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 work 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 back the name to Vain, and bring 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 5 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.
I´d be more than grateful.

Daniel Staresina