Relaxing in his LA back garden, the sun pouring down on him, the ever-friendly, extremely vocal Warren Cuccurullo is a real bundle of laughs. He's just sold his house in Battersea, London, England, more than doubling his money on the sale even after 11 years, and even though the Duran Duran gig is finally over, he's only just finished the last Duran Japan dates this past weekend!

Q: 15 years in Duran Duran ... where the hell did the time go ?

A: "Absolutely," he concurs. "Well, when you make records and you kinda get into that cycle of write the songs, record them, promote it, and then go on tour, you won't believe how fast the time goes for us. It's only like five or six albums, which is about an album every 2 and a half years when you've got done promoting them. It's like I've been saying for years, I was there in the band longer than anybody that was there in the band before me," he laughs. "Now that's times three."

Q: Missing Persons reunion tour. Tell me more.

 A: "We're reuniting this month. We haven't played in fifteen years, and we've got three days of rehearsals booked and how's that for confidence! And, we're gonna go out and play three dates here, which are basically just to say that we are serious and remember how good this was."

Q: So, Duran Duran reform using all their old members, you say goodbye, and walk straight into Missing Persons! Sound about right?

A: "Well, this was my doing. I put the Missing Persons thing together. I orchestrated this. I knew that I still wanted to perform, that I had a bunch of songs from many, many years ago, and I just want to go out and play those songs for the time that I want to continue to be performing."

Q: So, what really happened in the Duran Duran camp with regard to your departure?

A: "It was like dual reunions, kind of. The three of us - Nick, myself and Simon - we'd done this for five years even after John had left, but after we'd finished the 'Pop Trash' album and whatever experiences we had with that with the label and stuff, all of our deals were expired. Our publishing deal was up with EMI, we got out of the Hollywood Records deal, and we had toured pretty extensively over the last five years, in America a lot, and in Britain quite a bit. We were really at a crossroads and Simon sat down with Nick and I and said that he didn't think we could go on any more as it was. He then said that he thought the only thing he could do was to get the original five back together, make a record and get out there. So I said, yeah, but where does that leave me?" He laughs. "But, we worked a deal out between us where we're all happy, and I went home that night feeling 'wow,' what an I gonna do now?' So, I dug out an old tape of one of the earliest live performances that we ever did - it was a Simulcast that we did for WLIR in Long Island. It was pre-signing and we'd made it somehow miraculously to the East Coast because the station was playing our song that we sent them. So, we got there to do this show for them, and I remember how nervous we were in the dressing room. I mean, we were going out live in this Simulcast. So, I listened to this tape and it blew my brains out! It is, really, really good."

Q: Dale (Bozzio) told me a story about herself and you in the studio with Frank (Zappa) back in 1977 doing 'Joe's Garage' and the fact that you guys were always trying to work hard for Frank, but would always fall down laughing, 'cause you were both running outside to smoke pot! Ring any bells?

A: "I think she was definitely a little bit fogged out," he laughs. "When I was in Franks band, I wasn't smoking. I got high a couple of times on the tour with Frank - actually it was the last two shows that I did with him - but I really tried so hard to stay straight, because when he hired me I was a pot-head." He laughs again. "But we did laugh a lot and I'm sure I probably went out there to watch out that nobody was gonna get her caught. But, we did a lot of laughing back then, and do you know the first words that she ever sang in her entire life? 'Warren Cuccurullo!' Those were the first words she ever sang!"

Q: Pray, tell me more

 A: "Well, there's that song 'Catholic Girls,' and there's the line leading up to it, 'when they're learning to blow all the Catholic boys,' Dale sings 'Warren Cuccurullo.'! Frank made her sing that line."

Q: She also mentioned a time when she was doing the track 'The Wet T-shirt Contest' and Frank had told her to 'moan,' but afterwards he told her that it had sounded more like 'an ice pick in the forehead'! True?

A: "When Frank said 'Here comes the water,' and obviously he didn't douse her with water, Dale went 'Aaaugh.'" He mimics her pathetically limp attempt at a reaction.,"And he said 'that sounds more like the ice-pick in the forehead,' and she starts cracking up. And he left that in, because it was just one of those kinda things."

Q: What happened at the end of those sessions?

A: "When we had finished our little demo cassette, pre-studio, I get a call from Frank saying we're gonna be going on tour. So, I met up with him and brought this cassette and I played him the tape and told him I really wanted to do this and that I couldn't go on tour with him. It was such a hard thing for me to do, because I was the biggest Zappa fan, but these songs meant so much to me that I couldn't turn away from them. Frank helped us immensely. He let us use his studio to record and he'd never even recorded in it ! I've always said that he gave me the opportunity to have a career in music. I was like the baby he threw in the swimming pool to see if it would sink or swim."

Q: Moving ever forward, I'm a little concerned about where you're headed!

A: "Yeah, talking about sinking ..." He laughs.

Q: www.cuccurullo.tv! Quote: "The music, the body, the mind, and the man will be revealed in a slow motion strip-tease of cyber-erotica!" Tell me more!

