Review Summary: Often imitated, rarely duplicated well
One of the most common criticisms labelled against Lady Gaga is that her shtick largely copies Madonna. While the comparison is understandable, the two performers had very noticeable differences that leave such an argument in shambles. Rather, if Lady gaga has copied anyone, it would without a doubt be the aesthetic and style of Dale Bozzio. Indeed, Dale's wobbly low tone vocals, heavy makeup, and sexually charged get ups and mannerisms are almost nearly mimicked by Lady Gaga during much of her early career. This isn't a treatise against Lady Gaga by any means, rather it is a testament to the underappreciated legacy Dale Bozzio has left on the female music industry. Despite her acclaimed stint with Frank Zappa and successful solo albums, it is largely her time with Missing Persons that engraved her name eternally in stone.
Founded in the late 70's by husband and wife duo Terry and Dale Bozzio, along with Warren Cuccurello, Chuck Wild, and Patrick O'Hearn; Missing Persons found a delightful niche in the burgeoning New Wave/Synth-Rock craze of the early 80's. Their debut album
Spring Session M featured the bands heavy use of guitar-laden rock with digital glitter and Dale's iconic squeaky vocals and catapulted the band to early stardom with their appearance on MTV during their early years.
One could easily dismiss
Spring Session M because of its extremely radio-bait guitar work and lyrical content, but to do so would be to ignore the quality of the songs; all of which offer a carbohydrate filled Junk-Rock buffet for any 80's Rock lover. Songs like
U.S. Drag create a small guitar prick rhythm as Dale Bozzio speaks her lyrics with the suaveness of David Lee Roth, but with her own softness added in. Other tracks like
Destination Unknown and
Tears hinge on the excellent keyboard and synthesizer work by Chuck Wild and Patrick O'Hearn. Regardless of which track you choose to listen to, Terry Bozzio's drum work contains a simple yet energetic consistency as he matches each tempo with precision but with enough speed and power to boost its overall energy.
Despite the myriad of styles explored, the best tunes on the album rest squarely in the Rock category.
Here And Now features some of Cuccurello's best guitar playing on the record, as he blazes along with Terry's drumming in perfect harmony. One of Warren's strengths is his ability to match the rhythm and energy of his guitar with anybody else on the band. A good example is in
Words where he slows his pricks to match the drumming, but extends the droning to go along with the atmospheric synths in the background. Of course the top track goes to the legendary
Walking In L.A., a song propelled to attention from the bands famous sped-up performance of the track at the ill-fated US Festivals in 1983. Although the track is noticeably slower on the album, that doesn't diminish the quality of the Rock on display. The guitar playing is still fierce, the drumming is still heavy, and Dale's vocals still bring energy.
The saddest fact about this band was that they were doomed from the start commercially. The bands reputation for playing their songs differently live against their records, marital tensions between Terry and Dale, and Chuck Wild's growing ambivalence towards Rock in general caused their music to diverge in multiple directions, leaving diehard fans alienated. Not to mention the fact that, while MTV most assuredly gave the band good exposure, the band failed to capitalize properly on that exposure. Most likely they felt that their newfound audience would just stay there; a common mistake among one-album wonders. Even with this reality, the fact remains that the Missing Persons were a defining band for the 1980's Rock scene, even if the industry itself would like to pretend they weren't. This, despite the fact that numerous past and present Pop and Rock outfits almost blatantly copy the style of Missing Persons with reckless abandon, to mixed results. In the end,
Spring Session M is a record often imitated, but rarely duplicated well.
