They were the first band from the Channel Island of Jersey (between France and the UK) to be signed by the major British label Decca. After years of successful performances in their home region of the Channel Islands – at that time still known as Rockbottom – they expanded to a quintet in 1970 and renamed themselves The Parlour Band. The bandleader, keyboardist and lead singer Peter Filleul sent a demo tape to the London-based record company Decca, whose managers were evidently impressed and invited the band to London in 1971 to sign a contract with the progressive sub-label Deram and record an album. At that time, the five-piece line-up consisted of Peter Filleul, the brothers Craig Anders (vocals, electric, acoustic & slide guitars) and Mark Ashley Anders (vocals, electric bass), as well as Pix Pickford (vocals, guitar) and Jerry Robins (percussion).

At Christmas 1971, they recorded their debut album Is A Friend? at Decca’s Tollington Park Studios in London, produced by Nick Tauber. It was released in May 1972 by Deram exclusively in England. With melodic progressive rock, vocal group harmonies and superb, catchy melodies, they toured extensively as the support act for bands such as Caravan. Despite the musical excellence of their sole LP, they failed to achieve commercial success. However, they did not break up, instead they changed their name to „A band called O", switched record labels and turned to a more commercial style of music, with a stronger focus on pop and funk. With their sole LP, Is A Friend?, they left behind a masterpiece of British progressive rock that is extremely rare and highly sought-after today.