Once known for her kooky fashion sense and interesting vocalization, Bozzio will probably be better remembered in the long run for once abandoning more than a dozen cats in her Ossippe, New Hampshire, home without food or water for a week. Though she denied responsibility, a judge convicted Bozzio on one of 13 animal cruelty charges in 2009 and sentenced her to 90 days in jail. With that legal flap now behind her, she's touring again and refocusing on the strengths that brought her acclaim as an '80s songstress.
Since the L.A.-based band Missing Persons, which she headed for six years, went kaput in 1986 with a tour that also ended Bozzio's marriage, the singer has spent the past two decades on the road performing their former hits. She is scheduled to appear at West Palm Beach's Respectable Street's 24th-anniversary celebration. The band will be missing persons, if you will, as Bozzio will be the only original member performing.
The singer was discovered by avant-garde musical legend Frank Zappa, who asked her to join his band. She then met and married Zappa's drummer, Terry Bozzio, and formed Missing Persons with guitarist Warren Cuccurullo a year after; bassist Patrick O'Hearn and keyboardist Chuck Wild joined later.
With her tricolored hair and salad-bowl-inspired bras, Bozzio's heavy-duty eccentric style is reflected in the looks of subsequent fashion experimenters like Madonna and Lady Gaga. Missing Persons had a highly danceable new-wave sound that hypnotized MTV viewers with songs like "Destination Unknown" and "Mental Hopscotch." Bozzio released a solo album two years later called Riot in English that included the Top 40 dance hit "Simon Simon." Another album, New Wave Sessions, came about in 2007 and features remakes of a few '80s classics. The mother of two sons, Bozzio continued to tour solo, reuniting with Duran Duran guitarist and former Missing Persons bandmate Cuccurullo in 2001 for a minitour in California.
Whether Bozzio was guilty of cruelty or just of being a crazy cat lady, the singer is still a talent worth a gander on Saturday. Drinks are free from 8 to 10 p.m. There'll be free pizza and no cover, to assist in the enjoyment of festivities.
