History


1978: The Units form as an seven-piece in the San Francisco alternative art scene. They soon shrink to two friends from Redding.

1979: The Units debut and quickly gain critical and popular success. They release their first record and play California.

1980: The Units release their next record, split apart, reform, get signed to 415 and record and release their first LP.

1981: The Units tour the East, loose their drummer, gain two members, meet Bill Nelson and play a boxing match.

1982: The Units record their second LP, produced by Bill Nelson, tour America with OMD, break with 415, record with Michael Cotten, and release a dance hit on uprOAr.

1983: Units lose two members, gain two members, sign with Epic/CBS, record in Wales with Bill Nelson, release "A Girl Like You" single and video, play shows again and release "A New Way To Move" EP.

1984: Epic/CBS buries the third Units LP, the Units break up and move away from SF.


Sources:
(Note: the text relevant to the Units gleaned from the following sources are all available in the 'Articles' section and linked from the individual history pages)

@1. "Live or Dead?" Flipside Magazine, issue 16, October 1979.

B., R.. "Go West, Young Fan," New York Rocker, November 1979.

Belsito, Peter, and Bob Davis. Hardcore California: A History of Punk and New Wave. San Francisco: Last Gasp, 1982.

Bianco, David (Ed). Who's New Wave In Music: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. New York, Pierian Press, 1985.

Bessy, Claude ("Kickboy Face"). "untitled," Slash, Vol. 2, No. 9, September 1979.

Bessy, Claude ("Kickboy Face"). "High Pressure Days," Slash, Vol. 2, No. 10, October 1979.

Bessy, Claude ("Kickboy Face"). "The BPeople, The Units and The Mutants at The Hong Kong," Slash, Vol. 2, No. 11, November 1979.

Denberg, Jody. "First album by Units shows flowing talent and potential," Daily Texan, 19 November 1980.

Desjardin, Chris. "Warm Moving Bodies/ I-Night," Slash Vol. 3, No. 3, 1980.

Doerschuk, Bob. "The New Synthesizer Rock," Keyboard Magazine, June 1982. pgs. 11-18.

Duckworth, Janet, "Your Grit Parade," New West Magazine, 7 April 1980.

Fitzgerald, f-stop. Weird Angle. San Francisco: Post Contemporary Publications & Last Gasp, 1982.

Gimarc, George. Post Punk Diary, 1980-1982. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 1997.

Hud, "Warm Moving Bodies / I-Night" Flipside Magazine, issue 18, May 1980.

Jarvis, Jeff. "Take 5" S.F. Examiner, 26 January 1979, p.5.

Jarvis, Jeff. "Windows: It's art about people - and without pretense" S.F. Examiner, 8 February 1979, p.3.

Jill, "S.F." Flipside Magazine, issue 15, July 1979.

Klein, Susan, "The Units: Programmed For Success," BAM Magazine, 10 October 1980.

Mandell, Bill. "Ring Cycle"

McDonough, Jack. San Francisco Rock 1965/1985: The Illustrated History of San Francisco Music. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1985.

R., R.. "Units - New Way To Move," Creem, April 1984.

Robbins, Ira [ed]. The Trouser Press guide to new wave records. New York: Scribner, 1983.

Rye, Mark. Acquitted By Mirrors, Issue 4, December 1982. Cocteau Records

Rye, Mark. Acquitted By Mirrors, Issue 6, August 1983. Cocteau Records

Rye, Mark. Acquitted By Mirrors, Issue 7, September 1983. Cocteau Records

Rye, Mark. Acquitted By Mirrors, Issue 8, January 1984. Cocteau Records

Rye, Mark. Acquitted By Mirrors, Issue 10, January 1984. Cocteau Records

Snyder, Michael, "The Units: No Tortured Intellectuals," S.F. Chronicle / Examiner, 14 December 1980. (also syndicated in Boston Rock #15, spring 1981.)

Staff. "Untitled" BAM Magazine, 18 May 1979, p. 15.

Staff. "Units." Slash, Vol. 3, No. 5. 1980, p. 41-42, 83.

Staff. "One night of Syn(th)," Sounds Magazine, 31 January 1981.

Staff. "Billboard's Top Album Picks," Billboard, 1983.

Vale, V.[ed]. "Future History." Search & Destroy, Vol.2, No. 11, Nov 1979.

Vale, V. "Ultrasonic Security." Slash, Vol. 2, No. 6. June 1979.

Webber, Rachel. "Windows." High Performance Magazine, 1979.

Young, Jon. "Keys To The Future: Roll Over, Guitar Heros; Synthesizers are Here," Trouser Press, May 1982.