Dale And Martha Tell It Like It Is
By Roxanne Ruben, Venice Magazine
©2001 http://www.venice.com

It’s a first for Dale Bozzio and Martha Davis. Although the Missing Persons’ front woman and the Motels’ lead singer/songwriter appeared on numerous bills together back in the early 80s and enjoyed simultaneous success with their careers, they had never actually had a conversation other than extending a courteous, "Hi, how are you?" backstage at their shows. Now, twenty-plus years later, the two have more in common than just being successful, pioneering rockers whose music dominated the airwaves in Los Angeles and beyond. Both are enjoying career comebacks: Davis with the recent release of Anthologyland, a Motels retrospective, and Bozzio with a tour featuring the original members of Missing Persons (including Warren Cuccurullo and ex-husband Terry Bozzio). Both have children, are extremely family-oriented, and love animals. In fact, today, Bozzio’s dog Rocket, an excitable sheltie, is cheering his "mom" on by leaping onto her lap and then running around the room.

The visual contrast between Bozzio and Davis is striking. Bozzio has maintained her "new wave" persona, sporting long blond hair that has been teased and turned into a rainbow of colors including purple and orange, secured by a lavender bandana wrapped around her forehead. She’s maintained her former Playmate figure, showcasing her petite figure in tight jeans and a cropped shirt. Her small hands sport long, red fingernails and are constantly in motion when she talks. Davis, on the other hand, is understated, wearing a black blouse and black jeans. Her hair is shoulder length and jet-black, a color that brings out the intensity of her eyes and her pale skin. Her look is almost Gothic and she wears it well.

The Motels and Missing Persons were part of the 1980 signing frenzy that took place in Los Angeles and also produced acts such as Romeo Void, Berlin, and The Go-Go’s. It was a fruitful time for women in music and for the music scene in L. A. As the Motels’ primary songwriter, Martha Davis was the driving force behind the emotionally driven, almost angst-ridden material that was the group’s trademark. Five albums spanning nearly a decade produced such pop/rock classics as "Only the Lonely," "Take the L," "Mission of Mercy" and "Suddenly Last Summer."

Dale Bozzio’s foray into the world of singing began when she was "discovered" by Frank Zappa. With her high-pitched voice and occasional vocal hiccups, Bozzio and Missing Persons taunted the Los Angeles mindset with songs such as "Walking in LA," "Words," and "Destination Unknown."

Having these two in a room together is akin to witnessing a fiery meteor fall to earth. There’s an unbounded raw energy that circulates as they discuss their lives, past and present, as well as the current state of the music business. There is definitely no rivalry here. Bozzio’s thick Boston accent and her no-holds-barred storytelling make Davis laugh gleefully numerous times. Davis, on the other hand, seems to have a calming effect on Bozzio, who listens intently when Davis speaks. Venice magazine recently got to walk down memory lane and other paths while Bozzio and Davis ended up exchanging phone numbers.

Venice: Can you share some early career memories?

Martha Davis: I moved down to Los Angeles in 1975 from Berkeley. I moved my kids, my dog—it was a huge move. But when we got down here, there was no place to play! There were only two clubs; The Whisky and The Starwood, and they would only have bands play that were signed. So we got together with our friends from the group The Dogs and we put together our own thing called ‘Radio Free Hollywood.’ We booked our own hall and did our own publicity. We worked our asses off. My little kids were tiny then so I made these radio costumes out of cardboard for them to wear and they came out and announced the bands. We lost like $100. The thing was a success and shortly after that we got calls from The Whisky and The Starwood to come and play as an unsigned band. I can’t say that at the time it was fun or easy because it wasn’t. But we may have been partly responsible for making these places aware that unsigned bands can pull in a crowd. I also remember rehearsing beneath the Pussycat Theater. We were sharing a room with The Go-Go’s. I’d come in and all the mike stands would be about four feet tall and covered with lipstick. Then we got signed first and they said, "Well, we’ll move all our gear to your side of the room and then we’ll get signed, too." Then they got signed and they blew us right out of the water! [laughs]

