Missing Persons
Encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Missing PersonsMissing PersonsMissing Persons is an American band who plays a blend of New Wave and Pop rock. The band was founded in 1980 in Los Angeles by guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, vocalist Dale Bozzio, and drummer Terry Bozzio. They went on to add bassist Patrick O'Hearn and keyboardist Chuck Wild. Dale's quirky voice...
.
Missing Persons is an American band who plays a blend of New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
and Pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
. The band was founded in 1980 in Los Angeles by guitarist Warren Cuccurullo
Warren Cuccurullo
Warren Bruce Cuccurullo in Brooklyn, New York is an American rock musician who worked with Frank Zappa, was a founding member of Missing Persons, and has been a long term member of Duran Duran. He also has some notoriety in the porn industry after making nude appearances in a magazine and...
, vocalist Dale Bozzio
Dale Bozzio
Dale Bozzio, born Dale Frances Consalvi in Medford, Massachusetts March 2, 1955, is an American progressive rock and new wave vocalist. She is best known as co-founder and lead singer of the 1980s pop/new wave band Missing Persons. She is also known for her work with Frank Zappa...
, and drummer Terry Bozzio
Terry Bozzio
Terry John Bozzio is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons and Frank Zappa.-Biography:Terry Bozzio was born December 27, 1950 in San Francisco, California. He started at age 6 playing makeshift drum sets. At the age of 13 he saw The Beatles premier performance on The Ed...
. They went on to add bassist Patrick O'Hearn
Patrick O'Hearn
Patrick O'Hearn is an American multi-instrumentalist musician, composer and recording artist. While his musical repertoire spans a diverse range of music, he is an acclaimed New Age artist in his solo career...
and keyboardist Chuck Wild. Dale's quirky voice and heavy makeup made the band a favorite on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
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
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
, and they married in 1979. Cuccurullo
Warren Cuccurullo
Warren Bruce Cuccurullo in Brooklyn, New York is an American rock musician who worked with Frank Zappa, was a founding member of Missing Persons, and has been a long term member of Duran Duran. He also has some notoriety in the porn industry after making nude appearances in a magazine and...
encountered the pair while contributing to the Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
album Joe's Garage
Joe's Garage
Joe's Garage is a 1979 rock opera by Frank Zappa. Zappa stated that along with Lumpy Gravy, this album was one of his finest achievements. It was originally released as two separate albums, the first comprising Act I, and the second part as a double-album which made up Acts II & III. All three...
. O'Hearn
Patrick O'Hearn
Patrick O'Hearn is an American multi-instrumentalist musician, composer and recording artist. While his musical repertoire spans a diverse range of music, he is an acclaimed New Age artist in his solo career...
was also a former member of Zappa's
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
touring band, and Chuck 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 WagonLunch Wagon
Lunch Wagon is a 1981 sex comedy starring Pamela Jean Bryant, Rosanne Katon, and Candy Moore. The film was directed by Ernest Pintoff and written by Marshall Harvey and Leon Phillips.-Synopsis:...
, and became a must-see band among the Los Angeles live music crowd. "Mental Hopscotch" was a #1 record on local radio station KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM — branded 106.7 KROQ — is a commercial modern rock radio station licensed to Pasadena, California serving the Greater Los Angeles. The call sign is pronounced "kay rock." It is the flagship station of Loveline hosted by Dr...
, and the self-promoted EP sold 7,000 copies.
Two years of hard work led up to a signing with Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
in 1982. With label support, the re-released EP sold another 250,000 units, and the new full-length album Spring Session M
Spring Session M
Spring Session M is the debut album by American new wave band Missing Persons, released in 1982 . The title of the album is an anagram of the band's name. Tracks from this album: "Words", "Windows", "Destination Unknown", and "Walking in LA" all had videos created and all received heavy play on...
(an anagram
Anagram
An anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; e.g., orchestra = carthorse, A decimal point = I'm a dot in place, Tom Marvolo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort. Someone who...
of "Missing Persons") went gold
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
.
The singles "Mental Hopscotch", "Surrender Your Heart" (1984), "Destination Unknown
Destination Unknown (song)
Destination Unknown is a single by the new wave band Missing Persons. It was released in 1982 on their album Spring Session M. In the US it was a minor hit spending 13 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #42....
," "Words," "Walking in L.A.," and "Windows" met with varying success, especially in the local markets of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and San Francisco. The visual effects
Visual effects
Visual effects are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or...
used in the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Words" were unusual for the time, making it popular on the fledgling cable TV channel MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
.
