BIOGRAPHY – Ugly Kid Joe

As hair metal began to lose its charm in the early 1990s the music industry began to rebel. Grunge replaced spandex and lipstick with cardigans and power chords and songs focused less on sex and partying and more on alienation and teen angst. One group that was spawned as a reaction to glam was Ugly Kid Joe, whose name was a pun on the Los Angeles-based group Pretty Boy Floyd (who had enjoyed success in the late ’80s with the album Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz). Like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Faith No More the group fused funk, metal and rap but were more in tune with the Californian surf scene. The group was formed by singer Whitfield Crane as the hair metal cycle was coming to an end and released their first EP, As Ugly as They Wanna Be, in 1991.

Ugly Kid Joe would not find success until the following year when the track Everything About You was released as a single to promote the metal comedy Wayne’s World (which also enjoyed hits with Queen‘s Bohemian Rhapsody and Tia Carrere’s cover of Ballroom Blitz). The track, which had been featured on the EP, would be included on the band’s full length debut America’s Least Wanted. The album would also include further singles Neighbor, Cat’s in the Cradle (a rendition of the Harry Chapin classic, previously covered by Johnny Cash) and Busy Bee. Three year’s later the group’s follow up, Menace to Sobriety, was released but failed to enjoy similar success in America. Their final album, Motel California, was released the following year but due to poor record sales the group eventually disbanded, prompting Crane to briefly take over vocal duties with Life of Agony.