UGLY KID JOE BIOGRAPHY
Written by Daryl Easlea from Record Collector

Formed in Isla Vista, California in the late 80's, Ugly Kid Joe emerged on the music scene in 1992. With their attitude, punk-funk-metal sensibilities and to-die-for choruses, they could arguably be described as 'nu-metal' long before the sub-genre was invented by music journalists in the late 90's.

Comprising of Whitfield Crane (vocals), Klaus Eichstadt and Roger Lahr (guitars), Cordell Crockett (bass) and Mark Davis (drums), the group came together at high school, under the name of Overdrive. They, like every other college band in the world ever, went through the usual experimentation period with a variety of names, before settling on Ugly Kid Joe, allegedly chosen as a satirical swipe at the popular act of the day, Pretty Boy Floyd.

After gaining a solid live reputation, the band speedily cut a debut mini-album on the independent label Stardog, As Ugly As They Wanna Be (a parody on the title of the then phenomenally popular 2 Live Crew's As Nasty As They Wanna Be), displayed considerable verve and humour, and quickly sold millions, thanks to the album's principal single, Everything About You. The group were speedily signed to Mercury Records.

The popularity of the single - which reached No. 3 in May 1992 in the UK chart - was almost in danger of swamping the band. It remained around for what seemed like an age, thanks to the inclusion in the Mike Myers-Dana Carvey zeitgeist-chasing blockbuster Wayne's World. The song seemed perfectly to encapsulate the ironic, no-brainer stance espoused in the movie. It's also probably on of the main reasons you're reading this now. However, this anthem was certainly not all Ugly Kid Joe were about. As Ugly As They Wanna Be was also quick to demonstrate UKJ's darker, funkier tendencies, part Guns N'Roses, part Dan Reed Network as perfectly displayed on Funky Fresh Country Club and Madman.

Sugartooth guitarist Dave Fortman replaced Lahr for the group's 'proper' debut, America's Least Wanted (the title this time a parody of Ice Cube's Amerikkka's Most Wanted album). The group showed their versatility with a tender version of Harry Chapin's Cats In The Cradle (No. 7 in March 1993, Uk chart), and their full-on rock credentials with Neighbor (No. 28 in August 1992, UK chart). The album was invaluable to the group, ensuring they stepped out from the potential one-hit wonder tag. Tunes such as Goddamn Devil sound today like a missing link between Counting Crows and Metallica. A lucrative support slot with Ozzy Osbourne ensured the band was endeared to middle-American metal hearts. A following in Britain, thanks to some well-raucous live show, also grew.

Their second album, Menace To Sobriety (another pun - the Hughes brothers' film Menace II Society came in for a touch of their rapier-like this time) recorded for Mercury in 1995 saw the band - now with Shannon Larkin on drums - attempting to go all out for a more mature sound; they toured ski resorts, developed rock star egos and saw their popularity on the turn. Milkman's Son was an enjoyable, skewiff lead single that managed to rock with an incredible, assured confidence. Its chorus gave a generous tip of the cap to the boogie bands of the 70's such as Lynyrd Skynyrd and Foghat.

The band left Mercury and went back to their independent roots with 1996's Motel California (I think you may have already got that pun). The album failed to emulate the momentum created by its predecessors, and quietly the band called it a day. Ugly Kid Joe were much more than an enjoyable footnote in rock. They stood for goodtime metal at a time when the genre was moving away from big hair and back to hard rocking. Ugly Kid Joe's music proved that humour and rock could rub along very nicely indeed. Ugly Kid Joe are still and will always be, as ugly as they wanna be.

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