The Units
San Francisco, California's The Units formed in 1978 and released their first EP in 1979. Through the years the band went through many lineup changes and brushes with the major labels. They signed with 415 Records in 1980 and after recording an album produced by Bill Nelson they had a falling out with the label and the record was never released. In 1983 they signed with Epic and once again recorded a full album with Nelson but only a six song EP, "New Way to Move" was released. The band split up in 1984. One of their greatest successes was "The Right Man" single (uprOAr, 1982). It's fitting that the record was released on the small New York uprOAr label. The song peaked at #18 on Billboard's Disco chart.
The Units opened for other great synth bands like Ultravox, Soft Cell, Gary Numan and OMD as well as Sparks, Bow Wow Wow and the Psychedelic Furs. Despite the exposure major success eluded them.
The following people were in The Units at some time:
Randy Dunagan - Vocals
Scott Ryser - Synthesizer, Vocals
Tim Ennis - Bass
Jay Darrah: Drums
Lori Lorenzo - Guitar
Ron Lantz - Guitar
Amy Weiss - Guitar
Richard Driskill - Drums, backing vocals
Rachel Webber - Projections, Synthesizer, backing vocals
Lx Rudis - Synthezer
Brad Saunders - Drums
Seth Miller - Drums
David Allen, JR - Synthesizer, vocals
Jabari Allen - Synthesizer, vocals
Find out all you need to know about The Units here.
Go to the download page to get The Units - "The Right Man"
Bangor Wales' Fay Ray, named after photographer William Wegman's dog, debuted in 1980 with the 7" single "Family Affairs" (Surey Sound Records) and three live tracks on a 101 Live Letters compilation. They signed to Elektra/Warner Brothers and released "Contact You" in 1982. The record did not sell. A follow-up was recorded but the label pulled the plug and kept the masters. The record was not released and the band broke up. There is a rumor that "Contact You" will be released on CD next year along with bonus tracks.
