Frehley's Comet

For this band's 1987 self-titled album, seeFrehley's Comet (album).

Frehley's Comet
Also known as	Ace Frehley
Origin	New York City,New York,United States
Genres	Glam metal heavy metal progressive rock space rock
Years active	1984–1988 (Reunions: 2017, 2018)
Labels	Atlantic Megaforce
Past members	Ace Frehley John Regan Anton Fig Richie Scarlet Arthur Stead Tod Howarth Billy Ward Jamie Oldaker

Frehley's Cometwas an Americanrockband formed and led by ex-Kisslead guitaristAce Frehley.The group released twostudio albumsand one liveEPbefore Frehley left the band to release his 1989 solo album,Trouble Walkin'.

The band name was a pun of a pun;Bill Haley & His Cometswas a 1950sRock-n-Rollband that derived its name as a pun of the typical mispronunciation ofHalley's Comet(properly pronounced as "Hal-lee", rhymes with "valley", but commonly mispronounced as "Hay-lee" ), a comet which orbits theSunnearEarthabout every 75 years. It also helped people pronounce Frehley's name properly to connect it to the common mispronunciation of Halley as "Hay-lee", as in "Fray-lee" vs. the common mispronunciation as "Free-lee".

History

Before forming a band for his post-KISS career, Frehley had previously done 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 line-up consisted of Richie Scarlet on guitar,John Reganon bass, Regan'sPeter Framptonbandmate Arthur Stead on keyboards and former Kiss andSpiderdrummerAnton Fig.This band played live for the first time on 30 November 1984,and demoed 20 songs in various sessions with producersEddie Kramer,Tony Bongiovi,Chris KimseyandVini Poncia.

In May 1985, Frehley's friend from theBronx,Rob Sabino,who also produced one of Scarlet's solo albums in 1984, replaced Stead (who went on to joinPublic Enemy) on keyboards. British labelBronze Recordsreportedly offered the band a deal in the summer of 1985 but withdrew it due to Frehley's "unreliability", before ultimately folding in early 1986.

In November 1986 Frehley signed a six-album deal withMegaforce Records.Sabino and Regan had left the band at that point but Regan returned from touring withJohn WaiteandPatti Smithafter the recording deal was signed. In December 1986, before they made their initial record, with producerEddie Kramer,Scarlet was replaced by formerCheap TrickmemberTod Howarthwho played guitar and keyboards.

Frehley's Cometwas supposed to simply be the title of Frehley's next solo album, but Frehley decided to use that as the name of the band rather than release the record as a solo artist.Fig did not tour for the album and was replaced by Billy Ward as touring drummer.Before the second album,Second Sighting,Ward was replaced on drums by veteranEric Clapton BandmemberJamie Oldakerwho played his first show with the band on September 22, 1987 and also did the entire tour for the 2nd album.

Two studio albums and one live album were released under the "Frehley's Comet" moniker (The live album,Live+1featured four songs performed live in concert and one original studio song). The last show under the Frehley's Comet name was in August 1988, opening forIron Maiden,and Howarth and Oldaker left before the end of the year.

In 1989, forTrouble Walkin',his third studio release (produced by Eddie Kramer), Frehley dropped the Frehley's Comet name and put out a pure "Ace Frehley" solo album.Tod Howarth was replaced by a returning Richie Scarlet, and Jamie Oldaker by ex-Riotdrummer Sandy Slavin (although Anton Fig and ex-Kiss DrummerPeter Crissdid perform some of the percussion work on the album).The album featured numerous guest vocalists including Criss andSebastian Bach.The tour ended and the band dissolved after John Regan resigned with immediate effect after a show in Las Vegas on April 11, 1990.Frehley did not perform live in any form for two years after that, 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 withGene Simmonsand 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 2014, Regan and Howarth reunited in the band Four By Fate.The band played various one-off reunion shows in 2017 and 2018 with Frehley, Tod Howarth, John Regan, and Anton Fig together.

Personnel

Members

• Ace Frehley– lead guitar, lead vocals(1984–1988)
• John Regan– bass guitar, drums, backing vocals(1984–1988; died 2023)
• Anton Fig– drums, percussion(1984–1987)
• Tod Howarth– rhythm guitar, keyboards, piano, lead vocals(1986–1988)
• Richie Scarlet – rhythm guitar, vocals(1984–1985)
• Arthur Stead – keyboards(1984–1985)
• Rob Sabino- keyboards(1985–1986)
• Billy Ward – drums, percussion(1987–1988)
• Jamie Oldaker– drums, percussion, backing vocals(1988; died 2020)

Timeline

Line-ups

1984	1984–1985	1985-1986	1986
Ace Frehley– lead guitar, lead vocals Anton Fig– drums, percussion John Regan– bass guitar, drums, backing vocals Richie Scarlet– rhythm guitar, vocals	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	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	Ace Frehley– guitars, lead vocals Anton Fig– drums, percussion John Regan– bass guitar, drums, backing vocals
1986–1987, 2017, 2018	1987–1988	1988
Ace Frehley– lead guitar, lead vocals Anton Fig– drums, percussion John Regan– bass guitar, drums, backing vocals Tod Howarth– rhythm guitar, lead vocals, keyboards	Ace Frehley– lead guitar, lead vocals John Regan– bass guitar, drums, backing vocals Tod Howarth– rhythm guitar, lead vocals, keyboards Billy Ward– drums, percussion	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

Date of Release	Title	Billboard
July 7, 1987	Frehley's Comet	43
May 24, 1988	Second Sighting	81

Live albums/EPs

Date of Release	Title	Billboard
February 1988	Live+1	84

Demos

• Sterling Soundtape June 12, 1984- Back Into My Arms Again (Stead/Frehley), I Got the Touch (Stead/Frehley), I'm An Animal (Stead/Kimsey/Regan), I Will Survive (Stead/Frehley), Breakout (Carr/Scarlet/Frehley), We Got Your Rock (Kupersmith/Frehley). Produced byChris Kimsey.
• Demo 2, 1984/85- Audio/Video (Stead/Frehley), Give It to Me Anyway (Frehley/Stead/Scarlet), Dolls (Frehley). Produced by Eddie Kramer (unconfirmed)
• Summer 1985 demo- Stranger in a Strange Land (Frehley), Back on the Streets (Vincent/Friedman), I Heard an Angel (Scarlet), Rock or Be Rocked (Bob Halligan Jr.),Baby It's You(Mack David,Barney Williams,Burt Bacharach-The Beatlescover)
• 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 Lizzycover). Produced byTony 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 byVini Poncia.

Filmography

• Live+4(1988) (VHS)

See also

• List of glam metal bands and artists

External links

• Official Richie Scarlet Website
• Official Anton Fig Website
• Official Tod Howarth Website