After performing at Expo '70 in Japan, Killingsworth left the Red, White and Blues Band, leaving Steen and Prince to audition new bass players, albeit unsuccessfully.

"The Radar Men from Uranus" played the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, as well as a show in Mexico where they were run out of town by the police (it was where Rick Anderson almost drowned after he was washed out to sea while swimming).

Prince had been hired by newly formed jazz-rock band Journey to record demos, and approached their manager Herbie Herbert, a former Santana roadie and Bill Graham employee.

Herbert booked shows at a local club called the Village, which sold out thanks to themes inspired by the San Francisco post-hippie underground culture such as "The Streaker's Ball" and "Mondo Bondage."

The band pulled out the stops, including Waybill dressed as an early version of "Quay Lewd" throwing "Cocaine" (flour) and "Pills" (candy) at the crowd, who threw it back.

After 18 months, with no success at his own label, Daly, at the suggestion of Rick Wakeman,[5] finally pitched the group to competitor A&M Records, where his former Columbia East Coast A&R colleague and friend, Kip Cohen, had recently headed the A&R division.

Daly personally flew managers Moriarity and Petersen to Los Angeles and Cohen signed the Tubes to A&M, a rare example of cross-company support by major label executives.

The album track "What Do You Want from Life?," which became another of the Tubes' signature songs, satirizes consumerism and celebrity culture and climaxes in a monolog by Waybill who, in a rapid game show announcer's patter, name-checks celebrities such as Bob Dylan, Paul Williams and Randolph Mantooth, as well as well-known products of the period, including the Dynagym exercise machine and a host of American vehicles such as "a herd of Winnebagos" and a "Mercury Montclair..." as part of a list of things that, "if you're an American citizen, you are entitled to" culminating in "a baby's arm holding an apple.

Compared at the time to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the Tubes' stage show was closer to Saturday Night Live with its mix of topical satire and subversive postmodern Andy Kaufman-like routines such as Waybill beating up a couple in the front row (who were planted) during the "Crime Medley," then taking off his disguise as the band launched into "Mondo Bondage" and a huge stack of "Kill Amplifiers" (cardboard) falling on Quay Lewd during the finale of "White Punks on Dope."

In 1975, the Tubes were offered a spot on Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell and NBC's Saturday Night, but manager Mort Moriarty wanted the band to be able to play several songs in a row to show off how tight their transitions were; both shows declined, and without major network TV appearances, the Tubes missed out on huge TV exposure, cementing their "cult" status until the early 1980s.

They played a small American tour of the west coast and a month-long run at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts featuring the band's most elaborate stage show to date.

They were banned in several towns and attracted front page press attention for their dark satirical stage show that spoofed America's consumer culture with dancers, video and sketches.

The band returned and played the dates in the fall before headlining the Knebworth Rock Festival with Frank Zappa, Peter Gabriel and Boomtown Rats.

Everything was satirized, from a beach movie parody for "Sushi Girl," to leather clad S&M hijinks in "Mondo Bondage," to the game show antics of "What Do You Want from Life?"

Several crew members—including Tour Manager Steve "Chopper" Borges, Lee Collins, and Gail Lowe — made frequent appearances on stage in various roles as well.

[citation needed] The Tubes' live shows in the late 1970s and early 1980s were rife with allusions to mainstream film: Dr. Strangelove (1964), Rollerball (1975), Saturday Night Fever (1977), Grease (1978)] then-forgotten B-movies [Wild Women of Wongo (1958), Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)], music (Tom Jones, punk rock, a medley of Nelson Riddle television themes), contemporary pop culture (Patty Hearst, the Viking program), television (Let's Make a Deal, Fernwood 2Nite, the anime Raideen), and literature (Nelson Algren's A Walk on the Wild Side).

[9] The band was signed to Capitol Records by Bruce Garfield and Bobby Colomby, toning down the X-rated sketches for the live shows and redesigning itself as a leaner ensemble with a view to release more accessible hits.

The band worked with Bobby Colomby to find a new musical direction and then met with possible producers including Jeff "Skunk" Baxter before deciding on David Foster.

The Tubes and David Foster recorded "Gonna Get It Next Time" for the soundtrack of Chevy Chase's "Modern Problems" directed by Ken Shapiro.

The band returned to the road in America and Europe with a new stage show designed by Cotten, Prince, and Ortega, featuring new dancers including Cynthia Rhodes, who would leave soon after to star in Flashdance and Staying Alive.

[13] While on tour in Italy the Tubes were forced off stage by local police with machine guns and they escaped the country with the promoter's money after he failed to deliver professional shows.

The single "Sports Fans" was recorded live during halftime of the legendary San Francisco 49ers "The Catch" game; Tubes crew members can be seen on the side lines in the slow motion replay.

The slicker sound added to the tension between the "art" oriented members of the group (Cotten, Spooner and Prince) and the pop-music fans (Steen and Waybill).

The band performed "The Monkey Time" on Solid Gold, and toured the United States, mostly playing theme parks like Six Flags Magic Mountain and colleges for a new generation of fans.

Bruce Garfield and Bobby Colomby were dropped by Capitol in the company-wide layoffs that took place pre-reorganization, and like many of their label mates, the Tubes were released; however that occurred just as they were going on tour in support of the album.

Spooner's next solo project was Mall to Mars, recorded with coproducer Jim Blake and featuring fellow Tubes member Prairie Prince on drums.

Waybill released a solo album produced by David Foster (Read My Lips, Capitol Records) in 1984 and was on-camera talent for the 1985 MTV Video Awards.

The band appeared on The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers on Fox in 1987 and played "Talk to Ya Later," a new song called "No Baby's Gonna Break My Heart," and were also interviewed.

Over 70 interviews were conducted with band members, crew, managers, cast and colleagues such as Styles, Todd Rundgren, Al Kooper, Devo, and David Foster.

After leaving the band, Jane Dornacker performed as stand-up comedian and later worked as a traffic reporter with the team which replaced Howard Stern at WNBC.