The band saw their name painted on a wall in Brooklyn and thought it sounded cool. By 1989, the band had signed to Geffen Records and released their debut album Don't Come Easy, which included the successful single "Forever Young." Musically, the album was somewhere between Whitesnake and Bon Jovi, and Tyketto opened for the former on many bills. However, the rise of the grunge sound in 1991 saw Tyketto's hopes of a big breakthrough begin to recede. Kennedy left the band and was replaced by Jaimie Scott. Their second album was rejected by Geffen and finally emerged in 1994 under the title Strength in Numbers on CMC International in the U.S. and Music for Nations elsewhere in the world.