In 1975, Black was asked to replace Mick Ronson as lead guitarist in The Spiders from Mars, as they reformed after their David Bowie era.
In 1976 Black left The Spiders, and put Murray in contact with Woody Woodmansey; and together with Phil Plant, Frankie Marshall and eventually Martin Smith, U-Boat came into being.
Bron placed U-Boat as support band on the extensive 1977 Uriah Heep UK and European tour.
Bron suggested that prefixing Woody Woodmansey’s, to the name U-Boat, would for marketing purposes help sales, thus the name was edited just before release of the first album.
They had begun recording their second album, (to have been called U2), when friction between Woodmansey and their manager caused a damaging rift.