Inner City Unit

Inner City Unit (ICU) is a British punk/space rock band fronted by ex-Hawkwind member Nik Turner on saxophone with Judge Trev Thoms or Steve Pond (guitar), Dead Fred (keyboards), Baz Magneto, Dave Anderson or Nazar Ali Khan (bass), and Mick Stupp or Dino Ferari on drums.

History

Thoms and Ferari were both key members of Steve Peregrin Took's band Steve Took's Horns. Following the Horns' breakup in mid 1978, Turner recruited Ferari to drum on his Sphynx project before adding Thoms the following year to his new band Inner City Unit. Took continued to work with his former band members by guesting with ICU at assorted gigs during 1979-1980, particularly at free concerts at Notting Hill Gate's Meanwhile Gardens. This original line-up produced 2 albums, Passout and The Maximum Effect. A compilation of out-takes and demos Punkadelic was released during the same period. In 1982 Turner returned to Hawkwind taking Dead Fred with him, thus ending the first incarnation of ICU.

In 1984 Nik Turner and Dead Fred were removed from Hawkwind and decided to reform ICU. Judge Trev and Stupp were unavailable for the making of the next album New Anatomy so they recruited Steve Pond, who had previously toured with ICU during the shows for the Passout album as synth player, to play guitar and program the drum machine. Mick Stupp rejoined the band in time for the New Anatomy live shows and was joined by another ex-Hawkwind man Dave Anderson on bass. The second incarnation of ICU released an EP, Blood and Bone, and a second album, The President's Tapes, before finally falling out on the winter solstice of 1985 and calling it a day.