Frehley's Comet was an American hard rock band formed and led by ex-Kiss lead guitarist Ace Frehley. The group released two studio albums and one live EP under the moniker, before Frehley released Trouble Walkin in 1989 as a solo act. After the 1980s, Frehley would continue touring with many of the same musicians, sometimes referred to as the Ace Frehley Band. The group's name has been used in tribute bands such as Return of the Comet and Frehley's Vomit.
Naming
The band name was a pun of a pun; Bill Haley & His Comets was a 1950s music group that derived its name as a pun of the typical mispronunciation of Halley's Comet (properly pronounced as "Hal-lee", rhyming with valley, but commonly mispronounced as "Hay-lee"), a comet which orbits the Sun near Earth about every 75 years. Frehley's surname is commonly mispronounced as well: rather than the most frequent pronunciation, "Free-lee", he has explained it is pronounced "Freh-lee" (using a soft 'e' sound) and not "Fray-lee" (using a long 'a' sound).
History
Before forming a band for his post-Kiss career, Frehley had previously released a solo album in 1978 which was the most successful of the Kiss solo albums, and laid the groundwork for his solo career. Frehley left Kiss in 1982, but retained a one-quarter share in Kiss and could not release any solo projects until 1985 without losing that share.
During this time Ace put together a band for his solo work, the original lineup consisted of Richie Scarlet on guitar, John Regan on bass, Regan's Peter Frampton bandmate Arthur Stead on keyboards, and former Kiss and Spider drummer Anton Fig. and demoed 20 songs in various sessions with producers Eddie Kramer, Tony Bongiovi, Chris Kimsey and Vini Poncia.
In May 1985, Frehley's friend from the Bronx, Rob Sabino, who also produced one of Scarlet's solo albums in 1984, replaced Stead (who went on to join Public Enemy) on keyboards. British label Bronze Records reportedly offered the band a deal in the summer of 1985 but withdrew it due to Frehley's "unreliability", before ultimately folding in early 1986. Before the second album, Second Sighting, Ward was replaced on drums by veteran Eric Clapton Band member Jamie Oldaker who played his first show with the band on September 22, 1987, and also played on tour. Tod Howarth was replaced by a returning Richie Scarlet, and Jamie Oldaker by ex-Riot drummer Sandy Slavin (although Anton Fig and ex-Kiss Drummer Peter Criss did perform some of the percussion work on the album). The album featured numerous guest vocalists including Peter Criss and Sebastian Bach. Frehley did not perform live in any form until July 1992.
Frehley put his solo career on hold to rejoin Kiss in 1996. He has since resumed his solo career with Richie Scarlet back in his touring band. After touring Australia together with Gene Simmons and his solo band in 2018, Frehley fired his entire solo band including Scarlet with whom he had played on and off since 1984 and replaced them with Simmons's backing band.
In 2013, Richie Scarlet toured with a band Frehley's Vomit. In 2014, Regan and Howarth reunited in the band Four By Fate. As semi-tribute band, Return of the Comet was formed by members in 2018. <small>(1985–1986)</small>
- Tod Howarth – rhythm and lead guitar, keyboards, piano, lead vocals <small>(1986–1988)</small>
- Billy Ward – drums, percussion <small>(1987–1988)</small>
- Jamie Oldaker – drums, percussion, backing vocals <small>(1988; died 2020)</small>
Timeline
Line-ups
{| class="toccolours" border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 style="float: width: 375px; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; border-collapse: collapse; border: 1px solid #E2E2E2;" width=99%
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! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1984
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1984–1985
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1985–1986
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1986
|-
| valign=top |
- Ace Frehley – lead guitar, lead vocals
- Anton Fig – drums, percussion
- John Regan – bass guitar, drums, backing vocals
- Richie Scarlet – rhythm guitar, vocals
| valign=top |
- Ace Frehley – lead guitar, lead vocals
- Anton Fig – drums, percussion
- John Regan – bass guitar, drums, backing vocals
- Richie Scarlet – rhythm guitar, vocals
- Arthur Stead – keyboards
| valign=top |
- Ace Frehley – lead guitar, lead vocals
- Anton Fig – drums, percussion
- John Regan – bass guitar, drums, backing vocals
- Richie Scarlet – rhythm guitar, vocals
- Rob Sabino – keyboards
| valign=top |
- Ace Frehley – guitars, lead vocals
- Anton Fig – drums, percussion
- John Regan – bass guitar, drums, backing vocals
|-
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1986–1987, 2017, 2018
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1987–1988
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1988
|-
| valign=top |
- Ace Frehley – lead guitar, lead vocals
- Anton Fig – drums, percussion
- John Regan – bass guitar, drums, backing vocals
- Tod Howarth – rhythm guitar, lead vocals, keyboards
| valign=top |
- Ace Frehley – lead guitar, lead vocals
- John Regan – bass guitar, drums, backing vocals
- Tod Howarth – rhythm guitar, lead vocals, keyboards
- Billy Ward – drums, percussion
| valign=top |
- Ace Frehley – lead guitar, lead vocals
- John Regan – bass guitar, drums, backing vocals
- Tod Howarth – rhythm guitar, lead vocals, keyboards
- Jamie Oldaker – drums, percussion, backing vocals
|}
Discography
Studio albums
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Release date
!Title
!Billboard
|-
|July 7, 1987
|Frehley's Comet
|43
|-
|May 24, 1988
|Second Sighting
|81
|}
Sources:
Live albums/EPs
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Release date
!Title
!Billboard
|-
|February 1988
|Live+1
|84
|-
|}
Source:), I Heard an Angel (Scarlet), Rock or Be Rocked (Bob Halligan Jr.), Baby It's You (Mack David, Barney Williams, Burt Bacharach – The Beatles cover)
- Power Station studio demo 1985 – Dolls (Frehley), Into the Night (Ballard), Words Are Not Enough (Jim Keneally/Frehley), The Hurt is On (Frehley/Sabino), The Boys are Back in Town (Thin Lizzy cover). Produced by Tony Bongiovi.
- Vini Poncia demo 1985/86? – Remember Me (Frehley/Cathcart), Wired-Up (Jeff Paris (musician)), The Girl Can't Dance (Danny Tate/Taylor Rhodes). Produced by Vini Poncia.
Filmography
- Live+4 (1988) (VHS)
See also
- List of glam metal bands and artists
Notes
References
External links
- Official Anton Fig Website
- Official Tod Howarth Website
- Official Richie Scarlet website