Dale Bozzio - lead vocals; Terry Bozzio - drums; Warren Cuccurullo - guitar, vocals; Patrick O'Hearn - bass, vocals; Chuck Wild - keyboards
When Frank Zappa's late '70s drummer, Terry Bozzio, met up with Dale Consalvi at a recording studio in Los Angeles in early 1980, they immediately hit it off. Consalvi, a former Playboy Bunny, was an aspiring vocalist who was deeply caught up in the growing new wave music scene. Bozzio, one of the best drummers on the planet at that time, had left Frank Zappa's Mothers the prior year, and had just finished an album and tour with U.K., a British progressive rock trio that featured John Wetton of King Crimson (and later Asia) and Eddie Jobson from Roxy Music.
Tiring of complex art rock, Terry Bozzio was looking to do something new that would be fun and exciting. Dale gave him the ticket, with her quirky vocals and techno-rock songs that were not unlike the music Devo was making at the time. Together (now as a married couple) they formed a band, initially called U.S. Drag. Afraid of being known as a gay act, they changed their name to Missing Persons, after asking guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, another Zappa alumnus, to join. Bassist Patrick O'Hearn and keyboardist Chuck Wild, both studio pros, filled out the lineup.
Although the group made some very interesting and memorable music, it was Dale Bozzio's bent for outrageous hair and fashion that took the band to the top of the MTV video charts during 1981 and 1982. Blending a look that was part space age and part porn star, Missing Persons was just what the doctor ordered when America embraced the new visual medium, MTV, as a way to discover fresh music and artists.
This show was recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour, while the band was promoting their second record, Spring Session M. It features most of the songs that landed the group wide exposure on MTV, including "Words," "Here And Now" and the hit single "Walking In LA."
Missing Persons stayed together for another two albums and four years before breaking up in 1986 after the Bozzios filed for divorce. Terry went on to play with several established artists including Jeff Beck, while Dale Bozzio and Patrick O'Hearn each released a couple of solo albums. Cuccurullo spent several years in one of the non-original lineups of Duran Duran. Dale ended up reforming the band, with hardly any of the original members, and still tours occasionally.