Missing Persons: U.S. Drag
Missing Persons never had a Top40 hit, but “Destination Unknown” and “Words” are two of the most iconic songs of the early MTV era. Both songs are on the band’s 1982 debut album Spring Session M, but for some reason I can’t explain I had never listened to the album until now. Along with the singles, the album sounds exactly as expected. These are solid American new wave songs that define that era of music, especially the music coming out of the clubs of L.A. at that time. The songs are driven by the vocals of Dale Bozzio, whose look and sound are iconic for the period. When anyone from my generation thinks back to early MTV videos, the songs of Dale Bozzio and Missing Persons are as familiar as almost any other band of the time, but what I didn’t know is how important the drumming of Bozzio’s husband Terry was to the sound of the group. The most important rock drummer of that era was Stewart Copeland of The Police, but the drumming of Terry Bozzio may be a close second and his drumming makes the fairly standard new wave songs of Missing Persons rise above most of the output of their contemporaries. Both Dale and Terry Bozzio were Frank Zappa veterans when they formed Missing Persons, but it was Dale Bozzio who brought the virtuosic musicianship that is associated with Frank Zappa onto the MTV screen. Even his straight-ahead drumming on the hits is filled with unexpected bursts of drumming expertise, but one song stands out dramatically as a highlight of early ’80s rock and roll drumming. “U.S. Drag” drops its stop/start pattern out of nowhere on an album that provides one steady groove after another. Bozzio’s drums create an avant-garde funk jam that is the centerpiece of the record. While the four singles make the album a must-listen, it is “U.S. Drag” that pushes the record over the top as one of the best of 1982.
To learn more about Missing Persons, check out Dale Bozzio’s website or watch these videos.
To listen to all of the songs of the day, check out the Radio Faux Show Song of the Day playlist.
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