Sad Wings of Destiny two weeks in November and December 1975 at Rockfield Studios in Wales with producers Jeffrey Calvert and Gereint "Max West" Hughes, and Chris Tsangarides as co-engineer. Calvert and Hughes were the main members of the pop group Typically Tropical who topped the UK charts in 1975 with "Barbados", Gull's first hit. The band stayed sober during the recording sessions, which lasted from 3:00 pm until 3:00 am. Mixing took a week at Morgan Studios in London. David Howells of Gull records commissioned Patrick Woodroffe to provide the cover art, a piece called "Fallen Angel" depicting a struggling, grounded angel surrounded
The Carpenters entitled "", and topped the charts in the US for one week, on January 5, 1974. It also topped the UK chart for 17 weeks (non-consecutive) and became one of the best-selling albums of the decade, ultimately selling more than seven million copies in the US alone. In 1975, the Carpenters had a hit with a remake of the Marvelettes' chart-topping 1961 single, "Please Mr. Postman". The song topped the "Billboard" Hot 100 in January and became the duo's third and final No. 1 pop single. It also earned Karen and Richard their record-setting twelfth million-selling gold single in the