harboring other ambitions; he released a solo album called Magic Touch that year, and left the group to form a production team with DeCoteaux.

Silvester was replaced by Carl Tompkins, and Gooding departed for a solo career on Motown in 1977,[3] which produced two albums; Simmons, meanwhile, left the music industry to work as a stockbroker.

[3] In the wake of Aaron Neville's Top Ten revival of "Everybody Plays the Fool", Gooding resumed his solo career and issued his third album in 1993.

Silvester and Simmons re-formed the Main Ingredient in 1999 with new lead singer Carlton Blount; this line-up recorded Pure Magic in 2001.

Tony Silvester died after a six-year struggle with multiple myeloma on November 26, 2006, at the age of 65,[2] and original member Luther Simmons retired shortly thereafter.