The Agents were an English

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

band formed in 1980 in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England. The band formed from the remnants of several bands that were playing the American Military bases circuit in Europe in the 1970s. The band were based in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

, Germany and the lineup consisted of vocalist Swig (real name Richard Snow), guitarist Dave Libby, bassist Larry Burr and drummer Nick Bahra. The band were known for an exciting live act and built up a big following in Europe. In 1981 they released "Everybody's Gonna Be Happy", a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

printed in green vinyl with a

gatefold A gatefold cover or gatefold LP is a form of packaging for LP records that became popular in the mid-1960s. A gatefold cover, when folded, is the same size as a standard LP cover (i.e., a 12½ inch, or 32.7 centimetre square). The larger gatefo ...

sleeve. The album (of the same name), release the same year on X Records, produced by Ingo Schantz. The lineup was expanded in 1982 with keyboard player Steve Libby (brother of Dave) from Bristol band Stereo Models, moving the sound from

to new wave. They returned to the studio in 1982 and recorded several tracks for the follow-up album. However, due to lack of promotion by X Records (

Teldec Teldec (Telefunken-Decca Schallplatten GmbH) is a German record label in Hamburg, Germany. Today the label is a property of Warner Music Group. History Teldec was a producer of (first) shellac and (later) vinyl records. The Teldec manufacturing ...

) the band decided to change

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

s. Years of touring Europe had taken its toll on the band and they returned to the UK, but split up before finding another deal. The album ''Everybody's Gonna Be Happy'' was never released as a CD and Teldec has been taken over, so it seems unlikely that the album will ever be re-released. However, secondhand copies of the album and single are popular with collectors of new wave music. Richard Snow, Dave and Steve Libby went on to form the new wave electronic band Force Majeure. , The Agents

Discography

*''Everybody's Gonna Be Happy'' (album, X Records, 1981) *"Everybody's Gonna Be Happy" (single, X Records, 1982)

References

English new wave musical groups English post-punk music groups Musical groups established in 1980 Musical groups disestablished in 1983 Musical groups from Bristol {{UK-rock-band-stub

Discography

See also

References