In 1980 the band made its first record, a 4-song EP entitled Missing Persons, in Zappa's brand-new UMRK studios; the recording was financed by Cuccurullo's father. The band toured, promoted the EP, appeared in the movie Lunch Wagon, and became a must-see band among the L.A. live music crowd. "Mental Hopscotch" was a #1 record on local radio station KROQ, and the self-promoted EP ended up selling 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 varying success, especially in the local markets of Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. The visual effects used in the music video for "Words" were unusual for the time, making it popular on the fledgling cable TV channel MTV. Missing Persons appeared at the three-day Southern California concert, the US Festival in May 1983, along with Berlin, The Pretenders, U2, David Bowie, and many more.
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