Supergroups were all over the place in the latter half of the 20th century, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. And if you didn’t have your thumb on the pulse of such bands in the 70s, you might have missed a few supergroups that came and went during that decade. Let’s dive into just three rock supergroups from the 1970s you might have missed. Your favorite rock star might have been involved.
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Sonic’s Rendezvous Band
Sonic’s Rendezvous Band, or SRB, might be a total mystery to you if you weren’t super involved with early punk rock. And yet, this band was quite the group, featuring members of MC5, The Rationals, The Up, and The Stooges. Fred “Sonic” Smith, Scott Morgan, Gary Rasmussen, and Scott Asheton made up this somewhat short-lived garage rock punk outfit, which launched in 1974 and came to an end at the tail end of the decade. They even briefly toured as Iggy Pop’s backing band in 1978.
If you can, try to get your hands on the Sonic’s Rendezvous Band box set from 2006 if you want the full experience of this underrated supergroup.
Armageddon
If you were interested in both prog and heavy metal, you might have caught this band in passing. However, Armageddon was not together for very long. This hard rock outfit formed in 1975 and came to a premature end in 1976. They rocked hard while they were together, thankfully, and their sole album from 1975 remains a staple in 1970s hard rock history. This group was made up of Bobby Caldwell (of Captain Beyond, a band we’ll tackle next), Keith Relf (The Yardbirds and Renaissance), Martin Pugh (Steamhammer), and Louis Cennamo (Renaissance and Steamhammer).
We can chalk this short-lived group’s demise up to poor management and promotion. One can’t help but wonder what could have been.
Captain Beyond
Captain Beyond formed in 1971, and this hard rock prog-jazz outfit only lasted until 1973 when they first broke up. The band reunited again in 1976 and would continue to disband and regroup off and on. Their most recent reunion was in 2025. Captain Beyond makes it to our list of supergroups from the 1970s with quite the hefty lineup, which featured the talents of Bobby Caldwell, Larry Reinhardt (Iron Butterfly), Lee Dorman (Iron Butterfly), and Rod Evans (Deep Purple), among others.
They were doomed from the start, unfortunately. Captain Beyond dealt with everything from lawsuits to record label disputes to strained relationships between the members. At least their music slapped. Their self-titled debut 1972 LP is essential listening.
Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images
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