When I heard this way back in '82, I had no idea at the time that all of Missing Persons' members had worked with Frank Zappa. Color me surprised. If only more of Zappa's composition skill had rubbed off.
If you listened to New Wave radio, you know "Destination Unknown". Hearing it for the first time in a decade, I have to say that it's... uh, okay, but blander than I remember. At least the CD booklet reprints the lyrics. So that's what Dale Bozzio was singing. Like R.E.M., it's better not to know the lyrics. Case in point: "Tears", a song allegedly about how hard it is to leave a relationship - except for the fact that the music has absolutely nothing to do with the mood. It just doesn't work.
I still like "Words", but nowadays I'd give it a stronger arrangement with less emphasis on synth.
Pursue it any further and another thing you'll find
Not only are they deaf and dumb they
Could be going blind no one notices
I think I'll dye my hair blue
(And I did just that, for a brief time.)
A warning: the male members of Missing Persons must have been attacked by a crazed hair artist just before the photo shoot for the album. They've all got that frothy-poof thing on top of their heads. Be afraid. On second thought, be afraid of the entire graphic design of the album.
Put this disc on at your '80s revival parties and see who remembers it.
(Spring Session M is yet another re-release from One Way Records, the same folks who put out the Vapors and Blotto compilation CDs.)
Last updated 8 June 2000
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All contents ©1999-2002 Mark L. Irons