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Years active 1980–1986, 2001-2003, 2009, 2011-present Past members Terry BozzioWarren CuccurulloMichael T. RossPatrick O'HearnChuck WildRon PosterWes WehmillerJake HaydenJoe TraversScheila GonzalezDoug Lunn Record labels Albums Spring Session M, Rhyme & Reason, Color in Your Life, The Best of Missing Persons, Late Nights Early Days | ||
Missing Persons is an American band that plays a blend of new wave and hard rock. The band was founded in 1980 in Los Angeles by guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, vocalist Dale Bozzio, and drummer Terry Bozzio. They later added bassist Patrick O'Hearn and keyboardist Chuck Wild.
Contents
- Early success
- Solo careers
- Reissues
- 2001 2003
- 2009 and 2011 present
- Reunions of former members
- Personnel
- Production
- Songs
- References
Dale's quirky voice and heavy makeup made the band a favorite on MTV in the early 1980s. Her revealing outfits played a pivotal role in moving the culture of music videos towards that of overt sexual exhibitionism.
Dale and Terry Bozzio met while working with Frank Zappa, and they married in 1979. Cuccurullo encountered the pair while contributing to the Zappa album Joe's Garage (1979). O'Hearn was also a former member of Zappa's touring band, and Wild had played with a variety of bands before joining.
Early success
In 1980 the band made its first record, a 4-song EP entitled Missing Persons, in Zappa's brand-new Utility Muffin Research Kitchen studios; the recording was financed by Cuccurullo's father. The band toured, promoted the EP, appeared in the movie Lunch Wagon (1981), and became a must-see band among the Los Angeles live music crowd. "Mental Hopscotch" was a No. 1 record on local radio station KROQ-FM, and the self-promoted EP sold 7,000 copies.
Two years of hard work led up to a signing with Capitol Records in 1982. With label support, the re-released EP sold another 250,000 units, and the new full-length album Spring Session M (1982, an anagram of 'Missing Persons') went gold.
The singles "Mental Hopscotch", "Surrender Your Heart" (1984), "Destination Unknown", "Words", "Walking in L.A.", and "Windows" met with varying success, especially in the local markets of Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. The visual effects used in the music video for "Words" were unusual for the time, making it popular on the fledgling cable TV channel MTV.
Missing Persons appeared at a three-day Southern California concert known as the US Festival, Monday, May 30, 1983, along with Berlin, David Bowie, The Pretenders, U2, Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul, Quarterflash, Joe Walsh, Los Lobos (Side Stage Only), and Stevie Nicks.
Although the band gained new attention by heavy play on MTV and FM rock-radio with the striking music video for "Surrender Your Heart" that was designed by Peter Max, the experimental album Rhyme & Reason (1984) was not a great success, and Capitol was not happy about the direction the band was taking. The band followed up with the more conventional Color in Your Life in June 1986, but during the short-lived promotional tour, increasing tensions between Terry and Dale Bozzio led to the end of the tour, the couple's marriage, and the band.
Solo careers
After the breakup of the band, Cuccurullo had his greatest success as guitarist for Duran Duran for fifteen years. Replacing original guitarist Andy Taylor in August 1986, he performed on the albums Notorious (1986) and Big Thing (1988), and was the sole guitarist on the global tours that followed. Becoming an official member in June 1989, he appeared on the group's next five studio albums, and was a co-writer of the hit singles "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone". He left Duran Duran in 2001 due to a reunion of the group's original members. Warren also recorded several solo albums before leaving Duran Duran. Later he collaborated with Neil Carlill in the experimental rock band Chicanery.
Dale Bozzio scored success as a solo performer under the name Dale with a top 40 hit on the Billboard Dance Chart, "Simon Simon", produced by Robert Brookins. Her album Riot in English was released in 1988 on Prince's Paisley Park label and her album Make Love Not War and Talk Talk EP were released on related labels in 2010. With Cleopatra Records she released New Wave Sessions in 2007 and Missing in Action in 2014.
Terry Bozzio worked in 1987 with Mick Jagger and Jeff Beck. He has played with several groups and artists as a session or tour drummer including The Knack. He records albums and instructional videos in multiple styles and is a highly sought-after session/tour drummer as well as performing constantly at European music festivals and worldwide drum clinics. Most recently, Bozzio performed and recorded with Californian nu metal band Korn, in place of regular band drummer David Silveria, in preparation for their untitled eighth studio album.
Patrick O'Hearn is a composer and performer of ambient instrumental music on his own albums, and for television and movies.
