WLIR Radio "Midnight Snack"
Radio Interview with Warren & Terry, phone interview with
Warren (Late 1982)
(Interview begins with a live version
of "Walking In L.A." recorded at "My Father`s Place," New
York, Aug. 25, 1981, followed by studio version of "Destination
Unknown.")
Warren; "Hi, I`m Warren Cuccurullo from Missing Persons."
Terry: "And I`m Terry Bozzio, also from Missing Persons."
Warren: "And you`re listening to WLIR FM, out on the Island"
Terry: "At 92.7"
Warren: "In stereo."
Terry: "I was with Frank Zappa, Warren was a fan of Frank Zappa`s, and I
met him back in those days. I guess it was around 1975 or 1976?"
Warren: "`76."
Terry: "Yeah. And he always impressed me by coming to the concerts with
his little tape recorder and knowing the up-to-the-minute Zappa arrangements
that the band hardly knew yet, and he could sing all this difficult stuff to me
back, and…"
Warren: "Plus I could sneak in a tape of my own…"
Terry: "Right."
Warren: "…with some incredible guitar sounds on there and all kinds of
stuff."
Terry: "Yeah! And he played me some tapes, and I was real impressed with
his guitar playing and thought someday he was gonna be great. And meanwhile,
I`d met Dale, and I fell in love with her, and we got married. Later on, I was
with UK, and Frank…"
Warren: "I`d gotten the gig with Frank and moved out to Los Angeles, and
Terry lived there. When he came back off the road, here we were, all in the
same city, good friends and hanging out. Going out with Dale and Terry, all of
us together. And people were seeing us and saying, `what band are you guys in,
who are you?` And I`d say, `well, I`m with Frank Zappa, he`s with UK,` and
eventually, we just got brainwashed into our minds that God, we look like a
band? We should start a band!" (laughs)
Terry: "Exactly. So we did."
Warren: "Hi, this is Warren Cuccurullo, Catholic Boy and former Canarsie
resident, and a member of Missing Persons."
Terry, laughing, "And this is Terry Bozzio, saying, `what are words for?`
and you`re listening on WLIR FM at 92.7…"
Terry & Warren: "In stereo…"
("Words" is played)
Host: "Why the name `Missing Persons`?"
Terry: "Well, we wanted to have something elusive, something that wasn’t
the kind of thing you could go across the street and see. Something that was
foreign or special, and Warren said, `missing,` and I said, `Missing
Persons`."
Warren: "The main thing was, we didn`t want to have anything to do with
`The This` or `The That` because at the time we formed the band, everything was
`The.` There was even `The The.` (laughs). So we just wanted to stay away from
that. We tried a bunch of names, and Missing Persons stuck."
("I Like Boys" is played)
Host: "Dale Bozzio singing lead along with Terry Bozzio and Warren
Cuccurullo. Missing Persons on WLIR. A midnight snack tonight with me, Ben
Manila. `I Like Boys,` before that `Words,` `Destination Unknown` and from our
radio concert of August 25, 1981, `Walking In L.A.` former Screamer Of The
Week. Also `Destination Unknown` was Screamer Of The Week at one point. And I
just got a real surprise here in the studio at WLIR. Warren Cuccurullo is on
the telephone right now, he just called me up. This is totally spontaneous. He
just called me up and we`ll put him live on the air right after this."
(ad)
Host: "WLIR, 92.7, the new music station, and we`re right in the middle of
a Missing Persons Midnight Snack, and who should call on the telephone but
Warren Cuccurullo, lead guitarist with the band! Let`s bring him up here, how
are you doing, Warren?"
Warren: "Oh, I`m doing fine. Spontaneity."
Host: "Now, the whole reason why we scheduled this Midnight Snack tonight
was because you guys were supposed to play the Beacon Theatre tomorrow."
Warren: "Right. Well, unfortunately, the health problems with Dale Bozzio
are of most concern to us right now. She came down with strep throat."
Host: "Eww, that`s awful."
Warren: "Completely lost her appetite, and didn’t eat for a few days and
got dehydrated, and there`s no…she went to the doctor, and the reports came
back, and there`s no way, he said, for her to be performing within a
month."
