Biography
Inner City Unit originated in 1979 when Oxford-born English eccentric Nik Turner, the ex-Hawkwind saxophonist and vocalist, gathered Trev Thoms on guitar, Dead Fred Reeves on keyboards, Baz Magneto on bass and Mick Stupp on drums. Turner’s earliest project apart from Hawkwind had appeared two years earlier as the Steve Hillage collaboration Sphynx (Xitintoday), a recording whose distance from prevailing punk textures later shaped the band’s direction. The Riddle label, which he ran himself, released the debut album Pass Out along with the singles ‘Solitary Ashtray’ and ‘Paradise Beach’. In 1981 the group relocated to Avatar and issued The Maximum Effect, an album that also featured Captain Sensible and comedian Max Wall. After Baz Magneto reclaimed his given name Barry Downes to join Weapon, Reeves took over bass while continuing on keyboards. Punkadelic followed, offering reworked versions of earlier material, yet Turner soon rejoined Hawkwind. He reconstituted Inner City Unit in 1984, recruiting Steve Pond to replace Thoms. Their first recording together, New Anatomy, became the inaugural release on ex-Hawkwind bassist Dave Anderson’s Demi-Monde label and the first album to embed a computer programme on vinyl for the Spectrum system. The band next recorded the Blood And Bone 12-inch EP and supported it with a video containing the surreal ‘Little Black Egg’ plus a guest appearance by Robert Calvert. The President’s Tapes arrived as the final album, met with widespread indifference, after which the group disbanded. Thoms subsequently formed Atom Gods and Turner launched the Fantastic All Stars before traveling to the USA in 1993 to record with Pressurehead. Since then he has pursued further projects involving members of Psychic TV.
Albums
