Bang Tango

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 Lesté (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 Joe Lesté 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 Kyle and Joe Lesté 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, Lesté 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. Bang Tango band members (1987-1993) Joe Lesté - vocals Mark Knight - guitar Kyle Stevens- guitar Kyle Kyle - bass Tigg Ketler (born Robert Ketler) - drums (1993-1995) Joe Lesté - vocals Mark Knight - guitar Matt Price - guitar Kyle Kyle - bass Tigg Ketler - drums (1995-1996) SPLIT (1996-1998) Joe Lesté - vocals Mark Tremalgia - guitar Dan Aon - guitar Kyle Kyle - bass Rob Jones - drums (1998-1999) Joe Lesté - vocals Mark Knight - guitar Kyle Kyle - bass Walter Earl - drums Mattie B. - guitars (2002-2003) Joe Lesté - vocals Michael Thomas - guitar Anthony Focx guitar Brian Saunders - bass Robert Gibb - drums (2003) Joe Lesté - vocals Michael Thomas - guitar Anthony Focx guitar Curtis Roach - bass Glenn Sobel - drums (2003) Joe Lesté - vocals Alex Grossi - guitar Anthony Focx - guitar Curtis Roach - bass Glenn Sobel - drums (2003-2005) Joe Lesté - vocals Alex Grossi - guitar Anthony Focx - guitar Curtis Roach - bass Matt Starr - drums (2005) Joe Lesté - vocals Michael Thomas - guitar Jamie Keane - bass Tod Burr - drums (2005-2006) Joe Lesté - vocals Mark Simpson - guitar Lance Eric - bass Timmy Russell - drums (2006-2007) Joe Lesté - vocals Michael Thomas - guitar Lance Eric - bass Timmy Russell - drums (2007-present) Joe Lesté - vocals Michael Thomas - guitar Ryan Seelbach - guitar Lance Eric - bass Timmy Russell - drums