The Story So Far...
VAIN was
formed in San Francisco in late '85. The band comprised of Davy
Vain (vocals), Jamie "Rose" Scott (guitar),
Danny West (guitar), Ashley Mitchell (bass) and Tom Rickard (drums).
They first started out playing gigs around S.F. and at the club
"The Stone", supporting bands like POISON and GUNS'N'ROSES.
They recorded a few demo tapes, including tracks like "Ain't
Heaven Made","Hot Rock", "No Tears For You",
"Laws Against Love"...Davy also produced two albums,
"The Ultra-Violence" and "Frolic Through The Park"
for Bay Area Thrashers DEATH ANGEL. A buzz about VAIN started and
magazines like Kerrang and Metal Forces featured them long
before they got signed. Kerrang even put them on the front cover
and had a 6 pages story on them, and had lots of articles on them
over the years.In September '89 the album "No Respect"
was released on Island Records. The album was produced by
Paul Nortfield who had previously worked with bands like RUSH and
QUEENSRYCHE "No Respect" was the perfect combination of
Sleaze and Glam, a true masterpiece.The album got top reviews in
all the major Metal magazines. Two videos were made, one for the
track "Beat The Bullet", that was shot in the sleazier
parts of S.F. A total kick ass video, that shows what Rock'n'Roll's
all about. The next video was for the track "Who's Watching
You", also a really cool video. Then in November they
supported SKID ROW on their tour in England. A few months later
they went over to Japan and headlined a few gigs.In '91
they started working on their second album, "All Those
Strangers". The album was recorded and done and just about
to get released when Island Records decided to drop the band. The
album has never been officially released and has become a
much sought after item among tapetraders. Most copies having
quite shitty sound quality. I finally got hold of a good
copy, but hopefully it will one day be released on CD. "All
Those Strangers" followed where "No Respect" left
off, and it's a great album,including classics like "Wake Up",
"Love Drug","Do You Sleep With Strangers"...
In late '91 Danny West and Tom Rickard left the band. Danny
joined a band called SHINE. In came ex-GUNS'N'ROSES drummer
Steven Adler and Shawn Rorie (guitar) and they changed the band
name to ROADCREW. They recorded a demo including songs like
"Breakdown","Family",
"Get Up"... and played gigs and showcases trying to get
a record deal. But Steven hadn't got rid of his drug problem, and
record companies were afraid of signing the band, and finally
everything just fell apart. Shawn Rorie started and fronted
a band called WISH, that he recorded a few demos with, later he
joined a band called HEAVY INTO JEFF, and they released two
albums. When they broke up he joined THE VENTS. They have
released an album called "Venus Again" and are out
touring right now. Steven Adler is now drug free and has formed
the band FREAKS IN THE ROOM. Davy Vain decided to change the name
back to VAIN, bringing back Danny West. New drummer Danny Fury
joined the band and they started recording their third album"Move
On It". The album was released in November '93 on Polystar
Records, in Japan only. It also included 3 songs from ROADCREW
with Steven and Shawn. And also the track "Planets Turning"
from the"All Those Strangers" album. "Move On It"
is another great VAIN album and it was finally released in Europe
in '94 on Heavy Metal Records, but haven't so far been released
in the U.S. In March '95 they released their fourth album "Fade"
on Polystar in Japan. The only remaining members were Davy and
Ashley. They were joined by new drummer Louie Senor. But
actually all the old VAIN / ROADCREW members play on different
tracks.The album included another track from "All Those
Strangers";"Shooting Star". And also "Can't
Get Back" from ROADCREW. Davy and Danny West went over to
Japan and did some promotion in recordstores for the album."Fade"
was also released in the U.S. in'96 on SaRaya recordings and has
also just been released in Europe on Revolver Music.Danny
West has released a soloalbum in Japan, called "Taste The
Sounds". Now he's in two bands called THE PIMPS OF VENUS and
DUKES OF HAZZARD. They play in the San Francisco area.James Scott
joined a band called THE DANGS, after that he played in BIG BLUE
HEARTS, but has since left them.Tommy Rickard played in a band
called LOADED, they released an album in '94 called "TV Star".
Tommy is also in a JACKSON FIVE cover band called WONDER
BREAD 5. They play in the San Francisco area frequently. Latest
news is that Davy Vain has formed DRAGONFLY. Ashley and Louie are
still with him. They have been playing
around the S.F. area, trying out new songs like "In From Out
Of Nowhere", "Old Crowd", "Trinity"... A
new album should be on the way, I hope. To be continued...
Note: This is not supposed to be an official biography by any
means. Remember I live in fuckin' Sweden, so I wasn't exactly
where the action was. But I have been a longtime fan and this is
my view of what have happened so far. If you have anything to add,
please e-mail me at: DANSTAR@SWIPNET.SE I'd be more than grateful.
Daniel Staresina
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