It All Happened on the Sunset Strip
The History of Pair-A-Dice
1987 Original Line UP
Pair-A-Dice was formed in 1987 by founding members Nick Masella (Bass) and Chris Lewin (Guitar) they brought in vocalist Paul Lancia and Daz Bash (Drums) the band quickly started to build a following on the Sunset Strip playing shows with Poison and Warrant.
Oct 1987 the band added a second guitar player Billy D'Vette who had just left the band Agent X. Paul & Billy had played in a band together previously called CIRCUS. The band was now a 5 piece, but Chris Lewin had to leave the band for legal reasons and was replaced by Rich Carr in November 1987. The band had started to build a large following at this time and were often opening for Warrant at the Roxy, Whisky and the Country Club in Reseda.
Rich Carr was replaced by Dave Marshall in May 1988, Dave had been playing with Mickey Knight and was quickly making a name for himself as one of the premier guitar players on the scene. This solidified the lineup that went on to great success over the next few years on the Sunset Strip.
The band recorded a 4 song Demo in early 1989 that featured songs Where’s Jenny, Midnight Train and I’ll Be There for You. Dave Marshall was at a Brett Michaels (Poison) party and was talking to Robbin Crosby (Ratt) and told him we were in the studio recording a 3-song demo. Robbin told Dave that he was interested in producing the band. I remember Robbin being pretty wasted when he arrived at the studio and all his suggestions were pretty much thrown out by the time, we mastered the demo.
The band were featured on MTV in Sept 1988 and were now headlining all the top clubs on the strip like the Roxy, Whisky & Troubadour. They were playing alongside bands like TUFF, Bang Tango, Pretty Boy Floyd, Hurricane, and many more.
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1987 with Billy D'Vette
1988 with Dave Marshall
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Pair-A-Dice vs Paradise
There were two bands with the same name in that were drawing large crowds on the Sunset Strip you had Paradise with palm trees that featured Adam Gifford on vocals and Pair of Dice.
There was plenty of bad blood between the two bands with the same name, just different spelling. We hated them and they hated us. We came close to fighting one night in front of the Rainbow as both bands were passing out flyers.
"There were always rifts between bands — like whose band drew the most, who stole whose moves, etc. The running joke with the fans was, “Are we seeing palm tree Paradise or Pair of Dice” — it pretty much sums up how saturated the scene was by the late 80s; all the bands sounded the same, looked the same and even had the same name". Quote from Rolling Stones magazine.
Japan
Oct 1989 the band did a short tour of Japan and played 2 shows in Tokyo at the MZA Theatre with Jetboy. The crowds were amazing it was the largest venue they had ever played at the time. Fans even showed up at the airport to greet us when we arrived. We did three more shows in Osaka and went to the ESP guitar factory. The band never sounded better, and we were having the time of our lives.
Break Up
After the band returned from Japan, Paul said he was leaving to start his own band “Lancia” he was writing songs with former Steeler guitar player Kurt James. Our manager at the time was telling Paul that he was the main draw in the band and that they wanted to build a band around him. Dave Marshall and Billy D'Vette never saw eye to eye with the manager so that might have contributed to the divide. Pair-A-Dice decided to continue as a 4 piece, and Billy D'Vette took over as the lead singer. The band went back into the studio to record a new demo, but it was during this time Dave Marshall was asked to join Brunette and that pretty much was the end of Pair-A-Dice.
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2008 the band signed to Retrospect Records and released the demos from 1989 this was followed up by a reunion of the band that played at Rocklahoma later that year. In 2014 the band signed with Demon Doll records and released "Midnight Train" that included unreleased material from 1990.
