Terry Bozzio
Terry John Bozzio (Born December 27, 1950, San Francisco, CA)
Bozzio grew up in San Francisco and began playing drums from age six on his own makeshift set, which he constructed from diverse materials, including coffee cans and old metal signs using broken arrows for sticks. He started by playing along with records by Tito Puente and the 'surf-drum' sounds of Sandy Nelson and The Ventures. His father had been a talented accordion player, and his mother had sung in her own high-school jazz band. After watching The Beatles play on Ed Sullivan's TV show at age 13, Bozzio convinced his father he needed drum lessons. After six months of lessons, he began playing in high school and garage bands, amateur rock musicals and in local jazz groups. He attended Sir Francis Drake High School, graduated with a degree in music from the College of Marin and worked as a classical drummer in the Bay Area. His first recording was on an album by Malo's Latin-American trumpeter Luis Gasca, on which George Duke also featured.
In 1975 Bozzio auditioned for FZ's band. After he had played his set, all of the other drummers behind him in the audition line left. Zappa subsequently wrote The Black Page for Bozzio to capture his virtuosity.
Also known as Terry 'Ted' Bozzio, he provided drums and vocals for:
- Bongo Fury
- Zoot Allures
- Zappa In New York
- Sleep Dirt
- Sheik Yerbouti
- Orchestral Favorites
- Joe's Garage Acts 2 & 3
- Baby Snakes
- Thing-Fish
- You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 1
- You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 3
- You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 4
- You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 6
- The Lost Episodes
- Läther
- Frank Zappa Plays The Music Of Frank Zappa
- FZ:OZ
- Quaudiophiliac
- Beat The Boots disk Conceptual Continuity
- Zappa bootleg An Evening In Detroit
Bozzio can be seen in the Zappa movie "Baby Snakes".
After they met in a Hollywood recording studio Terry Bozzio dated Boston's ex Playboy girl, Dale Consalvi, and they married in 1979. As Dale Bozzio she did vocals on FZ albums and appeared in an FZ film.
In 1979 Terry Bozzio briefly appeared in the band UK with ex FZ violinist Eddie Jobson; (Night After Night). Then, in 1980 Terry and Dale Bozzio formed the group Missing Persons (originally called US Drag) with former Zappa musicians Warren Cuccurullo on guitar and Patrick O'Hearn on bass. Thing-Fish session man Chuck Wild, a classically trained musician, played keyboards. Their first recording was made at FZ's UMRK studio and became a local No 1 on Bingenheimer's airplays for KROQ radio station. Their album, Spring Session M (an anagram of "Missing Persons"), went gold. The two Bozzios and Cuccurullo appeared in a Playboy Playmate VHS The Lunch Wagon (1981 & film 1982), soundtracked by Missing Persons.
When Missing Persons was disbanded in 1986, and the Bozzios had divorced, Terry Bozzio worked on projects for the band Duran Duran, with guitarist Andy Taylor eventually replaced by Cuccurullo. Bozzio also sessioned with Robbie Robertson and Herbie Hancock, before joining up with guitarist Jeff Beck and keyboardist Tony Hymas in the band "BB&H", winning a Grammy Award for their album Guitar Shop.
Some of his most recent work has been on the (intentionally untitled) eighth Korn album, along with Chad Wackerman's younger brother, Brooks Wackerman. He has also revisited The Black Page, performing it on the 2006 Zappa Plays Zappa tour.
Notes
- Legend has it that FZ's score for Bozzio, "The Black Page", is so named because the complexity of it results in a printed sheet-music page, so visibly full of musical notations, it appears at first sight to be almost black.
- Missing Persons info, pix & vids
- For devotees of drum technique there is a Vic Firth drum tutorial DVD; "Terry Bozzio and Chad Wackerman: Duets, Volume 2" available on the internet.
