Sleaze-rock combo Billy Joe Winghead began in 1993 as the solo project of former Kustom Kar Kommandos frontman John Manson. Soon leaving his longtime home of Chicago to return to his native Oklahoma, Manson recruited guitarists D.J. Eddie Lee and Dan Grilley, bassist Steve Jones and drummer Dustin Reynolds to mount the first Billy Joe Winghead live appearance on New Year's Eve; the band's debut cassette Because We Like You followed in the fall of 1994, and in the spring they issued Blood Surfer, an instrumental concept album. The Motosports EP appeared in mid-1996, and a year later Billy Joe Winghead issued its first CD, Greetings from Beto Junction; Be Your Own Boss followed in late 1999. ~ Jason Ankeny