* En anglais uniquement
An American hard rock group with a dynamic sound that evokes the radio-ready heavy metal emissions of bands like
Whitesnake,
Tesla, and
Bon Jovi,
Tyketto emerged at the tail-end of the pop/hair metal boom of the '80s. Founded by ex-
D.O.A. frontman
Danny Vaughn following the dissolution of his previous band
Waysted,
Tyketto flirted with success in 1991 with the release of their debut album
Don't Come Easy, but the group struggled to stay afloat amidst the mainstreaming of grunge and alternative rock and disbanded in 1996. They got back together in the late 2000s as a touring entity, and officially re-formed in 2012, releasing the album Dig in Deep, with another full-length studio LP, Reach, arriving in 2016.
Tyketto was formed by
Vaughn in 1989. Guitarist Brooke St. James, bassist Jimi Kennedy, and drummer Michael Clayton rounded out the original lineup, which took its name from a graffiti tag scrawled across a Brooklyn wall.
Tyketto's
Richie Zito-produced debut,
Don't Come Easy, appeared on Geffen in 1991, and featured the hit single "Forever Young." Kennedy left the lineup during the U.K. tour in support of the LP, with
White Lion bassist
James LoMenzo completing the dates. Bassist Jaimie Scott was named Kennedy's full-time replacement in time to record the group's sophomore effort Strength in Numbers. Advance copies of the album were already in the mail when Geffen unexpectedly dropped the group in 1992, and the finished product did not appear stateside until two years later, when it was released by CMC.
Vaughn then left
Tyketto to care for his sick wife, and former
Tall Stories vocalist
Steve Augeri stepped in for the group's third LP, 1995's Shine. The group disbanded soon after, citing the shift in musical tastes from hard rock and heavy metal to grunge as a deciding factor, but they managed to release the concert album Take Out & Served Up Live as a swan song in 1996.
In 2000,
Vaughn, Scott, and Clayton reunited in a new group, named simply
Vaughn, which also featured guitarist P.J. Zitarosa and keyboardist
Kyle Cummings. The classic
Tyketto lineup of
Vaughn, St. James, Kennedy, and Clayton also mounted a European tour in late 2003, and continued to play live for the next few years, but didn't release any new material.
That all changed in 2012 with the arrival of Dig Deep, the band's first new collection of music since 1995. Released via
Frontiers, the album started a new chapter for
Tyketto, and was well-received by longtime fans. They spent the next four years on the road, but eventually found their way back into the studio for album number five, the melodic rock-rich Reach, which was released in 2016. Live in Milan, a concert film and recording, arrived the following year. ~ James Christopher Monger. ~ Jason Ankeny