Dale Bozzio: The same day I came to Los Angeles, I met Frank [Zappa] and Frank introduced me to Terry. And I walked out on Hugh Hefner. He wanted me to be a Valentine on his front door and stand naked in between two sides of a Valentine. I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m not doing that!’ I mean I walked into the Playboy Mansion looking like this hot-to-trot chick but I was the complete opposite—I was a total prude! So Hefner waved at me to come upstairs and I said, ‘Can you please come downstairs?’ He looked at me like I had two heads. I walked out, got in my 1969 Firebird convertible with a drop-down top and navy blue interior and exterior and I left that goddamn mansion like a bat out of hell, thinking, ‘Oh my God, where am I going? I have no money, nowhere to go. I have nothing.’ Then a friend of mine helped me meet Frank. I went to this studio and I see this big sign that says, "If you value your life, do not open this door." So, I opened the door and there’s Frank, and he said, "We’re kind of busy here…can you come back later?" He was so nice to me. When I opened that door—that was the key to my life and my future.

What was your first show together like?

MD: We played the Greek and we talked for like five minutes. I was going with Tim McGovern then.

DB: You had your sexy daughter with you and half of my band was trying to follow her! I liked Martha right away…I knew she’d be a regular kind of person. As bizarre as I appear, I’m actually very normal and down to earth. I was really shy at the time. She was more famous than I was, but for some reason, we were like the main act that night. It was our first big show. I couldn’t believe it—all of a sudden, we were rock stars.

MD: And meanwhile Tim loved to drink and when he drank he got really mean. And he had me in the corner kind of going off on me right before I went on stage. I still have a couple of little scars from that incident. But the show was great!

But you never really hung out together?

DB: No! We were too busy. Are you kidding me? I had one hot second to go see U2 one night. It was my only night off in I don’t know how long and I was thinking, ‘What am I doing here?’ as I was having a cocktail and one tequila too many and saying to myself, ‘I think I need a doctor now!’ It was very fast paced and you didn’t realize it because you were on a treadmill.

MD: We all had our crazy little things outside of the music.

How have you changed over the years and where are you today, artistically?

MD: I call it ‘now that I’m here’ because I was missing the whole time I was doing it the first time. I was not there. I didn’t have the confidence in myself and I was wasted most of the time. It was just like it happened so fast. But I’ve been a songwriter the entire time. Still to this day, my favorite album is the first Motels album because that was the closest to what I wanted to do, songwriting-wise. And now in the last few years, I feel life in a musical way. Everything that happens to me comes in and goes out musically. I write all the time. Whatever I feel like writing, I’ll write. So now I’m writing jazz songs and kids songs and country western songs. Now that I’ve opened those floodgates, it’s even more intense.

DB: I haven’t stopped. Every summer for the last ten years, I’ve gone on tour. Warren refers to it as [my] rehearsing for the real Missing Persons. I’ve kept Missing Persons and the nature of the culture of the band alive very subtly. I don’t think I’m at the end of the line. I know now what I want to do and I’ve come around the corner at this age, this time in my life, after raising children, raising husbands, and raising musicians! I just say, ‘Hey, I can do this music thing again.’

How do you perceive the music business these days?

DB: It’s changed a lot. The people who signed us were like family. Now you have corporations and with the amount of money it takes to get a single played on the radio these days, you have to be a corporation. Most of what’s happening now like your Britney’s, your ‘N Syncs are prefabricated, pre-made. They’re like the modular housing you can buy. That’s not to say those people don’t have talent; they’re obviously all entertainers but it’s like an entertainer thing instead of a musician thing.

MD: Forget sexism. Age-ism is the new curse of the music industry. If you’re not 12 years old, you’re not getting a deal!

What philosophy or motto do you live by?

MD: I have one I always use in the band: "Lower your goals and succeed." I know that sounds bad but the things in life that make the most sense and are the most successful are the simplest and the truest. If you just concentrate on one thing and be honest with it and make it simple, you’ll end up succeeding. The other one is "The only ego is the song’s ego." It’s about the music to me and that’s the only ego that matters.

DB: My thing is to tell the truth. I am totally honest with myself all the time, down to not taking soap or a towel from a hotel room. It’s got to be so right to me or I can’t cope. So if something’s bothering me, I have to ask myself, ‘What’s the truth?’

MD: There’s the truth in reality and the truth in where your heart is. A lot of times you’ll do something that seemed like a good idea at the time but in your heart of hearts, as you mature, you realize a lot of things you did were kind of crazy.

Martha Davis will showcase new songs in a residency every Tuesday in August at The Knitting Factory in Hollywood. Call (323) 463-5999 for tickets and information.