Missing Persons In Your Life

By Mikhael East, Melbourne, Australia

September 30, 2001

It was coming up to summertime, and I was completing my last year of school. 1982. A mass of new, interesting and exciting bands could be heard on the radio and seen on TV with all the new video clip shows that were emerging. Most of the ones that I was interested in came from the UK, but there were two that curiously emerged from the west coast of America. Their music would play a role in my life from then on. One of these bands was Missing Persons.

"Words" hit the radio big-time over here. In my hometown of Adelaide where I lived then, it was on all the time. And I remember how impressed with the video I was when I saw the blonde and pink little thing in her plastic bras doing the art house synth thing that I would always love that group for.

I was working part-time at a record bar whilst finishing school and got to hear Spring Session M all the way through and adored it. Of course, "Destination Unknown" had followed as another hit – not as big as its predecessor but a presence nonetheless. That song really did it for me. I was inspired to get one of my first tailor-made pieces of clothing after seeing Terry or Warren wear a long black and white coat in that clip. (My tailor-made outfits these days are restricted to simply g-strings and posing trunks, probably the same for Warren, I imagine, judging by some reports of his site!). The image of seeing Dale fall out of that car as the door opened is still with me as one of the most memorable of '80s videos.

Missing Persons began to fade from the Australian psyche after that – but not from mine and a handful of other fans. I know that there were more singles in the US and that "Windows" and "Walking in LA" were big. The former and "It Ain’t None Of Your Business" struck a really personal chord with me at the time, growing up feeling confused and weird about so many things.

I had a penfriend in Boston, and he sent me the hard-to-get EP that featured "I Like Boys" and "Mental Hopscotch" (another favourite). I felt so lucky for getting access to these when it was so hard to come by over here. Even when I commenced my full time job at EMI the following year as a sales clerk, my enquiries with the head office people yielded me no luck. I did, however, score a signed cardboard blow up of the album cover!

Spring Session M was still a seller, I recall, in the early days of that first three year stint with the company (I would work for them on another two separate occasions before leaving the music industry for good to begin my career in the fitness industry). I kept on hounding the head office (Sydney) for all possible Missing Persons info. So finally, when the words Rhyme & Reason appeared on the "master lists for pressing copies," I was ready and eager to hear what this awesome band would follow up their impressive debut with.

My pen pal had sent me "Give" already, and I remember thinking how different it was from the initial material. The publicity photos were also indicating a change in direction to something somewhat more serious and thoughtful, as many of the British bands that had begun with the synth/new wave thing were also starting to do.

Ironically, I received my copy of Rhyme & Reason from Boston (!!!) before the head office of EMI Australia! Interestingly, I have just learnt that Boston is Dale’s hometown! I visited there – extremely fleetingly – last year, getting off at the train station from New York (I was being picked up to do some video stuff in rural Massachusetts). It had a feeling that reminded me very much of Adelaide, my birth town and home for some 25 years!

Rhyme & Reason, as I recall, took a few listens to really get into. I came to appreciate that album though, on many levels. "If Only For The Moment" is one of my all time fave songs. The lyrics and standard of musicianship were really evolved on this set.

It was 1986, and I made a brave decision to quit my job with EMI and go to drama school. I had heard very little of Missing Persons in the year leading to my leaving. There was no Internet then, and the best US magazine, as I recall, was "Circus" – I don’t think they really understood the likes of Missing Persons or Berlin. Australian music shows and radio was – and still is to a degree – very conservative, and they were starting to shy away from the really good music.

Once again, it was my trusty pen pal that sent me a tape of Color In Your Life, an album which I loved and play very frequently even now, as it has just come out on CD. I did get to see a clip of "I Can't Think About Dancin'" on TV, and was in awe that this was the first single as it was my least favourite track at that time. I loved "Color In Your Life", "Face to Face" and "No Secrets." Still do.

Not long after that I heard that the band had split, largely owing to Terry and Dale getting divorced. I was sad, but then again I was at drama school and totally self-obsessed, so it didn’t get me down too much. I thought it was cool that Warren went to Duran Duran. Interestingly, even though Duran Duran were EMI’s biggest seller at the time I worked there, I only really paid any attention to them from "Notorious" onwards! Warren’s guitar work always impressed me, and I always listened out for it in Duran’s material.

It excited me that Patrick had gone on to make new age stuff – I was big into that when I left drama school and went through a big spiritual shift. In my self indulgent days at studying drama, I wrote a play and wanted Patrick to do the music. I wrote a letter to him at Private Music (in New York?) to let him know!!!!! I never heard back!

In the ensuing years, I knew that Terry had won awards for his superb drumming, and that he had been tied up briefly with Andy from Duran Duran. I guess that was the last vestiges of Missing Person that I thought about for a while.

Sometime in the early 90’s, I got a job as a journo for a street rag and had the opportunity to interview Warren about Duran’s new LP (yes, it was still available in vinyl and I had a signed cover!), Liberty. He was such a nice guy to talk to, and I had lots of Missing Persons questions for him, too. I really liked the Liberty album. Not long after, I was back working for EMI for the final time (like acting was ever going to work for me!). I enjoyed checking out Warren’s new muscly bod and found his dissertations on macrobiotics interesting.

Of course, The Wedding Album had been released, and Duran was on the comeback trail. I found myself thinking about Missing Persons again, as the new craftsmanship Duran were showing was obviously influenced a lot by Warren. ("Ordinary World" is a favourite song – superb).

The Best Of Missing Persons had never been released over here to my knowledge, so once I had a CD player, I tracked a copy down so I could remember all those great songs from when I was growing up. By now I had moved to Melbourne (second largest city in Australia) and was browsing through a groovy imports store and found Late Nights Early Days. My fondness for the band had been rekindled. Perhaps it was because now that I was in my thirties, I could REALLY appreciate how good they actually were?

I was in the US when Pop Trash was released – definitely one of Duran’s best efforts – and was privy to all the interviews that were done for the album. Warren mentioned Missing Persons a bit, and I got to wondering if a comeback would happen. I also learnt of a remix album, which I only secured a copy of a few months back, and which I can’t get enough of! Why Cleopatra didn’t do a single release of "Destination Unknown" (TV Mania remix) is beyond me.

When I heard that Missing Persons were reuniting, it was like a piece of my youth, my personal history, was being restored. I have come to think of them now as more than a band from the 80’s that I liked, but more as a part of the soundtrack to who I am. The chemistry of Dale, Terry and Warren and Patrick (and Chuck in those days) echoed something about and of me, way across the Pacific, that is hard to articulate. I so wished I was attending the fitness convention in San Fran this past August. Just so I could have gone earlier and seen the band play live – something I have never seen (hell, I haven’t even seen all their videos!!!!).

I have been reading lot of info on the website recently and feel sad that a full reunion culminating in an album will not happen. I can only imagine it as being nothing short of exceptional, considering how all four artists have developed over the years. Still, even if it is only Dale and Warren flying the flag, it is still an event that somehow gives me a little something special to look forward to in troubled times. Missing Persons, to this little unknown guy far away in Australia, really means something. Thank you.