Ugly Kid Joe is a heavy metal and hard rock american band from Isla Vista, California. He trained in the early 1990s.
As of today, Ugly Kid Joe has four studio albums, three compilations, two EPs and a large number of unofficial lives. Their best sellers, As Ugly as They Wanna Be (1991) and America's Least Wanted (1992), are certified double platinum by the RIAA>; the first is notable for becoming the first EP certified platinum> disc. The group split up in 1997, but announces a meeting in 2010.
The group is a quintet, made up of singer Whitfield Crane and his friend guitarist Klaus Eichstadt. The first drummer Mark Davis, the second guitarist Roger Lahr, and the bassist Cordell Crockett joined the group only from 1991. If initially the band is called Overdrive, the name Ugly Kid Joe is a nod to parody to the glam metal band Pretty Boy Floyd with whom they should have played. The mocking and parodic style is the spearhead of the group, and their main theme. Their lyrics are a self-criticism of the US consumer society in general, like the Simpsons. Ugly Kid Joe is featured in the Wayne's World soundtrack.
The band's first album, EP As Ugly As They Wanna Be is a success that allows the group to build its reputation, thanks to the title very famous Everything About You, widely aired on radio waves at this time. Just before the release of the first album, America's Least Wanted, the second guitarist Roger Lahr left the group, but was replaced immediately by Dave Fortman. This album is an international success. The tracks Everything About You and Madman 92, already present on the EP, also appear on this first album.
