Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1982)
Missing Persons (clockwise from top): Chuck Wild, Warren Cuc curullo, Terry llozzio. Dale liozzlo, Patrick O'Hearn. BV Bil l, BRAI NSTEIN AS THE C.AK taking Dale and Terry Bozzio to their sound check passes through the cactus sprinkled Phoenix, Ari zona parking lot and rolls by the giant marquee, the driver slows down just enough to let them take it in "You know, says Dale, the tiny blonde siren lead singer, to her hus band, drummer Terry, Missing Per sons looks good in big letters The genuine awe registered in her voice is just one indication that the success the group is experiencing hasn't really had time to sink in After all, their first album, on Capitol Kec ords, Sjiritiji Session \l (an anagram for Missing Persons) has only been out two weeks But Missing Persons, a I.os Angeles based band that has managed to wrap a catchy hi tech pop sound around non threatening songs that deal with everyday prob Icms anti fears, has already enjoyed some modest triumphs. A few of the group s early songs like I l ike Boys" and "Mental Hopscotch have given them a strong following in their home town And an F.P they released earlier this year managed to get national airplay and produced a hit single, 'Words,' that broke into the lop 40 last July Now, with the album moving up the charts, along with their newest single. 'Destination I'nknown, Mis sing Persons hopes that this tour will make them known. We are trying to do songs that everyone can relate to, says the band's leader and driving force, ferry Bo/./.io, a veteran of three years service with Frank Zappa s hand (which he left in 1978) Bozzio formed Missing Persons with other Zappa alumni, including his wife Dale, guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, bassist Patrick O’Hearn and kev boardist Chuck Wild "The music is modern It's electronic It’s played by good musicians And it breaks new ground because they re not your typ ical pop songs — it's very' accessible. We don't want to alienate people We want to make friends." Central to the band’s appeal is Dale Bozzio, a former Playboy bunny from Boston who has been a model, actress and artist; she pro vides the band with its visual fireworks and an engaging, distinc tive singing style that is punctuated by occasional high pitched yips. (“It really is an odd tone that is a natural thing that I do that seems right for certain words and certain songs and I’ve just tried to procure it as such and as to my own curiosity, it’s been something that people have noted on as an odd thing that I do,” she says in her own inimitable syntax.) A five foot one, 88 pound blonde with feathery red and green streaked hair, Dale also designs her own clothes, sometimes on the spur of the moment. She has worn every thing on stage from a skirt made of (ild 45s to a brassiere made of halved coconuts The story of the group forming starts in Boston in 1974 when Dak met Zappa after one of his shows. A few years later, after she had quit her job as a Playboy bunny, she left Bos ton and came west to l.os Angeles She stumbled onto a Zappa rehearsal session in 1976 and it was there that she met Terry. It was love at first sight, unfortu nately," Dale says Unfortunately? Yes, because it gets so serious at times you wonder how you can put up with ii all Three years later they were married In the meantime, Terry, after play ing witli Zappa for about three years, recording eight albums and louring the world four times, started to get itchy feet. He felt there was more he could do I really wanted to write my own music," he says, "and I got frustrated at not being able to do that. Finally in 1978,1 wasn't showing the same enthusiasm I had shown earlier, and Zappa said I think it's time for you to leave the band and pursue what it is you want to pur sue. So I left, on good terms, to try new things After a stint with a hand called Group 8". where he played with Fat rick, Terry was invited to join the British progressive rock group I K where he stayed for about six months. In the meantime, an old ac quaintance, Warren Cuccurullo, had joined Zappa's band as a guitarist. Dale, too. worked with the Zappa band. He had encouraged her to try singing and she does vocals on his Joe's Cuirane albums and the single I Don't Wanna Get Drafted." A friendship with Warren blossomed, and the two started writing songs to gether while Terry was on tour "Together they wrote the begin nings of what was eventually to be come I l ike Boys' and they brought a tape of it to me while I was tour ing,' says Terry. When I heard it, I thought, this is incredible I’m quit ting this band and we are going to form our own." Terry persuaded Patrick to play bass and eventually the four made a rough cassette that they took to vet eran producer Ken Scott, a man who had produced such acts as David Bowie, Supertramp, George llarri son and Devo Scott liked what he heard and helped the band make a real demo tape that was shopped around to re cord companies "We figured with all our past experience, we'd have a re cord ileal in about two weeks." re membered Tern "Little alid we know No one wanted us " Undaunted b\ their lack of,success at getting a record deal, and confi dent the material they had was hit potential, the band decided to cut a seven inch EP They borrowed money, did their own art work, the promotion, the advertising, distribu tion and the actual selling They took it to radio stations, seeking airplay Amazingly enough, many deejays did play the record, but still, no label deal. "That was our incubator pe riod," says Dale. With the added income from the F.P, the group was able to hire kevboard player Chuck Wild. Dale was starting to come into her own as a performer, adding visual spice with her off-the-wall costumes that she created out of burlap, airline tubing, plant pots, leather or beads. All this stuff had a wonderful ef fect on people," says Terry "They kept coming to see our shows to see what we would do next. We would change from show to show, the same way a big rock group would change from tour to tour " When the band, which was still unsigned, sold out the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, a 4,000-seat venue, record companies could no longer ignore them. Capitol signed Missing Persons, put out a slightly different version of the EP on a 12 inch disc, and it ended up selling more than 220,000 copies, making it the largest selling debut EP in recording history (or so claims Terry). "And that." s.tvs Tern, is the point of the whole story. Noth ing on that tape was changed, production wise. 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