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Units (band)

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The Units
Background information
OriginSan Francisco, California, U.S.
GenresNew Wave
Synthpunk
Years active1978–1984

The Units are a defunct, early electronic music/punk rock/New Wave/synthpunk band founded in San Francisco in 1978 and active until 1984. One of America's first electronic New Wave bands, they are widely cited (along with The Screamers from L.A.) as pioneers of a genre now known as "synthpunk." The Units were notable for their use of synthesizers in place of guitars, and multimedia performances featuring multiple projections of satirical, instructional films critical of conformity and consumerism.

Members

Primary members were Scott Ryser and Rachel Webber. Other various members that played live shows and toured with The Units included Brad Saunders, Tim Ennis, Ron Lantz, Richard Driskell, Lx Rudis, Seth Miller, Jon Parker, David Allen Jr., Jabari Allen, Marc Henry, James Reynolds, Raymond Froehlich, D.C. Carter and projectionist Rick Prelinger.

History

The Units were one of the most popular bands of the San Francisco punk and performance art scene during the late 1970s and early 1980s, headlining at the Mabuhay Gardens (aka The Fab Mab), The Savoy Tivoli, The Berkeley Square, The Deaf Club, Valencia Tool & Die, Geary Theater and other punk clubs. The Units also opened for such bands as Soft Cell, Gary Numan, Ultravox, XTC, Bow Wow Wow, the Psychedelic Furs, the Police, Iggy Pop, Dead Kennedys, Sparks and toured the United States with Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.

Notable performance art appearances included "Punk Under Glass",[1] where the Units performed in the windows of the JC Penney building in downtown San Francisco, as part of a two day art installation, and the "Labat / Chapman Fight at Kezar Pavilion",[2] a performance art boxing match between two artists where the Units played the national anthem.

Since L.A.’s The Screamers never released a record, the Units' DIY, self stamped, 7” EP entitled “Units” released in 1979, may be one of the first examples (along with early recordings of Suicide) of a Synthpunk record. It was followed by another self released 2 song 7” record in early 1980, "Warm Moving Bodies"/"iNight". As Wikipedia's definition of Synthpunk states: " while a number of art bands moved more towards ambient, or art gallery collage sounds (Ant Farm, Ralph Records) The Units nailed it with ferocious singles like "i-night" which foreshadows Prodigy and the more intense early work of the Chemical Brothers Block Rocking beats for its intensity.

The Units critically acclaimed first album, Digital Stimulation, released in 1980, was the first album released by Howie Klein’s fledgling 415 Records, which is considered to be the first North American record label devoted to New Wave music.[citation needed]

In 1982, the Units released a single on UpRoar Records entitled "The Right Man". The song was recorded at the Different Fur recording studio, founded by the electronic music composer Patrick Gleeson.[3] The recording was produced by Michael Cotten, the synthesizer player of The Tubes. The song went to No. 18 on Billboard's Dance Charts and stayed on the charts for 13 weeks. The Uproar label was the creation of Rachel Webber's brother, Joel Webber. Webber, radio promo man extraordinaire and the Units manager at the time, was also one of the founders of the New Music Seminar, New York's major new music fiesta of the '80s and early '90s. Subsequent productions by UpRoar included spoken word recordings by performance artists including Karen Finley, Eric Bogosian, and Ann Magnuson. Upon Joel’s death in 1988 Rachel Webber took over as head of the label.

After the success of "The Right Man", the Units signed with Epic/CBS Records and produced a music video for "A Girl Like You" that went into medium rotation on early MTV. They released an EP titled New Way to Move on Epic Records, but typical of a hard-luck recording career, the Units' second and third albums — both produced by Bill Nelson for Epic/CBS, were never released.[citation needed]

In 1984, after recording the sound and music for the artist Tony Oursler’s film EVOL, Ryser and Webber moved to New York, putting an effective end to the Units.

Visual and multimedia components

The film Unit Training Film#1, produced by Scott Ryser and Rachel Webber, compiled from films the band projected during performances, was shown sans band in movie theaters around the San Francisco Bay Area, including the Roxie Cinema, San Francisco Cinematheque, The Intersection, and the Mill Valley Film Festival.[4]

Critical response

The alternative press publisher V. Vale called the Units "the first San Francisco band to perform using no guitars",[5] and the Los Angeles music critic Kickboy Face of the fanzine Slash wrote of a Units performance, "That night, watching the Units pound their machines into submission, I knew that another cliched concept of mine was biting the dust once and for all. I also knew that there probably was a future to rock n roll after all, and that future did not necessarily include anything resembling guitars."[6]

Attempts at later recognition

• In 2005, Ryser signed a licensing contract with EMI. Once again, the recordings were not released.

