With Cockney Rebel's split, Harley signed to EMI for a further three years and began recording his debut solo album. He flew to Los Angeles in February 1978 to complete it and soon decided to emigrate to the US. He purchased a house in Beverly Hills and stayed there for nearly a year to gain new experience and inspirations. However, Harley later admitted that during his time in America he was never inspired to write a single song. The album Hobo with a Grin was released in July 1978, but was a commercial failure. The lead single "Roll the Dice" failed to chart, as did the second single, a remixed version of "Someone's Coming", which was released in early 1979. On the album, the track "Amerika the Brave" featured Marc Bolan's last studio performance, recorded shortly before his fatal car accident. Harley returned to London at the end of 1978. In February 1979, he recorded his second solo album The Candidate. On 12 May, Harley and Peter Gabriel appeared as guest stars at one of Kate Bush's Hammersmith Odeon concerts during her Tour of Life. The show was staged as a benefit concert for the family of lighting technician Bill Duffield, who had died after a tragic fall earlier on Bush's tour. Duffield had previously worked for Harley and Gabriel. The concert was Harley's first performance on stage for over two years. Released in September, The Candidate was another commercial failure, although its single "Freedom's Prisoner" was moderately successful, peaking at No. 58. In October, Harley performed a one-off show at the Hammersmith Odeon. Following the disappointing sales of The Candidate, EMI dropped Harley from their label. 1980–89 During the 1980s, which he would later describe as his "wilderness years", Harley took time out from the music business while his two children were growing up. In 1980 he formed a new line-up of Cockney Rebel for a short UK tour in July, followed by a UK Christmas tour. The latter tour followed the release of the compilation The Best of Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel in November. During the same year "Somebody Special" and "Gi' Me Wings", two songs co-written by Harley, were released by Rod Stewart on his 1980 album Foolish Behaviour. "Somebody Special", as the album's third single in 1981, reached No. 71 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and "Gi' Me Wings" reached No. 45 on the