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= Free Agent = From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"For the self-titled album, see Free Agent (album) " Free Agent was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1976. Following the rise of bands taking influence from groups like the New York Dolls and the Velvet Underground, Free Agent joined the genre at the peak of the New York City punk rock club scene. Though they had a turbulent run, the band’s first and second albums, Born to Raise Hell (1979) and Wild Talk (1980) became cult records. The line-up comprised vocalist Stacey Wright, guitarist Izzy Starr, bassist Johnny Allen, and drummer Will Santoro. On stage, the band followed a similar image to the New York Dolls, with androgynous outfits, high heels, and makeup.

Although musically closer to traditional rock n' roll and punk, the band has been cited as a major influence in the glam metal genre for bands such as Guns N' Roses, Mötley Crüe, and Poison.

Formation and Early Days (1976–1978)
Free Agent was formed in Bushwick, Brooklyn, originally under the name Electric Sky, in 1976 by Steven (Stacey) Wright and Johnny Allen, classmates at Bushwick High School. The duo formed with Wright on guitar as well as vocals, and Allen on bass. A friend of Allen's older brother, Will Santoro, joined them on drums, the oldest of the lineup at twenty years old, while Wright and Allen were both seventeen. The band toured New York and New Jersey clubs, performing songs written by Wright as well as covers of bands like Cheap Trick, the New York Dolls, and the Dead Boys. After a year in the circuit, it was becoming evident that Wright couldn't handle the dual pressure of guitar and vocals, and the band searched for a new guitarist to allow Wright to front the band. Through the recommendation of some friends, Wright was given the name of Isabelle Aster, who was from Leicester, England but living with family in East Williamsburg and playing with teenage group Rebel Rebel, named after the David Bowie song. Wright and Allen saw Aster play and after speaking to her after the show, convinced her to try playing with them. Already a prominent talent despite her young age, Aster agreed to join them while splitting her time with Rebel Rebel, with the ultimatum that she would play with Electric Sky for only one year unless they obtained a record deal.

The band became frequent performers at Max's Kansas City and CBGB. At one of the band's shows in late 1978 was Malcolm McLaren, the British manager of the Sex Pistols and former manager of the Dolls. Adept at turning shock value into useful publicity, McLaren was hired by Free Agent and he quickly began a successful development of their image into a blend of the shocking punk image of the Sex Pistols and the glam androgyny of the Dolls. Free Agent signed with Mercury Records in December 1978, with Aster agreeing to stay on with the band and leaving Rebel Rebel for good.

Born to Raise Hell, London, and first tour (1979)
Prior to the anticipated release of their first album, Free Agent released their debut single under Mercury Records, "Give A Little Love / Rebel Boy". "Give A Little Love" was a song written by Wright when he was fourteen. "Rebel Boy" was a song put together by Aster and Wright, with Aster picking out a guitar riff based on a song she'd heard played by a street musician and Wright penning the lyrics in a pub in the middle of the night. Aster, taking the stage name Izzy Starr, was introduced to Johnny Thunders by her uncle, who was a friend of Thunders' family. She and Thunders became lifelong friends, with Thunders producing Free Agent's first record. Written in its entirety by Aster and Wright, their debut album, Born to Raise Hell, was released June 3rd, 1979. (The title track was later popularly covered by Motörhead). Starr was popular in the press following the album, given the success of the album and praise for her playing style, as she was only sixteen years old at the time of the release. The record saw overwhelmingly positive reviews, and peaked on the U.S. charts at number 29. The album also charted in the UK and Japan.

Riding the success of the album, the band went on tour to perform their first shows outside of New York City, the three-month contract taking them to Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, and Manchester before they ended in London with a three-night engagement at London's Marquee Club, during which they filmed a live music video for the title track, released in January 1980. Returning to their home ground of New York City, Starr and Wright continued to write music together in anticipation of a second album.

Wild Talk, World Tour, Blondie, and Columbia Records (1980 – 1982)
Starr and Wright completed work writing a second album in March 1980, and the band went into an extensive stay in the recording studio to complete it, releasing the single "Hell City Strangers / Girlfriends" in April. Both the single and the B-side were well-received, charting ahead of the album release. The single was incredibly popular with Japanese audiences, and the band completed a twenty-six day tour of Japan in May 1980. A second single from the album, "Smackdown / Paralyzed" was released in the end of May. "Smackdown", which Starr wrote, was an ode to the band members' growing heroin addictions. The B-side, "Paralyzed", didn't obtain the same heights of popularity as the previous releases, but still did well. Their second album, titled Wild Talk, was released on June 16, 1980, and was lauded by critics, by far their most popular album, charting at number 14 in the U.S. The album saw similar success internationally, reaching number 31 on the UK Albums Chart.