Chuck Wild became an in-demand session player, playing keyboards on albums for Michael Jackson, Paula Abdul, and The Pointer Sisters. He composes New Age and meditation music under the name Liquid Mind, and also has released a digital only project entitled Soundtrack Of The Inner World with singer/ songwriter Seven Whitfield.
Reissues
Spring Session M (1982) was released on CD in 1995, followed by Rhyme & Reason (1984) and Color in Your Life (1986) in 2000. All three reissues included rare B-sides and/or live tracks.
Classic Masters is a compilation of remastered tracks and dance mixes issued by Capitol Records with no band involvement.
Beginning in 1997, Cuccurullo began work on his 'Missing Persons Archival Trilogy' project. The first CD to be released was Late Nights Early Days in 1998, a live concert recorded in 1981 with the added 1980 studio track "Action/Reaction". This was followed up by a compilation of modern remixes of classic MP tracks, Missing Persons Remixed Hits (1999) which included the TV Mania remix of "Destination Unknown". In 2002 Lost Tracks was released, a collection of extremely rare Missing Persons studio, live and remixed tracks from five different eras of the band.
2001-2003
In late 2000, Cuccurullo and Dale Bozzio again began discussing a Missing Persons reunion. In May 2001, after Warren's split with Duran Duran, the new Missing Persons appeared, consisting of original members Warren, Dale and Terry. Joining them were Ron Poster (jazz pianist and organist for the Boston Bruins home hockey arena) and Warren's bassist, Wes Wehmiller (also formerly Duran Duran's tour bassist from 1997–2001). The short-lived, official reunion consisted of promotional activities and three live performances in July 2001. The studio tracks "Dark and Dangerous Guy" and "Throw Money" that appear on Lost Tracks (2002) were recorded at this time, as well as the live performances of "Face to Face" and "Give" on the same album. The recordings are notable for Dale's worn out sounding voice, leading many to suggest that she was washed up. However, Dale's voice (whilst still having a lower range) improved significantly in the years after these recordings were made. Terry Bozzio left the reunited band due to issues with Dale, his parting words to her being "It's all about you, Dale, it's always been about you" (as mentioned by her in a 2004 interview). According to the FAQ section on his site, Terry has stated that Missing Persons are a 'heartbreaker' for him, because he likes the band's music and playing with them, but that reunion failed because of 'the weirdness' with Dale. The band briefly continued with Jake Hayden taking Terry Bozzio's place but disbanded shortly thereafter.
Late 2002/early 2003 brought 'Missing Persons featuring Dale Bozzio and Warren Cuccurullo'. They were joined again by Poster and Wehmiller as well as new drummer Joe Travers (formerly in Cuccurullo's solo band and Duran Duran's tour drummer from 1999–2001). This version of Missing Persons was featured on Access Hollywood (performing "Destination Unknown") and did three live performances in February 2003, disbanding shortly thereafter.
2009 and 2011-present
In 2009 Dale Bozzio and Warren Cuccurullo again reunited the band; with the line-up this time consisting of Bozzio, Cuccurullo, Travers, keyboardist Scheila Gonzalez, and bassist Doug Lunn.
On May 11, 2011, it was announced on Dale Bozzio's website that "Dale and Warren have reformed Missing Persons for an incredible reunion tour in anticipation of the 30th Anniversary of Spring Session M, the band's groundbreaking, certified-Gold album originally released in 1982." In the same announcement, Terry Bozzio's absence in this reunion was explained by stating that "rock bands are dysfunctional families at best, and sometimes, the show just can't go on with all on-board." In addition to Bozzio and Cuccurullo, this line-up consisted of Prescott Niles of the Knack on bass, patrick Bolen on guitars and in 2015, the addition of Fred Bensi on keyboards and Andy Sanesi on drums. Cuccurullo again departed the band following the end of the 2011 shows; but the band has not officially dissolved since then.
Dale Bozzio released an album in July 2016 under the name Missing Persons, Missing In Action.
Reunions of former members
Since 1986, Warren Cuccurullo, Terry Bozzio, and Patrick O'Hearn have continued to support each other's solo projects. From the late 1980s through the 1990s, Cuccurullo and Bozzio performed on some of O'Hearn's albums. Recently, Patrick O'Hearn performed in a jazz fusion group called OUTtrio with Terry Bozzio, and Bozzio is featured on Warren Cuccurullo's CD Playing in Tongues that was released in March, 2009.
Personnel
Production
Missing Persons [album 1982]
Songs
WordsSpring Session M · 1982
Destination UnknownSpring Session M · 1982
Mental HopscotchColor in Your Life · 1986