Inner City Unit -

Inner City Unit was an English space-rock/post-punk band that self-released a 1980 album on Riddle Records, followed with the 1981 Avatar Records release The Maximum Effect. They made three further albums through 1985, including two on Flicknife Records. Saxophonist Nik Turner came from the original Hawkwind lineup.

Members: Nik Turner (saxophone), Trev Thoms (guitar), Dead Fred (keyboards), Baz Magneto (bass), Mick Stupp (drums), Dino Ferari (drums), Steve Pond (guitar), Dave Anderson (bass)

Background

Inner City Unit formed in London in April 1979 when saxophonist Nik Turner assembled keyboardist Phil “Dead Fred” Reeves, guitarist Trev Thoms, synthesist Mo Vicarage, and drummer Ermanno Ghisio-Erba, known as Dino Ferari.

Turner had played saxophone and flute with Hawkwind from 1969 to 1976, then led Sphynx around the 1978 album Xitintoday. The Sphynx project grew from flute recordings Turner made inside the Great Pyramid of Giza, which he developed with producer Steve Hillage and musicians from Gong. Designer Barney Bubbles, a longtime Turner associate, suggested the name Inner City Unit.

Vicarage and Ferari had worked with Turner on Fairy Tales by Mother Gong. Ferari brought Thoms into Turner’s circle after the pair worked together in Steve Took’s Horns. Thoms had also played with Reeves in Steve Gibbons Band. Reeves brought further experience from Midlands groups, including the Light Fantastic, before work with China Street in 1979.

Inner City Unit rehearsed for four days before recording “Watching the Grass Grow,” “Cars Eat With Auto Face,” “Alright on the Flight,” and the original version of “Solitary Ashtray” at Foel Studios in Wales. The group played an initial concert in Liverpool, then appeared at the 1979 Glastonbury Festival under the Sphynx name. Vicarage withdrew from live work as bassist Barry Downes, known as Baz Magneto, joined the lineup. Ferari subsequently left for Rome, and drummer Mick Lee, known as Mick Stupp, occupied the drum seat by the close of the year.

Riddle Records issued “Solitary Ashtray” (b/w “SO T RY AS I D”) in October 1979. Inner City Unit also appeared at the first Futurama festival at Queens Hall in Leeds and continued through the British club and free-festival circuit. Turner, Thoms, Reeves, Magneto, and Stupp recorded Polydor demos of “Space Invaders” and “Polyethylene” in December, but the sessions produced no label agreement. Bubbles subsequently obtained studio time through Nick Lowe, and Inner City Unit entered UK Pro Studios with Paul Riley for the sessions that produced Pass Out.

Discography: