Bang Tango

Although frequently grouped with the glam metal acts dominating the 1980s, the Los Angeles-based hard rock outfit Bang Tango distinguished itself from most peers by weaving funk into its approach at roughly the same moment the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Faith No More rendered such combinations viable. Joe Lesté fronted the quintet on vocals, joined by guitarists Kyle Stevens and Mark Knight, bassist Kyle Kyle, and drummer Tigg Ketler. Mechanic/MCA took notice shortly after the band released the concert document Live Injection in 1987.

Psycho Cafe marked their first major-label effort when it appeared in 1989. Headbanger's Ball on MTV granted rotation to the single and video "Someone Like You," yet the album never elevated the group to mainstream prominence.

Further studio and live releases followed in the early 1990s with Dancin' on Coals in 1991, Ain't No Jive...Live! in 1992, and Love After Death in 1994. The ascendance of the Seattle sound, however, quickly rendered outfits like Bang Tango irrelevant to most metal listeners, prompting the group to disband.

Bassist Kyle later joined ex-Faster Pussycat vocalist Taime Downe in the industrial project the Newlydeads, while Lesté briefly filled in for L.A. Guns and Ketler alongside Knight resurfaced in the Worry Beads. In 1998 Kyle and Lesté revived the Bang Tango name to issue Live on Cleopatra. The retrospective Greatest Tricks surfaced in 1999, as did both United and a second Live set that year. Lesté next assembled the more contemporary alt-metal band Beautiful Creatures, whose self-titled Warner Bros. debut arrived in 2001 and earned the group an Ozzfest slot, while Mark Knight formed Gravy.