The Free

The Free
File:The Free Eurodance band.jpg
Background information
Origin	Germany
Genres	Eurodance, pop
Years active	1994–1999
Labels	Dance Pool, Elixir

The group was formed in 1994 by Felix J. Gauder and Olaf Bossi, the producers of Das Modul. Together with Charles Simmons, the frontman and singer of "The Free" who is educated in classic music, they composed and arranged their music in a high-tech homestudio. They spent weeks composing and arranging intro, strophe, bridge and refrain so it should be a perfect rhythm, with groove and melody all in one piece. With meticulous detailwork and with great enthusiasm the result was the typical "The Free" chart- and clubcompatible Euro-Pop-House musicstyle and also some sentimental Soul-ballads. The group also had a female singer: Iris Trevisan. But in the middle of 1995 Iris Trevisan left the group for health reasons and she was replaced by a new female singer: Ayla J. The Free have had big hits with "Born Crazy", "Lover On the Line", "Dance the Night Away" and later with "Loveletter from Space".

In an 2003 interview Charles Simmons got the question: "Is it possible, that The Free is making comeback someday?", and he answered: "Honestly, I don't think so. It was fun while it was going on, but we're all doing different things now. Olaf is attending Audio Engineering school, Felix is now producing Jimmy Sommerville, and has a hit project called Novaspace. I'm doing mostly R&B, Hip-Hop and Pop projects, and Alida (Ayla J) is married and lives in the USA. We've all moved on, but The Free was a nice ride".

Members

Women:

1994–1995: Iris Trevisan

1995–1996: Ayla J.

Man:

1994–1999: Charles Simmons

Discography

The Free discography
Studio albums	1
Singles	6
Music videos	4

Studio albums

1996: Crazy Worlds

Singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions
		GER
"Born Crazy"	1994	44
"Lover on the Line"		48
"Dance The Night Away"	1995	45
"Shout"		47
"Loveletter From Space"	1996	58
"Fly"		1999	—
"—" denotes singles which were not released in that country or failed to chart.