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| Missing Persons |
“Nina Blackwood’s Absolutely 80s” music festival continues this weekend with a free concert by Missing Persons with Warren Cuccurullo & Dale Bozzio on Saturday, June 4 at 9 p.m. on the 3rd Street Stage. Also featured throughout the week is the stage extravaganza The Nancy Rayguns, an original production show, “VJ Invasion: Launch Date 8.1.81,” Las Vegas based premiere cover band Venus Rising, Blackwood’s countdown of her 100 greatest songs of the 80s on Viva Vision and a chance to travel Back to the Future with a rare 80s icon, a DeLorean DMC-12.
Missing Persons with Warren Cuccurullo & Dale Bozzio
Missing Persons is a New Wave and electronic pop rock band founded in 1980 in Los Angeles by guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, vocalist Dale Bozzio, and drummer Terry Bozzio. Dale's quirky voice and heavy makeup made the band a favorite on MTV in the early 1980s. Dale and Terry Bozzio met and married while working with Frank Zappa, and Cuccurullo encountered the pair while contributing to the Zappa album Joe's Garage. In 1980 the band made its first record, a 4-song EP entitled Missing Persons, in Zappa's brand-new Utility Muffin Research Kitchen studios. The band toured, promoted the EP, appeared in the movie Lunch Wagon, and became a must-see band among the Los Angeles live music crowd. "Mental Hopscotch" was a #1 record on local radio station KROQ, and the self-promoted EP sold 7,000 copies. Two years of hard work led up to a signing with Capitol Records in 1982. With label support, the re-released EP sold another 250,000 units, and the new album Spring Session M (an anagram of "Missing Persons") went gold. The singles "Mental Hopscotch", "Destination Unknown," "Words," "Walking in L.A.," and "Windows" met with great success. The visual effects used in the music video for "Words" were unusual for the time, making it popular on the relatively new cable TV channel MTV. Dale's solo album Riot In English was released on Jan. 1, 1988 on Prince's Paisley Park Records. The lead single "Simon Simon" was a Top 40 dance hit and was also a crossover hit in Europe. Dale Bozzio has re-formed Missing Persons with guitarist Warren Cuccurullo for an incredible reunion tour in anticipation of the 30th Anniversary of Spring Session M, the band's groundbreaking, certified-Gold album originally released in 1982."
About “Nina Blackwood’s Absolutely 80s”
Fremont Street Experience’s “Nina Blackwood’s Absolutely 80s” highlights the music and culture of the 1980s with free headliner concerts, a stage extravaganza and an original production show. Blackwood, an original MTV VJ, is synonymous with ‘80s music, helping to set the musical tastes and trends still celebrated today. She continues to highlight the era that changed music forever with her radio shows on Sirius XM channel “80s on 8” and on syndicated radio shows “Nina Blackwood’s Absolutely 80s” and “Nina Blackwood’s New Wave Nation.” Blackwood is also revealing her personal 100 greatest songs of the ‘80s over the course of the 100-day celebration with one selection revealed every night on Viva Vision.
Free Headliner Concerts
Blackwood guest hosts a series of free headliner concerts throughout the summer that includes ‘80s artists: Terri Nunn & Berlin on May 28; Missing Persons with Warren Cuccurullo & Dale Bozzio on June 4; ABC on June 18; Colin Hay of Men at Work on July 2; Wang Chung with Naked Eyes on July 23; Loverboy on Aug. 6; Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet with Men Without Hats on Aug. 20 and Howard Jones on Sept. 3. All concerts start at 9 p.m.
Fremont Street Experience’s three stages will be active every night as the 100-day flashback to the 80s takes over downtown through Labor Day Weekend.
The nightly lineup of Viva Vision shows will include custom productions remembering the decade of the ‘80s. Also featured on Viva Vision during “Nina Blackwood’s Absolutely 80s” will be “KISS Over Vegas” highlighting 1983 hit “Lick it Up,” “George Thorogood & the Destroyer’s Bad to the Bone” and a 1980’s chart toppers Queen with “A Tribute to Queen.”
For complete information on the headliner concerts and nightly entertainment, visit www.vegasexperience.com to plan an awesome experience that will take you back to the ‘80s. You can also become a Facebook fan of Fremont Street Experience to get the latest insight and buzz about “Nina Blackwood’s Absolutely 80s.”
About Fremont Street Experience
Fremont Street Experience is a five-block entertainment complex located in historic downtown Las Vegas. Fremont Street Experience features Viva Vision, the world’s largest video screen which is 1,500 feet long, 90 feet wide and suspended 90 feet above the urban pedestrian mall. Viva Vision features nightly spectacular light and sounds shows with 12.5 million LED lights and a 550,000-watt sound system. Fremont Street Experience is a one-of-a-kind venue which includes free nightly concerts and entertainment on two stages. With direct pedestrian access to 10 casinos, more than 60 restaurants and specialty retail kiosks, Fremont Street Experience attracts over 17 million annual visitors. Fremont Street Experience can be found online at www.vegasexperience.com
