Some context: Sherbet (aka Highway or The Sherbs) was one of the most prominent and successful Australian rock bands of the 1970s. The 'classic line-up' of Daryl Braithwaite on vocals, Tony Mitchell on bass guitar, Garth Porter on keyboards, Alan Sandow on drums, and Clive Shakespeare on guitar provided their teen-orientated pop style. In 1976 Shakespeare left and was soon replaced by Harvey James. Sherbet's biggest singles were "Summer Love" (1975) and "Howzat" (1976), both reaching number one in Australia. "
The breakup did not last long. In 1980, Sherbet reconvened as The Sherbs with exactly the same personnel they had before the split: Braithwaite, Harvey, Mitchell, Porter and Sandow. The new renamed iteration of the group also changed their approach, as they now featured a somewhat modified progressive new wave sound. This version of the band had some minor success in America, but their almost complete lack of chart action in Australia was in stark contrast to their 1970s heyday.  The Sherbs' first album The Skill was released in October 1980 and reached the top half of the Billboard 200. It was the first album by the group - under any of their names - to chart in the US. An accompanying single, "I Have the Skill", became the band's second US pop chart hit at No. 61. The Sherbs also appeared on the inaugural AOR-oriented Rock Tracks chart issued by Billboard in March 1981: "I Have the Skill" debuted at No. 45. The track peaked at No. 14 - the band's highest position on any US chart,  and The Sherbs also received airplay on US album-oriented rock (AOR) radio stations with "No Turning Back". However, none of the singles from The Skill reached the Australian Kent Music Report top 100, a huge comedown for a band that had been major charting artists in Australia only two years earlier.  The Sherbs's second album, Defying Gravity, followed in 1981, but failed to produce a single that charted in the either the US or Australian top 100. The band did, however, chart on Billboard's Rock Tracks Chart with the album cut "We Ride Tonight" peaking at No. 26 in 1982. The track's mild AOR success was not enough to ignite album sales in the US, though, and Defying Gravity only reached No. 202 on the album charts. A mini-album, Shaping Up, appeared in 1982. It was critically well received and spawned two minor hits in Australia, but the US issue missed the chart completely. The Sherbs were now in a position where the US listening public were largely indifferent to their releases, and - despite their newer, more contemporary sound - the Australian audience had seemingly written them off as a relic of the 1970s. Porter has said that he found this especially frustrating, as he felt The Sherbs were actually writing and performing better material during this era than in their 1970s heyday.  James left The Sherbs at the end of 1982 to be replaced by Tony Leigh (Harry Young and Sabbath, Gillian Eastoe Band) on guitar. In late 1983, the group announced their decision to disband in 1984, they reverted to the Sherbet name and undertook a successful farewell tour of Australia and a final single, "Tonight Will Last Forever". Shakespeare returned to co-write and appear on the final single. Both Shakespeare and James rejoined Sherbet on the final tour. Following the group's break-up, Braithwaite continued his solo career in Australia, and Porter and Shakespeare each became successful record producers. In 1990 Sherbet were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame alongside classical composer and pianist, Percy Grainger.
Had the other band members left?
A: James left The Sherbs at the end of 1982 to be replaced by Tony Leigh (Harry Young and Sabbath, Gillian Eastoe Band) on guitar.
Some context: Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is a jazz-rock American music group. They are noted for their combination of brass and rock band instrumentation. The group recorded songs by rock/folk songwriters such as Laura Nyro, James Taylor, the Band and the Rolling Stones as well as Billie Holiday and Erik Satie. They also incorporated music from Thelonious Monk and Sergei Prokofiev into their arrangements.
Al Kooper, Jim Fielder, Fred Lipsius, Randy Brecker, Jerry Weiss, Dick Halligan, Steve Katz and Bobby Colomby formed the original band. The creation of the group was inspired by the "brass-rock" ideas of the Buckinghams and its producer, James William Guercio, as well as the early 1960s Roulette-era Maynard Ferguson Orchestra (according to Kooper's autobiography).  Al Kooper was the group's initial bandleader, having insisted on that position based on his experiences with the Blues Project, his previous band with Steve Katz, which had been organized as an egalitarian collective. Jim Fielder was from Frank Zappa's the Mothers of Invention and had played briefly with Buffalo Springfield. Kooper's fame as a high-profile contributor to various historic sessions of Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and others was a catalyst for the prominent debut of Blood, Sweat & Tears in the musical counterculture of the mid-sixties.  Kooper, Colomby, Katz and Fielder did a few shows as a quartet at the Cafe Au Go Go in New York City in September 1967, opening for Moby Grape. Fred Lipsius then joined the others two months later. A few more shows were played as a quintet, including one at the Fillmore East in New York. Lipsius then recruited the other three, Dick Halligan, Randy Brecker and Jerry Weiss, who were New York jazz horn players Lipsius knew. The final lineup debuted at the Cafe Au Go Go on November 17-19, 1967, then moved over to play The Scene the following week. The band was a hit with the audience, who liked the innovative fusion of jazz with acid rock and psychedelia.  After signing to Columbia Records, the group released Child Is Father to the Man. The album cover was considered quite innovative showing the band members sitting and standing with child-sized versions of themselves. The album slowly picked up in sales despite growing artistic differences among the founding members which resulted in several personnel changes for the second album. Colomby and Katz wanted to move Kooper exclusively to keyboard and composing duties, while hiring a stronger vocalist for the group, causing Kooper's departure in April 1968. He became a record producer for the Columbia label, but not before arranging some songs that would be on the next BS&T album. The group's trumpeters, Randy Brecker and Jerry Weiss, also left and were replaced by Lew Soloff and Chuck Winfield. Brecker joined Horace Silver's band with his brother Michael, and together they eventually formed their own horn-dominated musical outfits, Dreams and The Brecker Brothers. Jerry Weiss went on to start the similarly-styled group Ambergris.
what was the Al Kooper era?
A:
Al Kooper was the group's initial bandleader, having insisted on that position based on his experiences with the Blues Project,