Two further singles, "Foe Dee Oh Dee" and "Little Darling", both minor hits followed on State records also sung by frontman Alan Williams. In 1976 the band abandoned glammy nostalgia to enter more serious territory. "Under One Roof" (1976) sung by John Richardson was a portrayal of a gay man disowned and later murdered by his father; along with Rod Stewart's "The Killing of Georgie" (1976), it was one of the few songs that tackled the topic of homophobia. Their most successful self-composed hit was the country rock styled ballad "Baby I Know" (1977) sung by Tony Thorpe, which reached number 10 in the UK and Germany in 1977. During this period the band continued to cater for the much bigger European market by continuing to release the more commercial pop singles all featuring lead vocals by Alan Williams such as "Julia" (1976), "Allez Oop" (1976), and "Ooh La La" (1977). The band became a quintet in early 1975 with the departure of Arnesen, and later became a quartet in mid-1976 when Hurd departed the band; to this day the original band has never expanded its line-up beyond four members. Whilst the band continued as a four-piece; Hurd joined Suzi Quatro's band, touring and playing on a number of worldwide hits, which included the Top 20 success "She's in Love with You" in 1979, before re-joining the Rubettes in 1982. In another attempt to get away from the 'doo-wop' glam image, Thorpe insisted that the trademark vocal harmonies were left off of his composition, "You're the Reason Why". Gerry Shury and the band out-voted him. The version with no vocal backing has been available as a bootleg recording in certain parts of Europe. In 1979, Thorpe departed the band in uncertain circumstances; whilst the band has always maintained that he left due to ill health, Thorpe himself has stated that he was fired over musical differences, while Alan Williams maintains there are always two sides to every story. According to Thorpe, Williams then insisted that all of his lead vocals were taken off the upcoming album "Still Unwinding". (Thorpe can be heard on lead vocals on the last "Still Unwinding" track, "Does It Gotta Be Rock 'N' Roll"). His guitar parts and backing vocals remained. After Thorpe's departure, the group's success began to dwindle.