Although it got lost in a flood of new romantic/new hairstyle dross at the start of the 80s, there is far more substance to Missing Persons' debut proper than the likes of
A Flock of Seagulls or Classix Nouveau could ever hope to muster. Sure, there were cheesy synthesizers aplenty and a slick production which threatened to strangle the band's melodic flair, but in
Dale Bozzio,
Missing Persons had a natural star. Bozzio's sugar hiccup vocal style was both alien and alluring, though she struggled to overcome reservations about the way her image was exploited (seemingly with her co-operation) by Capitol. Her futuristic latex boob tube should be a prime exhibit in any 80s atrocity exhibition. The pivotal song on the album, the title of which is an anagram of the band's name, was "Walking in L.A.," which became a minor hit on the back of the group's glossy magazine visibility. ~ Alex Ogg