Cockney Rebel's debut album, The Human Menagerie, was released in 1973 and failed to make an appearance in the UK Albums Chart. The single "Sebastian" was also a failure in the UK, but did achieve success in Continental Europe. The lack of UK success for Cockney Rebel left their label, EMI, feeling the band had yet to record a potential hit single. In response, Harley went away and reworked his unrecorded song "Judy Teen", which was released in March 1974 and became a UK Top 5 hit. By the time the single was released, Cockney Rebel were already in the process of recording their second album, The Psychomodo.
From 25 May to 7 July 1974, Cockney Rebel embarked on a major British tour to promote The Psychomodo. Due to the success of "Judy Teen", which was climbing the UK charts while the band were on the tour, some of the concerts saw riots break out and others had to be rebooked at larger venues due to the demand for tickets. As the tour progressed, Cockney Rebel faced growing tensions which ultimately led to their split at the end of the tour in late July. Jean-Paul Crocker, Milton Reame-James and Paul Jeffreys quit the band after Harley refused to comply with their demands to write material for the group, despite the initial understanding that Cockney Rebel was a vehicle for Harley's songs.
Later in 1974, Harley finalised a new line-up for the band and then continued recording and touring under the name Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel. The only remaining member of the original line-up to continue with Harley was drummer Stuart Elliott. In 1975, the band reached the UK number-one spot with "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)", the lyrics of which were vindictively directed at Harley's former band members who, he felt, had abandoned him.
Speaking to Record & Popswop Mirror in November 1974, Harley spoke of The Psychomodo in relation to his songwriting for the next Cockney Rebel album, The Best Years of Our Lives, "I find that I'm not writing in such a surrealistic way anymore. I'm writing slightly more blatant, less subtle. I mean the subtleties of The Psychomodo tended to get lost I think. I think 'Sling It' is probably the best concealed important statement on the album, but it's gone above everyone's head as far as I can make out." He added that The Psychomodo was "very much a concept: psychomodal – stream of consciousness".
