Missing Persons, Josie Cotton, and Diane & The Deductibles To Rock The Canyon Clubs!

Missing Persons, Josie Cotton, and Diane & The Deductibles To Rock The Canyon Clubs!

The women will rock big time at The Canyon Clubs at both the Montclair and Agoura Hills locations – featuring a glorious amalagation of New Wave and Modern Day Classic Rock!  Co-headlined by the iconic 80’s artists Missing Persons and Josie Cotton, both performances with feature Diane & The Deductibles as the opening act.  Missing Persons is best known for their classic hits such as Walking In L.A., Destination Unknown and Mental Hopscotch while Josie Cotton achieved music infamy with the super infectious Johnny Are You Queer and her appearance in the Valley Girl movie.  Diane & The Deductibles recently issued their T W O album, a stunning modern take on classic rock, featuring current and former members of Air Supply, Geoff Tate’s Queensryche, Riverdogs, and Hurricane.  Expect these two nights to be filled with exhilarating tunes and a vibrantly memorable good time!  Highwire Daze recently caught up with all three of these massively talented performers to find out what to expect from an evening with Missing Persons, Josie Cotton, and Diane & The Deductibles.  Read on…

Dale Bozzio of Missing Persons

What are you looking forward to the most about your shows with Josie Cotton and Diane & The Deductibles at The Canyon Clubs?
Actually when I play a concert, I add it on the list, because there have been thousands of concerts. So this is another concert that I’m going to play. I love Diane – she’s my very dear friend, so that’s always a pleasure. But you know, a concert is just another expression of the day.

Have you ever done any shows with Josie Cotton or have ever met her before?
No.

You usually open your shows with Mental Hopscotch. Tell me the story behind that song and why you like starting off your shows with the particular song.
Actually it was a song that Frank Zappa said was his favorite. So I play that at every show, and that’s my honor to Frank.

And why do you think nobody is Walking In L.A. anymore after all of these years?
You know, I think they are Walking In L.A. I think they’re living on the street – that’s more than Walking In L.A. Things have changed! Things have changed dramatically – believe you me! L.A. is not the same – it’s just not. The whole world has changed and it’s hard to keep up with everybody else’s footsteps. L.A. has changed. But that song is a novelty song – it always will be inherently – it’s written by Terry Bozzio.

You are working on new material. What has that been like and who are you working with?
I’m working only with one person. He and I have designed the whole record from beginning to end. It’s actually a message from me to my listeners and they know who they are. And I wanted to sing a couple of tunes that were dear to my heart – and so I did. And I have a couple of originals on there – one in particular. And the fella is Adam Hamilton. The record won’t be out until February.

You’re also working on a book. How has that been coming along?
I am working on this book. It’s coming along fine. It’s a lot of information that people don’t know about me. It’s sort of a little mini encyclopedia. And I look forward to making it available to listeners, because people assume they think they know who you are – and I wanted to explain it from myself to the world.

Billy Sherwood of YES and ASIA was recently on the cover of Highwire Daze – and I recently discovered that you worked with him in the past. How did that come about and what was he like to work with?
That got set up the record company. He’s a very fine fella – it worked out great – made a couple of nice tunes with him as well. He’s a super tall dude and a wonderful fella. I love him! He’s a sweetheart.

When people do come out to your shows they are going to see a familiar face in Prescott Niles from The Knack in the lineup…
Yeah, yeah, Prescott’s my friend. Prescott and I have been friends for decades – even since the 70’s. He’s my dear friend Prescott. He’s a fine player – he’s on the money – the cat is solid – he’s so strong – if you pat his back you could feel all of the muscles he has. And he’s authentic. And the other players in my band as well are fine musicians. They are genius Fred Bensi – he’s from Paris and he teaches me how to speak French – he’s on the keyboards and I call him Paris. And my guitar player – his name is Karl D’Amico and I call Karl “Gatsby” – Karl’s a fine musician as well. And then on drums is Andy Sanesi – timing is of the essence and he locks that down. Occasionally I work with another drummer, Gabe – Prescott’s son. So it moves along smoothly for me musically. I cannot be in this business if I don’t have my friends in the band with me. I need to have people I love around me or I wouldn’t even bother. I do think that we get the point across. There’s no sense in playing these concerts if the songs don’t sound correct. And I’m striving for all of the music to be presented properly by the standards of the Missing Persons people.

Do you have any messages for your fans who will be coming out to these shows?
I’m so looking forward to seeing my friends at the shows. I give everybody a hug and happily speak with them in answering all of their questions and sign their autographs and their records. And I look forward to it. I see a lot of familiar faces all the time at many of these concerts I play, and it surely keeps the spirit alive.

Missing Persons on Facebook

Josie Cotton

What are you looking forward to the most about your show dates with Missing Persons? Have you done any shows with Missing Persons before?
I’m really looking forward to it being a small lineup. I’ve done 2 shows now with Missing Persons on the bill but never got to meet her.

