A MISSING PERSON IS FOUND IN THE NUDE

Whether she’s decked out in a silver lame, space-age jump suit, an aluminum wrap tank top or her legendary plexiglass not-quite-see-through bikinis, Missing Persons’ sultry vocalist Dale Bozzio always keeps her outfits to a minimum when she performs on stage.

But whatever outrageous ensemble she’s wearing is a lot more than what she has on in the February issue of Hustler magazine. Headlined “Chart Topper/Heart Stopper,” the photo layout features a five-page pictorial spread of graphic nude photos taken when Bozzio posed for a pair of Hustler covers in 1979 and 1980.

According to Hustler Editorial Director Richard Warren Lewis, Bozzio was “definitely” one of the magazine’s most popular models, even before she blossomed in recent years as a new-wave pop star. “We’ve continued to get a goodly amount of mail from readers, asking to see more layouts or reprints of our past spreads with Dale,” Lewis said.

He added that the magazine had “no qualms” about using the now-5-year-old nude photos. “We can use the photos forever if we want,” Lewis said. “Every Hustler model and photographer signs a release which gives us the right to use the photos for as long as we want and in just about every way we want, even in promotions or subscription ads. As you can probably imagine, we’ve been sued often over the years and we run everything past our legal department, which had no problem with this at all.”

Bozzio took the news of her reappearance in Hustler with considerable aplomb: “I’m an American,” she said good-naturedly. “It was something I did, it is obviously me and it is old, very old.

“But you have to keep a sense of humor about all this. Let’s face it, some people stand on their heads sometimes to make a buck. I can’t say that I regret anything I’ve done in the past. But you have to look at what people are now. I’d prefer to concentrate on the future, not the past. So I’m not gonna let this disturb me. There’ll be someone else along tomorrow.”

Lewis said that Bozzio is probably Hustler’s most famous ex-model. “We’ve had other models go on to successful careers in pornographic films, but Dale is probably the most prominent ex-model who has pursued a career in legitimate entertainment.”

BOTTOMS UP: Had enough Top 10 lists? It’s time for Pop Eye’s fifth annual Bottom 10, a collection of the year’s worst albums. We’ve polled dozens of industry staffers, musicians, deejays, writers and rank and file rock fans for their choices.

For the first time in several years, there were no repeat “winners” from last year’s top of the flops, though several artists, especially Queen and Laura Branigan, have been strong contenders in the past. There was also considerable backlash voting, particularly against overblown media hypes (the Jacksons), crass attempts to cash in on L.A.-mania (Sinatra), noisy sound-track excesses (“Metropolis”), bubble-gum Motown rip-offs (Wham) and ex-girlfriends of pop sensations who have tried to cash in on their notoriety and sex appeal (Vanity). Narrowly missing the list, but getting enough votes to merit honorable mention, were albums by Rod Stewart, Donna Summer, Jefferson Starship, Barbra Streisand, Julio Iglesias, Berlin and Spandau Ballet.

The winners:

1--”L.A. Is My Lady,” Frank Sinatra.

2--”Metropolis,” sound track by various artists.

3--”Signs of Life,” Billy Squier.

4--”Shout,” Devo.

5--”Victory,” the Jacksons.

6--”Self Control,” Laura Branigan.

7--”The Works,” Queen.

8--”Wild Animal,” Vanity.

9--”Make It Big,” Wham.

10--”Hysteria,” Human League.

AND WHILE WE’RE ON THAT SUBJECT: With music-video making such a big impact over the past year, we had planned to inaugurate a rock-video Bottom 10 as well. But rather than hog all the fun, we’d like to see our readers make the selection themselves. Any videos released (or that became popular over the past 12 months) are eligible. Feel free to include any brief (that’s brief) comments about what made your worst-video candidates especially deserving. Send entries to Pop Eye, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053.

ON THE TOWN: New Year’s Eve is always a high-decibel special occasion in rock ‘n’ roll, and last Monday night was no exception. While none of the shows around town equaled Motley Crue’s legendary 1983 Santa Monica Civic appearance (where the band lit themselves on fire with a turpentine gel and took a chain saw to a mannequin dressed up as Wendy O. Williams), there were still a few minor fireworks.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers headlined the Club Lingerie’s extravaganza, which was emceed by comedienne-turned-vocalist Sandra Bernhard, who apparently had been celebrating early. At midnight, Bernhard ushered in the New Year with a sing-a-long version of “Auld Lang Syne,” inviting a crowd of celebrants to come on stage and trying her hand at inventing new lyrics to the Time’s “Jungle Love,” which was blasting over the club sound system. After being pelted by a barrage of ice cubes from the denizens of the dance floor, Bernhard gave the stage over to the Chili Peppers. Led by vocalist Anthony (Swan) Kiedis, who was outfitted in shorts and a full-length, ultra-fake purple fur coat, the local bad boys kept the party spirit intact, volunteering choice (but unprintable) New Year’s resolutions and finishing off the show with a raucous version of Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire,” which Kiedis instilled with a special touch of class by mooning the audience.

The Attack Gallery threw a New Year’s Eve bash (“The Beat”) at a downtown studio that featured a quartet of local bands (including Tupelo Chain Sex and the Mums) as well as exhibits by 30 local artists. According to several celebrants on hand, the festivities also included a wee-hours tussle, with artist Mad Mark Rude and Social Distortion’s Mike Ness squaring off against a boisterous partygoer who had been loudly berating the gallery staff.

Barry Manilow was back at the Universal Amphitheatre, where, dressed as Father Time, he crooned “Friends” with Bette Midler a couple of years ago. This time, the popster performed his own holiday composition, “It’s Just Another New Year’s Eve,” and passed out party kits, which included hats, horns, balloons and rolls of confetti. . . . And rubber-neckers at Chaka Khan’s show at the Palace spotted a bevy of celebrities, including Rickie Lee Jones, George Duke and Berlin’s Terri Nunn, whose outfit sported a neat podiatric wrinkle: one black shoe and one blue one.