When Frank Barsalona began his career as an agent (he’d had a brief career as a yodeler as a teen), rock & roll was, to use his expression, “lower than the rodeo,” the absolute bottom rung of show biz. Because of the contempt in which rock and R&B were held, young artists we’re hoodwinked with promises of big-time movie, television, or nightclub careers, weaned from the music that had made them famous, and then discarded.

Frank, who represented the Beatles among others at the old GAC agency, began Premier Talent with a small group of artists – Mitch Ryder, the Who, and Herman’s Hermits – and a simple premise: He respected the music and the artists who made it. He wouldn’t try to create performers suitable for show biz. (Premier Talent not only never represented its artists for film work; it never opened a Hollywood office.) Instead, Frank was determined to create a version of show business suitable for such performers.