“I went all out there, I was a little racy. I didn’t have any barriers, I didn’t feel self-conscious or any of that and coming from Boston I just thought; you know what? If you don’t like me, see you later! I kind of had a hard-ass attitude; Prince once told me that I was cold with a hard-ass and I think he was right!”
From the beginning, the face, persona and “Body” of Missing Persons Dale Bozzio epitomized a genre in rock music that in retrospect was definitely unlike any other. It has been said that her outrageous outfits, multi-colored hair, theatrics and voice set the standard for what was to be labeled “Alternative Rock.”
Dale’s life has taken twists and turns throughout; from her modest beginnings growing up in Medford, Massachusetts to her current residence in California and every “Accomplishment” in between, she has grabbed life by the throat and not let go.
Things however, are not always easy, especially when you take chances. Bozzio’s journey has ranged from risky to risqué, so much so that she has decided to share her story by compiling memories, trials, tribulations, failures and successes into what has been called a “Scintillating auto-biography” titled, “Life Is So Strange-Missing Persons, Frank Zappa, Prince & Beyond.”
A recent press release said, “The book is a riotous, humorous, sexy, intimate, no-holds barred story of Bozzio’s life in and out of music. She has absolutely no qualms about sharing stories of all aspects of her life that will amaze, titillate, impress, and endear her to those who read her fascinating life journey. This book is the ultimate kiss and tell story” and when speaking with Dale; she is more than happy to tell you this herself. From those aforementioned modest beginnings to her days as “Playboy Bunny Club Bunny of the Year” in Boston, MA. and her life changing 40-foot fall from a hotel window; Dale puts it all out on the table.
“Absolutely,” she emphatically stated, “I got the book done and I’m very happy about that and I’m glad that things have cleared up a little bit better with “The flu” and stuff; people are doing better so, we’ll be able to get out and play some more concerts. I’ve been playing a lot of concerts, I’ve been doing a lot with ‘80s bands and the such. I’ve been doing a lot of work lately, especially now that things are back up but mainly I want to push the book and make a movie maybe this year or next but mainly I’m focused on just the same old, same old; ya’ know?”
“The book is not a matter of telling all, I’m just telling my story,” she continued. “It has a lot of people in it; adventures, accidents, success, etc. I’m going to be 67 years old, I’ve been in the business for 40 years, I’m not the new kid on the block but also I’m not a very main figure in the music business. I think Missing Persons was a cult, I decided to write the book about the people that I’ve known who have helped me in my life like Frank Zappa and Prince and the Missing Persons people that I really love and my new band who are very incredible. I want to tell my fans about my childhood and the accident I had when I was 21; I fell out of a window from 40-feet and landed on my head. That was a major tragedy for me, I had to pull myself back together once I got off of life-support and become a person again. It was a rather eye opening awakening for me, I learned how to appreciate life every day and I went for the gusto. That’s why I do and did what I did because I had no holds barred, I already fell out of that window, I’ve already almost died; nothing really mattered after that, it was all just up from there; that’s why I take a lot of chances and always did and always will. I’m not worried about something like that happening again or if it does it’s over my head but there are close calls (laughs). I take it in stride, I try to use every day properly and not waste my time; I set myself little projects that I can accomplish.”
There are not many that can say they have fallen 40-feet, let alone 40-feet and survived. So, tell us Dale; how does this happen?
