Before Megadeth, Dave Mustaine formed a band with two fellow telemarketers

Before forming Megadeth, Dave Mustaine briefly started a band called Fallen Angels with two fellow telemarketers, Robbie McKinney and Matt Kisselstein. The episode shows that Megadeth did not take shape immediately after Mustaine’s dismissal from Metallica; he first needed work and a new musical line-up.

After returning to Los Angeles, Mustaine found a telemarketing job through McKinney and later moved into a Hollywood apartment with the aim of starting a band. Fallen Angels lacked the chemistry he wanted, but neighbours Dave Ellefson and Greg Handevidt became part of his circle after an encounter that ended in drinks and a shared interest in metal; drummer Dijon Carruthers also joined. An early lyric Mustaine wrote on a Sno Balls wrapper eventually became “Set the World Afire”, released on Megadeth’s 1988 album *So Far, So Good… So What!*.