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The best-known line-up of the Pirates, and also the only line-up ever given Johnny Kidd's blessing to retain and to record under the name "The Pirates" (Mick Green, Johnny Spence and Frank Farley) reformed in 1976. They played at 'Front Row Festival', a three-week event at the Hope and Anchor, Islington, in late November and early December 1977. This resulted in the band's inclusion, alongside Wilko Johnson, the Only Ones, the Saints, the Stranglers, X-Ray Spex, and XTC, on a hit double album of recordings from the festival. The Hope & Anchor Front Row Festival compilation LP (March 1978) reached number 28 in the UK Albums Chart.[7]

This line-up did its final gig in 1983 (until reforming for the third time in 1999). After that the Pirates kept going on every now and then with many various lines-up, always including Mick Green, in the 1980s and early 1990s with John Gustafson (The Big Tree, Roxy Music) on bass and vocals with various different drummers, then in 1996-1998 with Björn Anders (bass/vocals) and Romek Parol (drums), before reforming with the Green, Spence and Farley line-up in 1999, which continued to perform until 2005. Due to ill-health Frank Farley retired from the live circuit in 2005, to be replaced by Mike Roberts. With Mike Roberts Johnny Spence and Mick Green continued a few more years.

The original line-up featuring Spence, Green and Farley recorded a number of reunion albums in the late 1970s and early 1980s; Out of their Skulls. Later more albums were made under the name Pirates with various line-ups, such as "Still Shakin'" (1987) with John Gustafson playingbass and taking care of vocal duties, Land of the Blind with the Green-Anders-Parol line-up,[8] which was released in 1998,[9] and Skullduggey by the Green, Spence and Roberts line-up in 2006,[10] The band dissolved on the death of Mick Green in January 2010.