Steele's bass lines in the Beat took the Jamaican style of ska and added a harder, punk rock-influenced style. The Beat song, "Mirror in the Bathroom", is largely built on top of the driving, eighth-note bass line that runs through the entire song. Fine Young Cannibals had a more soulful, and sometimes electronic sound, and Steele's bass lines were less prominent in the outfit.
After the end of his work with Fine Young Cannibals, Steele went on to play a variety of other roles in the music industry. He co-produced two tracks on Gabrielle's album Find Your Way, which reached No. 8 on the UK Albums Chart in 1993,[4] as well as the soundtrack to the film The Truth About Cats & Dogs in 1996. He has appeared on more than two dozen other albums, most commonly as a backing vocalist, but also as a guitarist, drummer and mixer.
In summer 2004, he released the album Fried, on which he collaborated with the New Orleans vocalist, Jonte Short. The album was a mix of soul, funk and R&B. Fried signed to Sony BMG and their album was re-packaged and re-released with a modified tracklisting and running order, including some 3 new tracks replacing the last 2 of the original tracks, as the album Things Change, released in 2007.