Following the completion of the Gazeuse! Session, Gong fractiously fell apart; Pierre Moerlen however found himself in New York, where he made the acquaintance of a young American bassist, Hansford Rowe. Returning to France, he gathered up his brother Benoît, Mireille Bauer and a new talent, François Causse on congas. The band, called Gong-Expresso, played the May 1977 Gong reunion shows at Paris Hippodrome, which led to the okay from Virgin Records for a new record.