“Well, because life IS so strange,” she laughed. “When I fell out of that window I had just finished making “Joe’s Garage” with Frank and Frank went on to Japan and I stayed back in L.A. and Terry (Bozzio) went with him. I was home alone and ended up bringing my cousin to the hospital because she had an asthma attack. I checked into a hotel across the street and there was a little incident earlier that night where these fellas were bustling about and they ended up knocking on my door and I had to call down to the front desk and call security. The security guy came up to my room and wound up hustling me about, I had to run to the window because he told me that others were coming up to rape and kill me; that’s not something you tell a person. So, I ran to the window and started screaming for help and ended up falling the 40-feet out of the window and landed on my head. Obviously, I land in a pool of blood and there’s a quote in the book where the hospital is across the street and the ambulance is coming; I’m passed out on the sidewalk, bleeding and I say at the end of the page, “I sure hope they hurry.” I was literally minutes from dying and they saved my life; downtown L.A.-Compton Hospital. They took me across the street, they sewed up my head, I had broken ribs, broken kneecaps and I woke up two weeks later in Frank Zappa’s living room and his wife Gail said, “Wake up, Wake Up” and I was awake but I couldn’t see because I had been slipping in and out of a coma and I was blind and she said, “I made you spaghetti; why’d you fall out of a window?” Then I passed out again and went back to Boston where they put me on life-support and stayed there until I got better. I had to really repair myself, when I woke up I was now 22 and had already made “Joe’s Garage” and said, I don’t want to get drafted this week (laughs). I was only in L.A. for six months of my life and I had this tragic accident and I had to start all over again. So, I wanted everyone to know that tragedy is what has led me on; the doctor who sewed me up said, “Little girl, thank God for the rest of your life; you’re a miracle to be alive” and I think that every day and I work with that intonation, I work with that deeply. I believe in myself; in Dale, so whole-heartedly, I like me as a person and I love what I have accomplished and to be able to give back something that I never knew I could even accomplish; making people happy, it’s amazing to me.”
Like felines, some of us seem to have nine lives; you know, those people who have the knack to bounce back time after time from adversity or in Dale’s case possible death. In many ways, the fall from that window not only resulted in her “Go for the gusto” attitude but little did she know that all of these years later; that very attitude would lead her to writing the book.
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you and all of the people that will read this; I love you for it,” she said with sincerity; “I just want to let my dear friends and fans know what happened. Even my friends, girlfriends and boyfriends don’t know what happened to me. When I fell out of that window, I was dating Henry Winkler, he didn’t even know why I never came back (laughs); it’s kind of funny! Sooner or later, maybe everybody will see what I have to say. I talk about Al Pacino in there; I was 18 years old and working at this health spa and he came to the door of the spa and said, “Do me a favor and give this hundred dollar bill to the girl at the bar over there on the corner; I forgot to tip her last night.” This is Al Pacino, in Boston; right? I’m looking at him in shock and I said, absolutely! He said, “My name is Al Pacino” and I said, my name is Dale and he said, “Thank you very much; you’ll make sure she gets that now right?” I said, yes, absolutely and I asked him; where ya’ going? He said he was doing a play at Boston Repertory Theatre and he disappeared; just walked away with this walk that he had; kind of a smooth walker and I’m standing there in shock with a hundred dollar bill in my hand going, oh my God that was Al Pacino and I just let him slip through my hands (laughs). See? That’s how things happen and I never saw him again but I was always waiting to go to Hollywood thinking I’d see movie stars walking down the street and such and that maybe I could just drive over and park and talk to them; I was delusional (laughs). I had all of these fantasies as a little girl that I thought were really happening and I needed a place that was safe for myself and mine was make believe; what did I know? I was a little girl from Medford, part of it is true in Hollywood and I was just dreaming; that’s the name of my new record, it’s called “Dreaming.”
New book and a new record, obviously she has not even considered slowing down which is a testament to her grit, determination and at times her in your face style. That style has been quite kind to her at opportune times; especially when Missing Persons was attempting to, for lack of a better term, “Bust out.”
“It’s crazy though, Missing Persons was trying to get a record deal from all kinds of people; including David Geffen; do you know what David Geffen said to me? He said, “Pay me ten-grand and I’ll put your record out,” I said, pay me ten-grand and I’ll let you put my record out. I got up and walked out and Terry was still sitting there and I said, let’s go. People just didn’t get it, we were told that the Missing Persons sound was not the direction of the ‘80s (laughs); how funny is that? That’s what I mean, you can’t listen to what people say, they don’t know. They don’t know what you’ve worked for or what your goal is and what your oppositions are; they don’t get it and they definitely don’t get it about musicians. Musicians are vengeful from their soul, they shouldn’t be bought and sold, they should come from within and if they don’t, I don’t see any lasting order of their music. I think Missing Persons had timeless music, we wrote it really to flatter ourselves. We wrote it so that it would be so tricked-up; I mean “Mental Hopscotch” is an 11, you can count it any way you want but if you really want to count it properly; it’s an 11, it’s not normal and it’s our number one song. It’s our number one song and it was Frank Zappa’s favorite song, so go figure. We took Missing Persons and we decided to create a condition that couldn’t be ignored, we really made that commitment to ourselves. I don’t know, we thought we were warriors on a mission (laughs) but we did it, we absolutely did it. I was ready for it, I was ready to run for president; it was all made for me; I’ll take a challenge any day! We cut right through because we had no bull shit; we came from that school of you had to do it yourself.”