Starr became friends with Blondie singer Debbie Harry through their time in the New York circuit and the bands often shared the stage, with Starr regularly covering "One Way or Another".

Following the success of Wild Talk, the band was touring the U.S., Canada, the U.K., western Europe, and a second Japanese leg, an endeavor that took the better part of a year. The tour was extensively covered by magazines in both the U.S. and the UK, including Sounds and Kerrang!, with the band appearing on the cover of Kerrang! in February 1981. The tours were extensively photographed and published, with the image becoming increasingly popular. By early 1982, a then-nineteen-year-old Starr had become a sex symbol in the rock magazines, listed number 7 in the Top 10 Female Stars photographed in both 1981 and 1982.

Anticipating the end of their contract, Free Agent signed a new deal worth $200,000 with Columbia Records in July 1982.

Bob Ezrin and Forever Free (1983–1984)
By January 1983, the band had begun to work on a third studio album, but the process was repeatedly interrupted by Starr, Wright, and Allen's heroin addictions. In March 1983, band brought in Bob Ezrin, who had worked with the likes of Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd, KISS, and Deep Purple, to produce the album, titled Forever Free. The band released a single from the album in late April, "Dirty Money / Gypsy". The album was released May 1, 1983, and was received well, just as the two preceding, charting at number 38 in the U.S. and number 57 in the UK. The band toured the U.S., Europe, and Asia from May to August, 1983, before deciding to take a break until winter when they intended to return to the studio. They played sporadic shows in New York clubs like the Ritz and the Peppermint Lounge for the winter into the spring of 1984, continuing to write new material.

Johnny Thunders, Hanoi Rocks, and First Dissolution (1984–1985)
Gearing up for a summertime tour, Free Agent played the Electric Ballroom in London on May 4, 1984. The show was attended by friend Johnny Thunders, as well as Nasty Suicide, guitarist for Finnish glam band Hanoi Rocks, who had played the club the night prior. Thunders, who was planning a month-long run with his solo band the Heartbreakers opening for Hanoi Rocks on a UK leg of their tour, asked Starr to join him for the shows, as there were disagreements with his bassist Richard Hell. Starr agreed, and in September, following the end of Free Agent's tour, she joined up with the Heartbreakers. Starr and Suicide began dating during the tour, the relationship continuing on and off through the summer of 1985, which caused Starr to be more absent from the studio than the others would like.

By the early spring of 1985, the band was so plagued by heroin use and alcohol addiction that there was little point continuing. Tensions between members had been growing since at least 1982, but had reached a breaking point by May, when Santoro, the only member with a wife and young child, decided he was done, quitting the band on May 12 to enter rehab. Allen was the next to leave, citing several of the members' near-fatal overdoses on heroin and expressing a desire to get clean, though he never would. Wright and Starr attempted to find a way to go on, but mutually agreed to scrap the album work and officially end the band in June.

Solo projects, and death of Johnny Allen (1985 – 1987)
Wright formed a solo group in October 1984, returning to the original Free Agent name of Electric Sky, which saw minor success in New York City in 1985 and 1986.

Starr was invited to a new project, the Cherry Bombz, by Andy McCoy in July 1985, following the breakup of Hanoi Rocks. The band consisted of Starr, McCoy, Nasty Suicide, the Clash's Terry Chimes, and Anita Chellamah. The Cherry Bombz toured the United States, playing shows on their own as well as opening a run of dates for Poison, but relationships within the group proved to be volatile, and by the end of 1987 the band had broken up.

On the night of November 11, 1986, bassist Johnny Allen was found unresponsive in a hotel room in San Diego, California. He was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. An autopsy found the cause of death was an overdose of heroin, cocaine, and benzodiazepines.

Reunion, fourth studio album, and live album (1987–1990)
In December 1987, Wright, now borderline clean, approached Starr about restarting the band, and Starr, having just left the Cherry Bombz, agreed. The band reformed that month, with Starr’s cousin Michael Aster on bass following Allen's death the year prior, and re-signed with Columbia Records. The band completed a successful tour of the US and Europe, cut momentarily short by a car accident that left Wright, Starr, and Aster injured, before they returned to the studio, this time in London.