Missing Persons appeared at a three-day Southern California concert known as the US Festival
US Festival
The US Festivals were two early 1980s music and culture festivals sponsored by Steve Wozniak, formerly of Apple Computer. The first was held Labor Day weekend in September 1982 and the second was Memorial Day weekend in May 1983...
in May 1983, along with Berlin
Berlin (band)
Berlin is an American New Wave/Synthpop band. The group was formed in Los Angeles in 1978 by John Crawford . The band contained Crawford, Terri Nunn , David Diamond , Ric Olsen , Matt Reid and Rod Learned . Learned left during the first EU tour and was replaced by Rob Brill...
, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, The Pretenders
The Pretenders
The Pretenders are an English rock band formed in Hereford, England in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde , James Honeyman-Scott , Pete Farndon , and Martin Chambers...
, U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, and several other performers.
Although the band gained new attention by heavy play on MTV and FM rock-radio with the striking music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Surrender Your Heart" that was designed by Peter Max
Peter Max
Peter Max is a German-born Jewish American artist. At first, works in this style appeared on posters and were seen on the walls of college dorms all across America. Max then became fascinated with new printing techniques that allowed for four-color reproduction on product merchandise...
, the experimental album Rhyme & Reason
Rhyme & Reason
Rhyme & Reason is the second album by American new wave band Missing Persons, released in 1984. After the successful debut album by the band, this LP fell flat in sales. The pleasant-sounding "Surrender Your Heart" was its signature single...
(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
Color in Your Life
Color in Your Life is the third and final album by American new wave band Missing Persons, released in 1986 .-Track listing:All songs by Missing Persons, except where noted#"Color in Your Life" – 5:00...
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 DuranDuran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
for fifteen years. Replacing original guitarist Andy Taylor in August 1986, he performed on the albums Notorious ('86) and Big Thing
Big Thing
Big Thing is the fifth album by Duran Duran, released worldwide in 1988. It reached #15 in the UK and #24 in the US.A CD reissue was released in 1994. The album is was reissued as a three disc boxset on .- Background :...
('88), 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, including being the co-writer of 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. His collaboration with Neil Carlill
Neil Carlill
Neil Carlill , born in Ripon, England March 20, 1967, is an English singer, lyricist, poet, composer, and musician. He is known for his work with experimental and alternative rock bands including 1990s UK acts Delicatessen and Lodger, and more recently with bands and collaborations including...
, Chicanery
Chicanery
Chicanery, an American experimental rock band, is a collaboration between Warren Cuccurullo and Neil Carlill. The band is based in Los Angeles California, although band members live across the U.S...
, culminated an eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
ously titled album in May, 2010.
Dale Bozzio scored minor 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
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
's Paisley Park
Paisley Park Records
Paisley Park Records was Prince's record label, associated with and funded in part by Warner Bros. Records. It was started in 1985, following the success of the film and album Purple Rain...
label, and her album New Wave Sessions was released in 2007.
Terry Bozzio worked in 1987 with Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
and Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
. He has played with several groups and artists as a session or tour drummer. 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
Nu metal
Nu metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. It is a fusion genre which combines elements of heavy metal with other genres, including grunge and hip hop...
band Korn
Korn
Korn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The current band line up includes four members: Jonathan Davis, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, and Ray Luzier. The band was formed as an expansion of L.A.P.D.The band released their first demo album,...
, in place of regular band drummer David Silveria
David Silveria
David Randall Silveria is a former-drummer, best known as the drummer for the band Korn from early 1993 until leaving the band in late 2006.-1993 to 2006: Korn:...
, in preparation for their untitled eighth studio album.
Patrick O'Hearn is a composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and performer of ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
instrumental music on his own albums, and for television and movies.
Wild composes New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
and meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
music under the name Liquid Mind. He also has released a 4 song digital only project entitled "One True Thing" with singer/ songwriter Michael Whitfield.
Reissues
Spring Session M was released on CD in 1995, followed by Rhyme and Reason and Color In Your Life 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
TV Mania
TV Mania was an electronic band founded in 1995 that consisted of keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, both of Duran Duran and producer/multi-instrumentalist Anthony J. Resta...
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
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 Dale's keyboardist, Ron Poster (jazz pianist and organist for the Boston BruinsBoston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
home hockey arena) and Warren's bassist, Wes Wehmiller
Wes Wehmiller
Wes Wehmiller was a bass guitarist who performed with Duran Duran and Missing Persons.He was born in New York City, and named after John Wesley Powell...
(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" were recorded at this time, as well as the live performances of "Face To Face" and "Give" on the same album. The recordings are characterised by Dale's lower vocal range over the years.
