Wednesday
Jan262011
Who Was Funkier: Bang Tango or The Electric Boys?
Wednesday, January 26, 2011 at 12:01AM Both Bang Tango and the Electric Boys are known for infusing funk with Glam....but which one did it better? Bang Tango's Psycho Cafe was driven by bassist Kyle Kyle's skills, which set him apart from most others in the Glam genre. However, the Electric Boys arrived on the scene from Sweden, and put out an amazingly funky major label debut, Funk-O-Metal Carpet Ride. Both bands deserve credit for thinking outside of the box in a genre that heavily rewarded those who "stuck to the formula" (rocking song, followed by a power balled, followed by another rocker), but if you had to choose which blended the two types of music better, who would you choose?
In my opinion, the answer is clear...the Electric Boys. While I think Psycho Cafe is a decent album, for the most part, it sounded to me like average songs that were kicked up a notch by adding some funky bass lines with the bass kept high in the mix. For the other members of the band, the funk sounded forced and just did not flow (listen to "Love Injection" to hear a perfect example of what I am describing). Then compare that against Funk-O-Metal Carpet Ride, and the difference is clear. While Bang Tango really had one component of the band adding funk to the mix, the Electric Boys were four individuals working together as a unit to make songs that flowed and were truly funky. The bass and drums laid a perfect backbeat throughout the album, which was then brought to life by the duel guitars and Conny Bloom's strong vocals. "Into the Woods," "Cheek to Cheek" and "If I Had A Car" are three songs that really stand out to me on this album and are examples of just how much the Electric Boys were genius in their ability to blend funk and metal.
I know Bang Tango has a very loyal fanbase, and they will probably skewer me for this post, but I have to call it like I see it. Not to take anything away from Bang Tango, as I am a fan, but for me, the Electric Boys did it better.
Reader Comments (15)
Awesome band, and playing here in town in a month. I've bought their old 7" lately and there are some cool b-sides such as "Into the Ditch", "Cheesecake Funk" and "Do the Dirty Dog".
Here's funky metal! Check out Nuclear Assaults 50 second filler instrumental Funky Noise, its a hoot!
Having seen Bang Tango since their early club days, I'll stick with the Electric Boys. They definitely did it better.
Nothing against Bang Tango, as they obviously had "something" going on. And it's no secret that bassist Kyle Kyle was their MVP. Great bass lines in "Soul To Soul","Someone Like You" & "Dancin' On Coals", but.. it's impossible to deny that EB's "Hips & Lips" is possibly one of the catchiest songs of all time.
This round? Sweden 1 - Los Angeles 0 .
Extreme...
Electric Boys.
Huh-uh-lo-oh!
Electric Boyz are the funkier of the two.
Yet Bang Tango put out way funkier albums subsequent to "Psycho Cafe" that I feel hurt them in popularity.
I'm not wild about the whole Funk'n'Metal thing. In fact, I think it's goofy compared to the mean-a*s straight ahead Glam Metal of Crue, G'n'R, Poison and Ratt (The Real Big 4!) and all of their knock-offs.
So for my taste I like the less funkier offerings from both Bang Tango and Electric Boys. For Bang Tango, Psycho Cafe is their best easily. And as far as Electric Boys, I think their unfunkiest record, "Freewheelin'" is their strongest.
The whole Funk-O-Metal trip killed Bang Tango and it made Electric Boys ditch the whole Funk-O-Metal schtick by '94 by recording an excellent, funk-free Hard Rock album with Glam Metal undertones, their superb offering, "Freewheelin'".
I mentioned "Freewheelin'" not to long ago on a post here about Electric Boys.
Also, if you search for The Music For Nations label re-release, you will get lotsa bonus tracks including their superlative version of Ram Jam's 70's classic, "Black Betty", which was an outtake recorded at the same time as the rest of the album at Abbey Road Studios in London!
As far as Extreme goes, I had the displeasure of seeing them point blank back in the day at the Cat Club in NYC. Ugh! Hookless Sellout Borefests!
I also saw Bang Tango 3 times and they were great, especially when I saw them at Limelight with Slash guesting on several songs joined by yet another guitarist, the leader of an awesome local New Jersey band, Gin Gypsy, whose name escapes me right now.