
The band formed in 1984 in Sacramento as City Kidd, and was renamed Tesla during the recording of their first album, 1986's
Mechanical Resonance, on the advice of their manager that City Kidd was not a great name (in addition, there was already another band going by that name). The band derived their name, certain album and song titles, and some song content from events relating to inventor and
electrical engineer Nikola Tesla. The band's original lineup consisted of lead vocalist
Jeff Keith, guitarists
Frank Hannon and
Tommy Skeoch, bassist
Brian Wheat, and drummer
Troy Luccketta. Tesla's music is often referred to as
heavy metal, but is better described as blues metal. The band's lyrics also strayed from the themes popular in heavy metal, particularly in the 1980s at the beginning of their career. A further distinction from their contemporaries was their T-shirt-and-jeans image which was in strong contrast to
Glam Metal bands of the time, which were characterized by big hair, leather pants, and flashy makeup. Also in the early days of their career, Tesla toured with
David Lee Roth,
Def Leppard, and
Poison which incorrectly resulted in the band being categorized as a Glam metal band. The band's members resented this labelling.
Website www.teslatheband.com
Listen to Tesla song's