Now in our fifth calendar year
Steve Lillywhite will be producing U2's next CD. This is big news. In the early '80s, Lillywhite produced U2's "War", "October", and "Boy". He is a giant in the New Wave pantheon, also having produced the albums "The Crossing" and "Steeltown" by Big Country, "Talk Talk Talk" and "Psychedelic Furs" by the Psych Furs, "Sidekicks" by the Thompson Twins, and my favorite album of all time "Sparkle in the Rain" by Simple Minds. Lillywhite has also produced albums for Morrissey, Siouxie and the Banshees, Talking Heads, Johnny (New York Dolls) Thunders, XTC, The Smiths, Peter Gabriel, and The Pogues.
Lillywhite was married to British singer Kirsty MacColl, who died in a boating accident in Mexico a few years ago. Probably more so than any other record producer, Steve Lillywhite is responsible for shaping the sound of the New Wave era of the early/mid '80s.
The Psychedelic Furs set to release new album in the fall of 2004.
Annie Lennox was nominated for an Academy Award for her song "Into the West" which was the single from "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King". Annie will perform the song at the ceremony! Can't wait! Elvis Costello & Sting will also perform.
Stan Ridgway (Wall of Voodoo) releases new album "Blood" with Pietra Wexstun. I just saw "Night of the Creeps" recently, which featured two Ridgway songs on the soundtrack.
A Flock of Seagulls & Dead or Alive release greatest hits compilations under the Cleopatra label. What about Missing Persons?
Readers, Below is a letter I sent to the Weekly Planet, in response to Karen's article. Karen is not actually a staff writer for the WP, but won a contest in order to get the piece published! Typically, an actual WP music staff writer would not stoop as low as to write about a "fluff New Wave" band like Missing Persons. Why waste ink on that when The Replacements or The Pixies can be written about? Imagine a staff of Terence Nuzums (LOL)!
When a breakthrough does occur, like Karen Lee's Missing Persons expose, I feel obligated to give WP its due credit. Being a fan of the band, I enjoyed the piece very much. I was among the audience members (3rd row) at the '80s Flashback Tour Karen spotlighted, and just as she wrote, the band did pull a no-show. It was news to me, however, that they previously pulled the same stunt back in '83, then again 20 years later.
Yes, Dale Bozzio may be predictably unpredictable, but Missing Persons' hardcore fans will happily roll the dice in hopes the band may pass our way again in the near future.
- Andy Lalino
In the Feb. 11th-17th edition of the Weekly Planet, an article by Karen Lee was featured that is worthy of any Crazed New Wave Fanboy's attention. The article spotlighted the classic New Wave band Missing Persons, and their history of "no-shows" in the Tampa Bay area, which was news to me. The article is very interesting; check it out at the following link:
http://www.weeklyplanet.com/music_feature.html
Dear Weekly Planet,
I have to admit I was taken aback by the "All Stood Up" piece that appeared in the Vol. 16 #47 edition of the Planet, which featured a personal reflection by writer Karen Lee of the great New Wave band Missing Persons. I've been a casual reader of the Planet before it was even called that, and have grown accustomed to its regular exclusion of - how can I put this - more palatable alternative music acts such as the aforementioned Missing Persons. Typically when an 'old wave' group comes to town or is promoting a new CD, they almost always are glossed over unless someone is putting them down as 'has-beens' or aging fluff.
I thought Karen might want to know that 'Missing Persons' did tour the Tampa Bay area, performing at Masquerade, in the mid-'90s (I forget the exact date). I put the band's name in quotes for good reason: Dale Bozzio (who's a short little thing) was the only original member. Her backup band looked more like something from Danzig than Missing Persons! The show was okay; I figured it was the closest I'd ever get to seeing the original band, so I went for it. Little did I know years later the founding members would re-form and tour; sounds like a precursor to VH1's excellent "Bands Reunited".
"Oddservations" is ©2004 by Andy Lalino. The Oddservations banner is a creation of Andy Lalino. Missing Persons graphics are copyrighted to their respective holders and are used here for editorial purposes only. All other graphics, unless otherwise noted, are creations of Nolan B. Canova. All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2004 by Nolan B. Canova.