BUY NOW FROM RUBELLAN REMASTERS
Fans of New Wave group Missing Persons have a new destination: the Rubellan Remasters label has issued new expanded editions of their three albums for Capitol Records.
Spring Session M (1982), Rhyme & Reason (1984) and Color in Your Life (1986) have each been remastered by Rubellan, with rare and unreleased bonus tracks appended to each. Each has been remastered from the original tapes in Universal Music Group's archive. A box set, limited to 500 copies, is also being sold by the label, encompassing the three releases in a special slipcase.
Formed from a cadre of musicians in Frank Zappa's touring ensembles, Missing Persons coalesced around stylish lead vocalist Dale Bozzio, her husband Terry on drums and versatile guitarist Warren Cuccurullo. They recorded their first independent EP in 1980 at Zappa's Utility Muffin Research Kitchen studio; upon signing to Capitol, they recruited two more Zappa affiliates - bassist Patrick O'Hearn and keyboardist Chuck Wild - and recorded debut album Spring Session M (an anagram of the band name). Four of its singles charted in the middle of the Billboard Hot 100, including almost-Top 40 hits "Words" and "Destination Unknown" - the latter arguably their best-known song thanks to MTV airplay.
Neither an experimental follow-up (Rhyme & Reason, co-produced by longtime Michael Jackson engineer Bruce Swedien and their last to feature Wild) nor a more conventional one (Color in Your Life, helmed by Bernard Edwards of CHIC) had much chart impact, and by 1986 both the Bozzios and the band broke up. Dale Bozzio recorded a solo album for Prince's Paisley Park label, Terry worked alongside acts like Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck and The Knack, Hearn was picked to play in ex-Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor's solo band and Cuccurullo filled Duran's void, graduating from a touring member in the late '80s permanent guitarist from 1990 to 2000, during which he helped craft their mid-'90s comeback hits. The Color in Your Life-era lineup reunited briefly in 2001, and Cuccurullo has been involved in various revivals of the group as led by Dale Bozzio through 2011.
Each reissue can be pre-ordered from the label's site below.
Spring Session M (Rubellan Remasters RUBY16CD, 2021)
- Noticeable One
- Windows
- It Ain't None of Your Business
- Destination Unknown
- Walking in L.A.
- U.S. Drag
- Tears
- Here and Now
- Words
- Bad Streets
- Rock and Roll Suspension
- No Way Out
- I Like Boys
- Mental Hopscotch
- Hello, I Love You
- Action Reaction (Remix)
Tracks 1-12 from Capitol ST-12228, 1982
Tracks 13-15 from KoMoS 7" EP, 1980. Tracks 13-14 later released on Capitol EP DLP-15001, 1982
Track 16 previously unreleased
Rhyme & Reason (Rubellan Remasters RUBY17CD, 2021)
- The Closer That You Get
- Give
- Now is the Time (for Love)
- Surrender Your Heart
- Clandestine People
- Right Now
- All Fall Down
- Racing Against Time
- Waiting for a Million Years
- If Only for the Moment
- Fight for Life
- Give (Dance Mix)
- If Only for the Moment (Full Version)
Tracks 1-10 released as Capitol ST-12315, 1984
Track 11 from Rhyme & Reason expanded edition - One Way/EMI 72435 27881 2 5, 2000
Track 12 from Capitol 12" V-8582, 1984
Track 13 from Classic Masters, Capitol CDP 7243 5 38398 2 6, 2002
Color in Your Life (Rubellan Remasters RUBY18CD, 2021)
- Color in Your Life
- I Can't Think About Dancin'
- No Secrets
- Flash of Love
- Go Against the Flow
- Boy I Say to You
- Come Back for More
- Face to Face
- We Don't Know Love At All
- Hot to Cold
- It's a Must
- I Can't Think About Dancin' (Single Version)
- I Can't Think About Dancin' (Extended Version)
- I Can't Think About Dancin' (Dub Version)
Tracks 1-9 released as Capitol ST-12465, 1986
Tracks 10-11 from Color in Your Life expanded edition - One Way/EMI - One Way/EMI 72435 27880 2 6, 2000
Tracks 12-14 from Capitol 12" V-15233, 1986
An Interview with Scott Davies, Rubellan Remasters' One-Man Band
I already got my box of all 3 albums. As always from Rubellan Remasters, these CDs have been beautifully remastered (no brick-walling) and beautifully restored! Very well done! Great to see this label get more attention here, as it has consistently put out one excellent reissue after another.
This is one of the best reissue labels around. Always well done. Always best sources. And always the best sounding version ever released.
I've already received my box of Missing Persons and they look and sound amazing!!!! As usual, Rubellan Remasters has put out an outstanding product.
Thanks for the heads up, ordered. That’s an o retesting label. I would like to have the Berlin reissues too but not putting a dime in her pocket after that Mar-A-Lago gig. Nope.
I guess I take it like this - Berlin hasn’t been able to perform all year. They have expenses. They need to support themselves. It probably paid well to perform at his hotel on New Years and considering there has been no opportunity to perform live all year - I don’t fault them. Considering what all has happened it makes it even worse - but people need to make a living and the concert industry has been basically shut down since March.
That’s her choice. It’s also my choice not to buy. I know lots of musicians personally who are less well off than her who are struggling with thier bills and wouldn’t play for him. But yea it’s a hard pass from me. And threw the Greatest Hits in the trash 🗑 too.
For what it's worth, Terri Nunn publicly apologized for playing that gig. It's on her FB page. Up to you to decide how authentic the apology is.
Terri Nunn posted an aplogy on Facebook about this.
I've got the boxed set as well. It's truly the best these albums have ever sounded. It's kind of astonishing the miracles that Rubellan Remasters continue to accomplish with their remastering work. Anything on their label is worth checking out because it's guaranteed to sound superb. Can't wait to see what their next release will be!
I have been extremely impressed with every album I have purchased from Rubellan Remasters and this box set even more so.
These remasters were lovingly engineered. The attention to detail on every track exceeds anything put out by most labels.
Regarding Terri performing at Mar-A-Lago, I saw Terri's mea culpa ..she said she did not perform with politics in mind and did not realize the ramifications or guilt by association that would be saddled on her...my take, I think her intentions may have been good...but if she was told it was at Mar-A-Lago, she shoulda known it was Trump's place & not to associate herself with it...if her manager didn't tell her where it was at & signed her up, I'd fire him/her...Terri is no dumbass Republican...I hope she is not positive for Covid from that fiasco...anyhoo, my Missing Persons box should be arriving any day now, but o juloed at it for how limited the box was & I love "Spring Session M" to death...I have the 2 Berlin reissues & hope "Count Three & Pray" gets the same treatment...will investigate every other RR reissue, like Ric O Beatitude & Danielle Dax...great work but I wish there were essays & liner notes besides credits, photos & original label replicas, which are great regardless...
Sorry spellcheck & my glasses broke...meant to type that I jumped at the purchase from how limited it was...500 copies...and I found out from an email newsletter as I joined up...thank goodness I did!!
To be fair, it shouldn't matter who decides to play anywhere, really. I'm not even from the U.S but I can see that it has become too divided, with people being "cancelled" or ostracized because of their beliefs or who they decide to represent them in office. It's total madness...
I'm not interested in any of their titles thus far, but hopefully they'll have something soon. Their emphasis on 80's new wave and their ability to license material from Capitol/UMG, gives me hope that the long neglected Squeeze catalog could see some reissues. It's been 13 years since there was any significant activity with the Squeeze catalog with some titles having never seen reissue, much less expansion, outside their original release. Fingers crossed.