2002/2003
Late 2002/early 2003 brought "Missing Persons Featuring Dale Bozzio and Warren Cuccurullo." Filling in were keyboardist Ron Poster, bassist Wes WehmillerWes Wehmiller
Wes Wehmiller was a bass guitarist who performed with Duran Duran and Missing Persons.He was born in New York City, and named after John Wesley Powell...
and 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
Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood is a weekday television entertainment news program covering events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was created by former Entertainment Tonight executive producer Jim Van Messel, and is currently directed by Robert Silverstein. In previous years, Doug Dougherty and...
(performing "Destination Unknown") and did three live performances in February 2003, disbanding shortly thereafter.
2011
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." As of July 18, 2011, Dale Bozzio and Warren Cuccurullo have played several 'reunion' shows in the southern California area, with a new line up of musicians, and have scheduled additional shows throughout the end of the year. Prescott NilesPrescott Niles
Prescott Niles is an American rock bassist. He is best known as bassist with The Knack, who had a #1 US/#6 UK hit with My Sharona.-References:...
of the Knack
The Knack
The Knack was an American New Wave rock quartet based in Los Angeles that rose to fame with their first single, "My Sharona", an international number one hit in 1979.-Founding :...
is playing bass for the group.
Failed reunion attempts
A proposed 1994 Missing Persons reunion never came to fruition.In a June 2010 interview, Warren Cuccurullo revealed that, prior to the end of 2009, he had tried to reunite Missing Persons for the band’s 30th anniversary. Expressing concern for Dale Bozzio, Cuccurullo identified issues surrounding her as reasons for the reunion not having materialized.
In 2011, reuniting once again for the Missing Persons 30th Anniversary tour Cuccurullo and Dale Bozzio played shows in California and Nevada. More shows were planned, however, those did not take place.
Reunions of former members
Since 1986, Warren Cuccurullo, Terry Bozzio, and Patrick O'Hearn have continued to support each others 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.Discography
| Year | Album | US Chart | RIAA Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Spring Session M Spring Session M Spring Session M is the debut album by American new wave band Missing Persons, released in 1982 . The title of the album is an anagram of the band's name. Tracks from this album: "Words", "Windows", "Destination Unknown", and "Walking in LA" all had videos created and all received heavy play on... |
17 | Gold |
| 1984 | Rhyme & Reason Rhyme & Reason Rhyme & Reason is the second album by American new wave band Missing Persons, released in 1984. After the successful debut album by the band, this LP fell flat in sales. The pleasant-sounding "Surrender Your Heart" was its signature single... |
43 | - |
| 1986 | Color in Your Life Color in Your Life Color in Your Life is the third and final album by American new wave band Missing Persons, released in 1986 .-Track listing:All songs by Missing Persons, except where noted#"Color in Your Life" – 5:00... |
88 | - |
| Live Albums | |||
| 1998 | Late Nights Early Days Late Nights Early Days Late Nights Early Days is a live album by American New Wave band Missing Persons, released in 1998. The album features a live concert by the band, as well as a previously unreleased studio track , entitled "Action Reaction".... |
- | - |
| 2008 | Live from the Danger Zone! | - | - |
| Compilations | |||
| 1987 | The Best of Missing Persons The Best of Missing Persons The Best of Missing Persons is a compilation album by Missing Persons, released in 1987.-Track listing:# "Words" - 4:29 # " Destination Unknown" - 3:35 # "I Like Boys" - 2:39 # "Mental Hopscotch" - 3:16 # "Hello, I Love You" - 2:19... |
- | - |
| 1988 | Walking in L.A. | - | - |
| 1999 | Remixed Hits | - | - |
| 2002 | Lost Tracks Lost Tracks (Missing Persons album) Lost Tracks is a compilation album by American new wave band Missing Persons, released in 2002. Compiled by former Missing Persons guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, it contains a selection of previously unreleased studio and live recordings.-Track listing:... |
- | - |
| Extended Plays | |||
| 1980 | Missing Persons | 46 | - |
Singles
| Year | Song | US Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US Mainstream Rock Mainstream Rock Tracks Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue... |
Australian Singles Chart | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | "Words" | 42 | 60 | 9 | Missing Persons |
| 1982 | "Mental Hopscotch" | - | - | - | Missing Persons |
| 1982 | "Destination Unknown" | 42 | 24 | - | Spring Session M |
| 1983 | "Windows" | 63 | 22 | - | |
| 1983 | "Walking in L.A." | 70 | 12 | - | |
| 1984 | "Give" | 67 | - | - | Rhyme & Reason |
| 1984 | "Right Now" | ? | - | - | Rhyme & Reason |
| 1984 | "Surrender Your Heart" | ? | - | - | Rhyme & Reason |
| 1986 | "I Can't Think About Dancin" | ? | - | - | Color In Your Life |
| 1986 | "Color In Your Life/Go Against The Flow" | ? | - | - | Color In Your Life |