Bang Tango: Biography

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• L.A. Guns
• Poison
• David Lee Roth
• Cinderella
• Warrant
• Van Halen
• Mötley Crüe

• Flight 16

• Gravy

• Mark Knight
• Kyle Kyle
• Joe Lesté
• Kyle Stevens
• Tigg Ketler

Formed:

Jan 1, 1987 in Los Angeles, CA

Genres:

Rock Music, Metal Rock Music

Decades Active:

1980's|1990's|2000's

Although Bang Tango was often lumped in with the whole '80s glam metal movement (perhaps due to their pretty boy looks and the fact that they hailed from Los Angeles, CA), the hard rockin' quintet was one of the few L.A. glam groups to incorporate funk into its sound -- some time before the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Faith No More made it acceptable to do so. Their lineup consisted of Joe Leste (vocals), Kyle Stevens (guitar), Mark Knight (guitar), Kyle Kyle (bass), and Tigg Ketler (drums), and gained the interest of Mechanic/MCA shortly after the quintet issued the in-concert recording Live Injection in 1987. Their major-label debut, Psycho Café, was issued in 1989, and despite MTV's Headbanger's Ball program giving some air time to their single/video "Someone Like You," the album failed to break the band into the big time.

The group continued to issue albums during the early part of the '90s -- 1991's Dancin' on Coals, 1992's Ain't No Jive...Live, and 1994's Love After Death -- but with the emergence of the Seattle movement, bands like Bang Tango became passé with most of the metal community. The band broke up shortly thereafter, with bassist Kyle joining former Faster Pussycat frontman Taime Downe's industrial project, the Newlydeads, while Leste did some time as a stand-in for L.A. Guns (Ketler and Knight also resurfaced in the group the Worry Beads). In 1998, Kyle and Leste resurrected the Bang Tango name for the 1998 release, Live (on the Cleopatra label). A best-of compilation, Greatest Tricks, saw the light of day in 1999, as did United and Live the same year. In 2001, Leste formed a more modern-sounding alt-metal outfit, Beautiful Creatures, issuing a self-titled debut the same year on Warner Bros., and toured as part of ~Ozzfest. Mark Knight also formed a new band, Gravy.

- Greg Prato, All Music Guide