Units ‎– History Of The Units - The Early Years: 1977-1983

Back in the late 70's and early 80's, when I lived in San Jose, I made the approximately 50-mile trip to San Francisco many times for shows, and was fortunate enough to see the Units play 3 times. The first time was a Bill Graham production, "A Nite Of Electro Psycho Rock", where they opened for Tuxedomoon & The Screamers. I had never heard of them before & their show was rather unique, just synthesizers & drums and a bizarre backdrop of films, like old home movies and bits of classroom educational films and such. The films almost seemed to be tailor-made for the music, or perhaps it was just the enhancements consumed before the show, but it was definitely a memorable performance. Probably one of the strangest shows I've ever attended. The second time Units opened for XTC at The Old Waldorf, and even though it had not been that long since we'd seen them, they had a female member now (Rachel Webber). They were a bit different sound-wise (i.e., a bit slower) & I don't recall if they had the films running in the background or not. The third time was opening for Iggy Pop and The Police on Halloween night, and they were still a bit different from previous shows. But as I recall, there was little patience from the audience for them, considering who was coming after. "The History Of The Units" (The Early Years) does a pretty good job of capturing their sound, at least better than their "Digital Stimulation" LP, which I still have years later for lack of a better "document" to remember this odd little band that I unintentionally saw three times because they just happened to be the opening band for other artists I had REALLY gone to see. "Digital Stimulation", while still not a bad album, is a bit too sterile for my taste & it's good hear a version of their big 'hit' "Warm Moving Bodies", that is more rough-edged than the album version (I believe this is the single version on this CD). I'm glad someone took the trouble to issue this collection, and it's well worth having if you can still find it.