The single "Fifteen / God Save the Queen" was released ahead of the album in March 1988. "Fifteen" was a song collaboratively written by Starr and Johnny Thunders, noted to be a reference to Starr's age when she entered punk rock fame. A popular theory centered around some fans believing a verse of the song referenced a previous sexual relationship between Thunders and Starr. The B-side, "God Save the Queen", was a Sex Pistols cover, the band's first officially recorded cover. The band's fourth studio album, titled Lunatic Sky, was released April 18, 1988. The album didn't find the same success as the earlier albums, charting at only number 156 in the U.S. "Fifteen" was regarded by critics as the only song that achieved any level of success from the album.

The band recorded a live album at New York City's Beacon Theater, titled Boardwalk Angel: Live from New York, which was released in September 1988.

The next year and a half was spent writing material for a fifth album and intermittently touring in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Fifth album, second dissolution: 1990–1991
The single, "Borderline / Black Magic Girl", ahead of the fifth album was released in April 1990. Their fifth and final studio album, self-titled Free Agent, was scheduled to be released in May 1990, but production delays pushed the release back to August, with the album ultimately released August 22, 1990. The album saw slightly more success than the previous album, but still only charted at number 98 in the U.S.

Wright and Starr’s personalities often clashed, and an eventual culmination in a physical fight between the two backstage at a NYC show on September 12, 1990, where Wright, once again addicted to heroin and so high he couldn’t finish the show, led to the rest of the band agreeing to give Wright an ultimatum: either get clean in rehab, or be fired from the band. Unable to complete the former, Wright departed from the band.

For several months, the band struggled to find a suitable replacement that could capture both Wright's raspy vocals and frontman personality, and Wright, showing attempts to manage his addiction, rejoined the band in February 1991.

Following the death of Johnny Thunders in April 1991, Starr relapsed into alcoholism, and the band prepared for their second ending. Plagued with arguments, management issues, and general lack of direction, the band broke up for the second time in May 1991, this time for good.

Musical Style
Free Agent followed the precedent in the New York club scene in a combination of hard rock, punk rock, and glam metal to create their iconic sound. Taking influence from the 'dirty' rock n' roll of the Rolling Stones, the gritty punk of the Sex Pistols, the New York Dolls, the Dead Boys, the Velvet Underground, and the Stooges, and the glam rock image of the likes of David Bowie, Queen, and T. Rex, Free Agent was quick to join the ranks of the New York rock and roll legends.

On stage, the band preferred the English "glam rock" style and blended in punk style with the androgyny made popular by the likes of the Dolls. Wright's glamorous frontman image, the bleached-blond singer who favored bright eyeshadows and lipsticks and was compared to the types of David Bowie, David Johansen, and Marc Bolan, paired oddly with Starr's opposite image of gothic grunge: the slight, dark-haired guitarist often dressed in leather and torn black, and had developed something of a reputation for stripping down near-nude on stage. All of the members could be seen in Johnny Thunders-eque platform boots; Wright might take to the stage, on occasion, in a dress. Journalist Nick Kent described Free Agent as "iconic glam rockers" because of their image, "likened to the New York Dolls in fashion", and "[Starr's] technical talents combined with Wright's gritty vocals gave them a heavy punk rock reputation."

Band Members
Former members

Stacey Wright – vocals, former guitar (1976–1984) (1987–1991)

Izzy Starr – lead guitar (1978–1984) (1987–1991)

Johnny Allen – bass guitar (1978–1984) (d. 1986)

Will Santoro – drums (1978–1984) (1987–1991)

Michael Aster – bass guitar (1987–1991)

Studio albums
Chart placings shown are from the Billboard 200 US Albums chart.


 * Born to Raise Hell (1979, US:#29)
 * Wild Talk (1980, US:#14)
 * Forever Free (1983, US:#38)
 * Lunatic Sky (1988, US:#156)
 * Free Agent (1990, US:#98)

Live Albums
A bootleg recording and video was unofficially released in 1996 of a Free Agent show performed on or around January 15, 1979 at CBGB in New York City.
 * Boardwalk Angel: Live From New York (1988)

Singles

 * "Give A Little Love / Rebel Boy" (1979)
 * "Hell City Strangers / Girlfriends" (1980)
 * "Smackdown / Paralyzed" (1980)
 * "Dirty Money / Gypsy" (1983)
 * "Fifteen / God Save the Queen" (1988)
 * "Borderline / Black Magic Girl" (1990)