When Missing Persons debut Spring Session M (an anagram of Missing Persons …clever) album emerged, there was nothing quite like them. Even among “New Wave” artists.

Sure, an argument could be made for Siouxsie and the Banshees or Kate Bush (to name just two), but it would be a few more years before those two artists found success on this side of the pond.

What made the LA band stand out from the other “New Wave” bands were two things:

1. Exceptional musicianship. This is at the core of Missing Persons — guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, drummer Terry Bozzio, and bass player Patrick O’Hearn were all members (at one point) of Frank Zappa’s band. Getting a gig with Frank Zappa was one of the high watermarks for any rock musician seeking legitimacy.
2. As good as the core group was, it was Dale Bozzio’s (also a veteran of Zappa’s band) unique high-pitched staccato singing style.

The Missing Persons origin story, post-Zappa, began by convincing Cuccurullo’s father to finance a demo of his son’s new band , consisting of Warren and the married Bozzio’s. The trio then booked time at friend and former boss Frank Zappa’s new studio. Hiring studio musicians to flesh out their sound, Missing Persons emerged with a four-song EP called Missing Persons.

The EP was part pop music, part synth, part rock, and all talent.

Aggressive touring led to Missing Persons becoming the “must-see” live act in Los Angeles. Adding fuel to that fire was their song “Mental Hopscotch,” which had become a #1 song on the influential LA-based radio station KROQ.

After a couple of years on that treadmill, a bidding war broke out and Missing Persons signed with Capitol Records.

After signing the band, the band got Patrick O’Hearn on bass (another Zappa veteran) and Chuck Wild on synthesizer and ensconced themselves in the studio with producer Ken Scott (Pink Floyd, Jeff Beck). Wisely, Missing Persons combined the four-song EP with eight new songs and emerged with Spring Session M.