before the recording of their debut album, "five-a-side", the former drummer of bees make honey, fran byrne, replaced steve witherington. the single "how long" was taken from this record, and was a significant chart success, achieving a top 20 place in the uk singles chart, and reaching number three in the us "billboard" hot 100 chart in the spring of 1975. the "five-a-side" album did well on its own, too, peaking at number 11 on the "billboard" 200. carrack, the band's keyboardist and chief songwriter, sang lead on "how long", but was not the band's only vocalist. follow-up singles were sung by other band members.