• In 2007, the record label Golden Goose from San Francisco released a 12" remix of "High Pressure Days" [1]

• In 2007, The record label Mediane from Italy released "Daniele Baldelli ‎– Cosmic - The Original" 2 CD set that includes the original and remixed versions of The Units "The Right Man". [2]

• In 2009, the record label Community Library out of Portland, Oregon released a-21 song compilation by the Units entitled "The History of The Units" on CD and vinyl that included a booklet entitled "The Unit Training Manual". [3]

• In June 2009, a 12" single of "High Pressure Days" was released on German label Relish with remixes alongside the original version. [4]

• In February 2010, a 12" e.p. was released on UK label Hungry Beat Recordings including Rory Phillips remix of "High Pressure Days". [5]

• In February 2010, The Units "High Pressure Days" was included on a compilation CD called "Mylo ‎– The Return Of Mylo" on the Mixmag label from the UK. The CD was also on the cover of Mixmag magazine. [6]

• In February of 2010, the Rough Trade Records label from the UK included The Units "High Pressure Days" on their "Counter Culture 09" 2 CD set. [7]

• In April of 2011, The Dark Entries music label from San Francisco released "Bart - Bay Area Retrograde (Vol. 1)", a 12" compilation that includes The Units song "Mission". [8]

• In 2011, a 12" e.p. was released on French label Robsoul Recordings including 2 remixes of "High Pressure Days" by Phil Weeks. [9]

• In 2011, The Opilec Music label from Italy released "The Units - Connections", a 3 CD box set of 25 songs written by The Units that were remixed by over 40 international DJs, producers and bands from 13 different countries. [10]

• In 2012, The Opilec Music label from Italy released a 12" e.p. with three songs written by The Units and remixed by Todd Terje from Norway and I-Robots from Italy. [11]

• In 2012, The Opilec Music label from Italy released 2 songs by The Units on the "We Are Opilec" CD compilation. [12]

• In March 2012, the Tsugi Sampler label from France released the "Ivan Smagghe ‎– A Walk In The Woods With Ivan Smagghe" CD that included a remix of The Units "High Pressure Days" by Todd Terje. [13]

• In 2013, The Units are included (2 songs performed live) in a film entitled "The Seven Deadly Synths" along with 6 other synthesizer bands including Suicide, Sun Ra, and Our Daughter's Wedding. [14]

Influence and cultural significance

Jandek is an outsider musician presumably from Houston, Texas, who has self-released 59 albums without ever granting a real interview. His first album, Ready for the House, was first accredited to a band called "The Units". Jandek stopped using the Units name and started using his own after being contacted by Scott Ryser of the S.F. Units. Mr. Ryser holds a U.S. Trademark on the name "Units".

• In 2011, The Opilec Music label from Italy released "The Units - Connections", a 3 CD box set of 25 songs written by The Units that were remixed by over 40 prominent, international DJs, producers and bands from 13 different countries. [15]

Discography

  • High Pressure Days (7")
  • Warm Moving Bodies (7")
  • Units (7")
  • Digital Stimulation (12")
  • The Right Man (12")
  • A Girl Like You (12")
  • New Way to Move (12")

Videography

  • "Unit Training Film 1: Warm Moving Bodies" [16]
  • "Unit Training Film 2: Cannibals" [17]
  • "High Pressure Days 1979 - with intro by Dirk Dirksen" [18]
  • "THE UNITS & LARRY CUBA - Warm Moving Bodies with Calculated Movements" [19]
  • "A Girl Like You"

Filmography

  • Unit Training Film 1, Warm Moving Bodies (1980) by Scott Ryser
  • In 2011, the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive purchased and restored the original "Unit Training Film" and included it in a program called "Punk, Attitudinal: Film and Video, 1977 to 1987" as part of their series "Radical Light: Alternative Film and Video in the San Francisco Bay Area". The program continues to be shown in major cities throughout the United States. [20]

References

  1. ^ "Punk Under Glass" by Jeff Jarvis, S.F. EXAMINER, Fri., Jan. 26,1979.
  2. ^ "Ring Cycle" by Bill Mandel, S.F. Examiner, June 5, 1981.
  3. ^ Damian Ramsey, Discs - The Units Discography, Synthpunk.org.
  4. ^ Damian Ramsey, Playback: Film and the Units, Synthpunk.org.
  5. ^ V. Vale, "Ultrasonic Security", Slash, Vol. 2, No. 6. June 1979.
  6. ^ Bessy, Claude ("Kickboy Face"). "untitled," Slash, Vol. 2, No. 9, September 1979.
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