A: Well, I've done my fair share of nude modeling, most recently the December 2000 issue of a gay magazine called 'G,' where I was featured on the cover and then on a 23-page spread. I'm the first rock star ever to pose with an erection ! I also did a Playgirl shoot in 1983, but that came about because Dale - being an Playboy Bunny and an Ex-Hustler centerfold - was getting a lot of press people asking her what it was like to be in Hustler. So, Ken Scott, who was our Manager/Producer at the time, suggested I do Playgirl and then when these people ask these questions again, Dale could just say that warren was in playgirl, why don't you just ask him ! So, I did it. Just like that."

Q: Sum up www.cuccurullo.tv for me

A: "I've never seen a music internet site that's entertaining, and I've never seen a music internet site where you get to know the artist that you're dealing with. I feel that when people see what is on this site, when people run into me, they'll think they know me. And they probably will! I'm about bodies in a big way. I like being fit and I don't mind taking off my clothes, being photographed, and also I'm a funny guy and I'd like that to come across as well. In a nutshell, for the people who know me they're not surprised."

Q: What's the latest project for the site?

A: "I just had a meeting a few days ago which was quite monumental in my life, sitting down with Larry Flynt. I loved the man and I loved the movie ! Frank was a big fan and friend of Larry's and I went to him with my concept for 'Rock Cock'!"

Q: Excuse me ?!

A: "Since my pictures that I did for 'G' have been all over the net, saying 'Who hasn't seen Warren's Cuccurullo yet?,' so I thought why don't I just make a product. Why don't I just get a dildo done? If it's out there anyway, why not just make a product of it. Larry thought is was a great idea when I spoke to him about it in London, but when I met with him the other day he thought it was an okay kinda idea. He had some very good advice for me, which was to get in touch with Cynthia Plastercaster, which is the person I wanted to do the mold anyway. He knew that I was friends with Gail Zappa, and of course, Cynthia is friends with Gail - Frank's wife - and tell her that maybe you have a way that maybe she could market the thing the way she's done before. I told him that did he really think that she'd got the rights to do a mold of the guys she'd done in the sixties. She'd had Hendrix's for twenty-five years," he laughs. "The way I phrased my 'Rock Cock,' 'Rock Rod,' 'Band Members' thing - I've got the clean versions as well - is that I think it can be the first of a line. But, I think it's probably the most difficult thing you can get any man to do, whether he's in a band or whatever ! It's like, here it is and this is how small or big it is and this is it!"

Q: What kind of a school boy were you?

A: "I was a Catholic Schoolboy until I got thrown out for cursing out the principal - who was like the head Nun - because they cut my bangs! This was like in 1969 - 1970. They were very strict disciplinarians, those Nuns. Rulers around the knuckles and stuff like that. I'll never forget Sister Andrews, she was like really mean. I went to a school called the 'Holy Family School,' and the HFS was on the tie, and all the kids we would say like 'Hitler's Firing Squad.'! But I was a good kid though until the hormones started kicking in and I liked music and I wanted to grow my hair! Look at me now," he laughs, obviously rubbing his bald head!

Q: What nicknames have you acquired along the way?

A: "Well recently it's been 'Cockadildo,' but that was because of the 'Rock Cock' stuff, but 'Cucc' usually, but my signature looks like 'Wacu' ! So, Nick (Rhodes)was always calling me 'Wacu' and the fans were calling me Wacu."

Q: Describe yourself in three words

A: "Really nice guy"

Q: Most treasured possession?

A: "Oh, it has to be my guitar. It's a guitar that Frank Zappa gave me. It's a Vox Winchester. The body of it is a wah-wah pedal. There were very few ever made and Frank gave it to me, so it's very special."

Q: Tell me something about yourself that you don't normally get to reveal

A: "Jesus, I'm so open. How about I had a hair-weave for years. Now I'm shaved. I'm a complete f*ckin' cueball now. All the Duran times it was a weave. The wonders of weaving."

Q: Any jokes?

A: "Actually, at one of the last shows we did, there was a little bit of downtime and the drummer told a joke that I really liked. He said, 'What did the Grateful Dead fans say when they ran out of pot? Man, this band really sucks."

Q: Last time you threw up?

A: "I don't throw up ! When I used to drink I really liked that spinning thing that was happening, but throwing up was probably the worst thing that I can ever imagine doing. It must have been when I was very, very young. I'm not a pukey kinda guy!

Q: Last time you needed medical attention?

A: "Oh, I had this thing on my toe which was really bizarre. It's called a Whitlow and I was on my way to Hawaii and I went to the doctor and he had to inject my little toe on my left foot twice to numb it. Now, let me tell you, you don't ever want a needle in your toe!"

Q: Any recurring nightmares?

A: "One of the recurring ones I have is you get into your place, you close the door and you check it and it doesn't close. It keeps opening. So, you close it again, check it, but it doesn't close. I hated those."

Q: Ending thoughts or comments

A: "Wow, that's so hard," he laughs. "Yeah, that's the statement!"