Kansas – 1974–1979: Rise to National Prominence

The debut album, Kansas (#174), which was released in March 1974, showcased Kansas’ signature mix of guitars, keyboards, vocals, and Steinhardt’s violin style, which merged American-style boogie-rock with complex, symphonic arrangements and changing time signatures. Their sound bore the marks of late-1960s, early 1970s progressive rock, such as Genesis and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. Promotion by Kirshner and touring behind the debut album and its two follow ups, Song for America (#57) and Masque (#70), increased awareness of Kansas.

On the strength of their 1977 hit single "Carry On Wayward Son" (#11) the band’s fourth album, Leftoverture (#5), released in October 1976, on which Steinhardt added viola and Walsh added vibraphone to their work, was a hit which garnered a lot of airplay on the burgeoning AOR radio format. "Carry On Wayward Son" was the closing song to the 1977 movie "Heroes", featuring Henry Winkler and Sally Fields. The follow up Point of Know Return (#4), released in October 1977, featured the title track (#28) and "Dust in the Wind" (#6), both hit singles.

Both albums had unique album covers, with Point of Know Return depicting a ship teetering over the edge of the world. Both albums have sold over 4 million copies in the U.S. alone. Both "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust In The Wind" were certified Gold singles, selling over one million units each.

During this period, Kansas became a major headlining act for several years, selling out the largest venues available to rock bands at the time (e.g., New York City’s Madison Square Garden). The band documented this era with its first live recording, 1978′s double live album Two For The Show, a snapshot of various performances from the 1977 and 1978 tours supporting Point Of Know Return.

Kansas self-produced their follow-up to Point Of Know Return. The 1979 album Monolith (#10) featured lyrics influenced by The Urantia Book and Native American themes. "Kansas" itself is a toponym derived from the Kansa tribe, whose name is widely believed to mean "People Of The South Wind."[2] The starkly expressive album cover depicts Plains Indians in traditional dress and space suit helmets living in a settlement under the ruins of highway overpasses. While the album produced a Top 40 single in "People of the South Wind" (#23), both the band and the label were disappointed in Monolith’s failure to produce sales or radio airplay close to its two predecessors. Nevertheless, the album went Platinum and the Platinum record hangs in the Kansas State Historical Society.