When on a trip, no matter how mundane or strange it may seem, it is always good to have friends along the way; those you can count on, those who know the “Right people” or those who just plain old have your back and for Bozzio, that person was Frank Zappa.
“I’m Frank’s biggest fan and people loved his genius,” she said with reverence. “I think people’s respect for him is much different than that of a lot of other musicians in the world. My respect for him is overwhelming and I can’t say thank you to him enough times. I visit his grave in Westwood Village and I tell him the things I’ve accomplished. I tell him when I play a concert and I tell him when I make a record and I’m going to tell him the book came out and I’m going to tell him all about it because for some reason I think he listens; call me crazy (laughs). I have great faith and he had so much faith in me that I can’t let go, I just can’t let go of him and I don’t know, I don’t really know what the whole point of the matter is but I guess my ego wanted me to put it all on paper so I’d have a recollection of my own accomplishments. I’m sure if I make it to a ripe old age that I’ll be looking at that book myself and saying, look at these fun things and all of these accomplishments. I want to be happy for the people whose lives I have been able to be a part of; I’ve been able to be a part of and learn from all of these incredible musicians, Terry Bozzio, Prince, Chuck Wild, Patrick O’Hearn, Jen Scott, Warren Cuccurullo and it goes on; it doesn’t stop for me. So, I can’t be selfish and not do what I’m supposed to do; Frank Zappa told me to sing until I don’t want to sing anymore. So, I keep singing, that’s it! I think you have to really keep things in perspective in life and do what makes you happy and it’s best to do what you know best. What you know how to do will come easy to you, you won’t have to practice so much, you won’t have to actually work so hard; you have to love what you do and then it doesn’t seem like you’re really doing anything except making people happy; it’s a giveaway.”
In the ‘80s, Dale had the hair, the long legs, the shoes and the outfits that drew the attention to her and Missing Persons and now, four decades later she is still vibrant and vivacious and even though times have changed; has she changed her approach on stage?
“Well, that’s a good question, I’m grateful to be where I am, I’m always grateful. I kiss the sky at every concert, I blow a kiss to Frank and I thank him in my head because I know I couldn’t be there without him and then I just listen to the drums. I follow the drums as hard and heavy as I can, they are the only thing in my monitor because I sing the songs by all of the cues and everything that happens with the drums. I just sort of blank out actually; I just go with the mode of the music and if I stop and think about it I’d probably make a mistake. I make mistakes, believe me; I do. Sometimes, I’ll start listening to the guitar and I’m like, oh shit (laughs) but sometimes the band is that smokin’ and I stop listening (laughs).”
Reflecting back on her life, her still ongoing career and what led up to the book; when speaking with her, one gets a sense of her serenity and her feelings of accomplishment. There is an underlying sense of vulnerability there but also a seeming desire to let those who read her story know she is at peace with herself and her choices.
“I’m so proud of the book and the people who are in it and my life and the things that were able to take place for me to tell you about and let you all know that down deep inside, this is all from my soul; this is not a joke. This is reality and all of the things that I’ve done and accomplished have come right from my soul and nowhere else. I’m not a copycat and I’ve never taken a thing from anybody, I’m sole whole-heartedly yours and my heart is on my shoulder, I’ve nothing to hide. I’m all good and I wanted this book with all of the pictures in it for all of the people that I love to let them know that I care for them and I always will. When I’m gone and disappeared they will remember and when they are gone and disappeared, then it’s too late.”
Dale will gladly personally autograph a copy of “Life Is So Strange – Missing Persons, Frank Zappa, Prince & Beyond” if you order it from https://www.facebook.com/DaleBozzio and to read more about this truly fascinating woman, please visit https://www.dalebozzio.today/.
That's it for this week! Please continue to support live and original music and until next week....ROCK ON!
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