What song by Missing Persons are you looking forward to hearing the most and why?
Mental Hopscotch because it’s a great song!

What could one expect from a live Josie Cotton show?
Songs from every record I’ve made. Hopefully entertaining!

How did your recent House Of Machines show go and what was it like working with a member of Prima Donna in your band?
I loved that show. The audience was fantastic . Kevin from Prima Donna was in my band for a while and he’s just a stellar human all around. I will miss him terribly. He plays in Green Day now.

With all the crazy political turmoil we have today regarding the Ukraine, just how timely was it to release a new song called Ukrainian Cowboy? And what inspired that song?
It’s gone beyond timely now. It seems to be pivotal. The title was off the top of my head when we needed something to call it. The alliteration sounded good to me and it seemed funny for some reason. Now the Ukrainians are heroes of mine. It was really a sad cowboy song that turned very Russian very fast. Probably because I heard it mentioned in the news every damn day.

How has it been to revisit the songs in Everything Is Oh Yeah?
Strange and wonderful. It feels very good just to complete it and have it out in the world

What do you remember the most about the Johnny Are You Queer B-side Let’s Do The Blackout and how was it to revisit that song live at your recent House Of Machines show?
It was Kevin who asked why we never played that song and I didn’t really know. I never played it live. So now we do. Only my most hard core fans know it .

How surprised are you are at the overall success and controversy Johnny Are You Queer has received over the years?
Shocked is more like it. That’s an entire book.

What’s up next in the New Year for Josie Cotton? Any new music on the horizon?
We’re re-releasing a bunch of records of mine in 2020 that no one really heard. But yes there’s a new record in the works!

Message for fans…
Thanks for all the love…Stay tuned…

Josie Cotton on Facebook

Diane Adams of Diane & The Deductibles

What are you looking forward to the most about playing with Missing Persons and Josie Cotton?
An all woman lineup, very different from my brand of today’s Rock.

Why do you think the music of Missing Persons has remained so iconic over the years?
Hit songs, are just that…HIT Songs…no denying a great lyric and hook line…and it is a still a movement Music of the 80’s.

What were you doing during the early 80’s when this amazing music by Missing Persons and Josie Cotton first came out? Do you have any hidden new wave looks or big hair stories?
I was playing Music in Monterey, San Francisco, away from the LA scene, in opening spots for Les Dudek, Buddy Miles, Tierra and Richie Havens in Northern California …so I was never influenced by the New Wave styles.

What could one expect from a Diane & The Deductibles shows?
I play.. MY Original Rock… so not at all like MISSING PERSONS but still strong rhythms and lyrics that compliment the show lineup. Expect hot guitar lines, big drums and bass, lots of vocals…Diane & The Deductibles full throttle!!!

Select two songs you’ll playing at the show – one from T W O and a new song slated for T H R E E – and what inspired the lyrics…
Our set we will only be playing one song from T W O, Frontline- I’m on the FRONTLINE by DESIGN, breaking all traditions, not just following the leader…Life is by design and my design is to always to be on the Frontline..Taking life on directly…In my plan …Designing my days.

All the other songs will be from our upcoming album, T H R E E – In my Next Breath, Never Say Goodbye, Darkness in the Room and Say What You Mean… We will be playing for the very first time…. DARKNESS IN THE ROOM…. I was inspired to write these lyrics about depression after Kate Spade hung herself. I had met her years before and it just took me by surprise as well as the rest of the world…

Your video Tears has some pretty powerful lyrics. What is the story behind the lyrics for that song and the video?
The main repeated line is “TEARS REMIND YOU ARE ALIVE”…Since Life is not absolute

…its good to remember that when you shed tears …T E A R S can be provoked by pain or joy…both trigger a profound sentiment. And how you view or believe this world and it’s people should exist is only a personal frame of reference, not a viewpoint to be tarnished.

How inspiring has it been to work with musicians who have worked with bands as varied as Geoff Tate’s Queensryche and Air Supply?
Since we are an original band our writing has history written in all the musical phrasing… It’s like great seasoning with our very own recipe… Ideas are forged in each of our life’s experience. Robert Sarzo has brought that Rock edge, Cliff has a solid bass and vocal Harmonies, Keith Lynch is a guitar chord master and vocalist and Ronnie Ciago has exceptional percussion ideas and keeps it all tight. Myself…I create vocal lines in my contralto register and develop harmonies plus write all the lyrics and assist with arrangements…With all that we find ourselves the creators of a new song…We get together weekly to write or tune up for an upcoming show…it feeds the creative spirit and our friendship.

What’s up in the New Year for Diane & The Deductibles?
More Shows and a new Album titled “T H R E E”…

Diane & The Deductibles on Facebook

(Interview by Ken Morton – Missing Persons Photo by Cruella Photography – Josie Cotton photo by Talia Farber – Diane & The Deductibles photo by Jack Lue )

Discount Tickets for these shows now available through Diane & The Deductibles here!!!