Host: "Oh, man."
Warren: "So first we cancelled a few gigs, and we thought we could go on.
We cancelled in Dallas starting on Halloween, and then we cut off two more
shows after that. She went to the doctor again, and he said, `Just give her a
rest,` so that was the end of the tour."
Host: "Of course that`s more important. I know the strep throat germ is a
real wicked one."
Warren: "Yeah."
Host: "A lot of people don`t think strep throat is that dangerous a
disease, but it is pretty wicked."
Warren: "But she`s on the road to recovery right now. She`s back in L.A.
with the rest of the group."
Host: "That`s good. Terry`s back there, too?"
Warren: "Yeah, Terry`s there. I came up here. I`m doing some interviews
and stuff, having a good time, and just wanted to apologize to everyone that we
haven`t been able to play and really don`t get through New York as much as we`d
like to. But we will be back January 22 at the Beacon, and maybe we`ll even do
the Brooklyn gig also. I`m pretty sure we`re gonna do that. And by then, who
knows, maybe we`ll do a few more, maybe on the Island if there`s a good venue
we can play. Because we`d love to play out on Long Island."
Host: "Now I remember when Frank Zappa originally turned us on to Missing
Persons way back when, `Destination Unknown` became Screamer Of The Week. I
think I have the date here, yes, it was…"
Warren: "Oh, great."
Host: "It was April 1981..."
Warren: "Good."
Host: "…that that was released, and right now, `Destination Unknown` is on
the charts, isn`t it? It`s going up the charts."
Warren: "Yeah, it seemed to be a little ahead of its time. We always felt
that was the right single, that should have been the first single. LIR and BCN
went on it, and the West Coast, with the independent record, went for…what was
the other song?"
Host: "`Mental Hopscotch`?"
Warren: "`Mental Hopscotch` was on KROQ, but there`s one other one…God, I
can`t remember…"
Host: "`I Like Boys`? "Hello, I Love You`?"
Warren: "`Words`." (laughs)
Host: "`Words, right."
Warren: "Oh, that was on the 12 inch. God, I`m out of my mind right now,
I`m freezing standing here." (laughs)
Host: "You`re not used to this cold weather. At any rate, I really
appreciate your calling."
Warren: "Yeah, I appreciate everything you guys do for us."
Host: "And what`s going on? I mean, since we were so ahead, and the Long
Island audience knows about you guys and have known about you for a long time,
Spring Session M, while it`s a good album, there`s a lot of stuff on it that we
already know. When can we expect a second album of all new material?"
Warren: "Well, as it stands right now, we`re probably gonna go back and go
in the studio since we have a month off, and we have a few songs that are ready
to go. Just put down the drum tracks and layer everything on top because we
usually do it that way, drums first, then bass, keyboards, guitar. We`ll
probably go into the studio and put a few songs down. Who knows, we`re probably
gonna be on the road right through April, and then we`ll finish the album in, I
guess, maybe the summer? Who knows? (laughs) With this schedule…
(phone cuts off)
Warren: "Beep. Here I am."
Host: "Okay."
Warren: "This schedule`s been really, really tight, and that`s why everyone`s
kinda…especially Dale, being the little, frail woman of the band. We have to
take it easy. We`ve rescheduled our tour so it`s gonna be a lot easier on
everyone."
Host: "But the doctors say Dale is gonna be okay?"
Warren: "Oh, she`ll be fine. I spoke to her today, she`s doing great.
She`s resting."
Host: "Also, I remember when I last interviewed you guys, Dale wasn`t
there, and it was because you had knocked out Dale`s tooth."
Warren: "Right. Well, it`s just that kind of band." (laughs) (phone
clicks) "We like to have fun."
Host: "Whoops. Well, before we lose you, let`s say goodbye, okay?"
Warren: "Okay, Ben, thanks a lot, and I want to thank all my friends and
everybody here in New York. I love you all."
Host: "Okay, thank you, Warren Cuccurullo."
Warren: "Okay, seeya."
Host: "We`re WLIR, 92.7."
("Mental Hopscotch" and "Windows" are played.)