Ugly Kid Joe: Too Metal for Grunge, Too Weird for Hair Metal

Ugly Kid Joe arrived at one of the strangest moments in rock history. Hair metal was collapsing, grunge was exploding, and somehow a sarcastic hard rock band from a California beach town found an audience on both sides. Nova Starwick and Dorian Prescott take a deep dive into the unlikely career of Ugly Kid Joe, from the joke that gave the band its name to the massive success of “Everything About You” and their surprisingly emotional cover of “Cats in the Cradle.” We get into the stories behind: The joke on Pretty Boy Floyd that became the name Ugly Kid Joe How As Ugly as They Wanna Be became a historic platinum EP The $5,000 “Everything About You” video Their appearance on the Wayne’s World soundtrack Why “Cats in the Cradle” became another massive hit A young Norman Reedus appearing in the music video Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic publicly taking a shot at the band The breakup after years of relentless touring Whitfield Crane joining Life of Agony Crane rehearsing with Black Sabbath for three days Why the band eventually stopped resenting its biggest hit The reunion and Ugly Kid Joe’s second life If you only remember Ugly Kid Joe for “Everything About You,” there’s a lot more to this story. What’s your favorite Ugly Kid Joe song? Let us know in the comments. 🌐 Rockers to Doctors Listen on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Pandora, and more.