In 1978 Steve packed up and left Long Island for Boston's Berklee School Of Music, where he would form the bands Morning Thunder with Randy Coven and Axis Bold As Love with Stu Hamm, meet his future wife Pia Maiocco, and record a demo cassette for one Mr Frank Zappa. The Zappa demo included Steve's recordings of Zappa's "The Black Page No. 1", a ferociously difficult piece of music played at regular tempo, and then played again at nearly twice the speed. Vai's transcriptionist talents were also obvious to Frank, and an invitation to try out for Frank's band was extended. Steve moved to Los Angeles the next year and at 19 years of age became the youngest musician ever to join the Zappa ranks.Steve toured and recorded with Frank Zappa from 1980 through 1983 , and achieved a number of milestones while with Zappa. In October 1981, Zappa's Halloween show from New York's Palladium was the first live music video to be aired on television, and in 1982 the band was the first rock band to ever play in Sicily. They were also the last.
Leaving Zappa's band in 1983, Steve soon recorded his first two solo albums, the LP "Flex-Able" and "Flex-Able Leftovers", a 10" record of material that didn't make it on "Flex-Able" which was released in extremely limited quantities (1000). Both records were a testament to Steve's artistic playfulness, with three different covers being designed for "Flex-Able" and two for "Flex-Able Leftovers". While both albums enjoyed popularity among Zappa fans and Steve's growing fan base, it was one track in particular from "Flex-Able" called 'The Attitude Song' that helped catapult Steve Vai into the guitar world.'The Attitude Song' was released as a 7" flexi-disc soundpage in a 1985 issue of Guitar Player magazine and nothing would ever be the same again. The guitar community was up in arms about this new kid in LA whose chops were unlike anything they had heard, and it was that song which landed Steve his role in the movie "Crossroads". Local LA club shows started selling out quickly, and soon Steve was enlisted to replace Yngwie Malmsteen in the band Alcatrazz. Steve would record all of the guitars on the "Disturbing The Peace" album in 1985, and the following tour would spawn a home video called "Power Live". The 80's spawned a number of other albums with Steve Vai on guitar as well.Soon after the Alcatrazz tour, Steve joined with David Lee Roth to record the 1986 Warner Bros multiplatinum record "Eat 'Em & Smile", and so began one of the biggest chapters yet in the story of Steve Vai. The timing could not have been better and his alliance with Roth threw Vai into the global spotlight like never before. Music videos for 'Yankee Rose' and 'Going Crazy!' were in heavy rotation on MTV and music channels all over the world, and Steve found himself on the cover of countless music magazines. It was during this time that he designed and developed a line of guitars with Ibanez, called Jem guitars, which were instantly popular and continue to sell very well worldwide. His partnership with Roth would include another multiplatinum album "Skyscraper" and its following worldwide tour (as well as several more videos, Top 20 singles, and magazine covers) before Steve finally left in December 1988 to marry his longtime love Pia, and pursue a solo career.
What came next was as much a surprise to Steve Vai as anyone else. While preparing to record his long awaited solo album, Steve was asked to join the rock band Whitesnake. Though Steve wanted to concentrate on his own album first and foremost, the Whitesnake situation was too good to pass up. Steve joined the band, recorded all of the guitars on "Slip Of The Tongue" (Whitesnake's guitarist Adrian Vandenberg could not record due to injuries), did a successful world tour, and cross promoted his solo album, the epic "Passion And Warfare"."Passion And Warfare" is considered by many to be Vai's finest work and one of the greatest instrumental guitar albums of all time. Recorded immediately after the Whitesnake recording but before the Whitesnake tour, it was an album many years in the making and is an incredibly diverse and colorful work, utilizing 7-string electric guitars (designed by Steve with Ibanez, these guitars were instantly popular and Steve is considered by many to be responsible for the advent of the 7-string guitar). With its rich musical tapestries and exploratory studio experimentation, it was a favorite of fans and critics alike, and generated three videos, 'The Audience Is Listening', 'I Would Love To', and 'For The Love Of God'. The album received a Grammy nomination and netted countless awards from various music magazines. Click to read More!!
