The Distractions
| The Distractions | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Manchester, England |
| Genres | Punk rock New Wave |
| Years active | 1975–1981, 2010–present |
| Labels | TJM, Factory, Island, That, Rough Trade, Occultation Recordings |
| Associated acts | The Purple Gang, Manicured Noise, Ludus, The Secret Seven, Art Of Noise, Glass Animals, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Republic of Swing |
| Website | nothing - the official distractions website |
| Members | |
| Mike Finney Steve Perrin Lawrence Tickle Tony Trap Pip Nicholls Adrian Wright Alec Sidebottom Arthur Kadmon Debbie Shure Bernard van den Berg Kevin Durkin Nick Garside Nick Halliwell Stuart Mann Richard Turvey |
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The Distractions are a British punk rock/new wave band from Manchester, England.
Contents |
[edit] History
The band was originally formed in 1975 by college friends Mike Finney (vocals) and Steve Perrin (guitar),[1] alongside Lawrence Tickle (bass) and Tony Trap (drums).[2] The band changed tack with the advent of punk in 1977 and Finney and Perrin recruited a new line-up of Pip Nicholls (bass), Adrian Wright (guitar), and Alec Sidebottom (drums, formerly of The Purple Gang), now mixing punk rock with sixties influences.[1][3] They shared bills with the likes of Buzzcocks, Magazine and Joy Division, and their debut EP, You're Not Going Out Dressed Like That, released in 1979, led to a deal with Factory Records, who released the follow-up, "Time Goes By So Slow".[3][4] In a 1979 newsletter, Tony Wilson described the band: "Reminds the management of AustinTexas 66, but take your choice".[5] The band had already signed a deal with Island Records in September 1979, before the Factory single was released, according to Wilson "due to irresistible desire to play the game".[5] An album and a few more singles followed, but the band failed to break into the top 40 despite favourable reviews.[6] Shortly after the album's release Perrin quit the band to be replaced by former Ludus guitarist, Arthur Kadmon. The group disbanded in 1981.[1][3] Before their end, the band included another latter member, Debbie Shure.[7]
Finney went on to work with the Secret Seven and the Art of Noise. Kadmon played briefly with The Fall and later went to work in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, who released a sole single in 1987. Pip Nicholls went to play drums in Glass Animals, alongside Miaow singer Cath Carroll.[8] Sidebottom leads the Republic of Swing samba band.
In January 2010, The Distractions official website was launched. Later in 2010 the band decided to release their first material in nearly thirty years in the form of the Black Velvet EP on Occultation Recordings. The EP comprised three tracks that were recorded in the mid 1990s during a brief reformation, which also saw them play a few gigs in Manchester and Liverpool. The Black Velvet digital download EP was launched on 13 September 2010 with the download and a limited number of CD promos being offered by Occultation.
Perrin and Finney were back in the studio in June 2010 to record new material for a 12" vinyl EP, Come Home featuring "Lost", "Nicole" and "Oil Painting". Come Home is expected to be released in November 2010, and a compilation album of The Distractions' TJM, Factory Records and mid 1990s material entitled Nothing will be released on CD in 2011.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Singles/EPs
- You're Not Going Out Dressed Like That EP: "Doesn't Bother Me/Nothing" b/w "Maybe It's Love/Too Young" (1979) TJM
- "Time Goes By So Slow" b/w "Pillow Fight" (1979) Factory
- "It Doesn't Bother Me" b/w "One Way Love" (1980) Island
- "Boys Cry" b/w "Paracetamol Paralysis" (1980) Island
- "Something For The Weekend" b/w "What's The Use?" (1980) Island
- And Then There's... EP: "24 Hours" b/w "Ghost Of A Chance/Love Is Not For Me" (1981) That (UK indie #47)[9]
- Black Velvet EP: "Black Velvet", "Still It Doesn't Ring", "If You Were Mine" (2010) Occultation Recordings
- Come Home EP: "Lost", "Nicole", "Oil Painting" (2010) Occultation Recordings
[edit] Albums
- Nobody's Perfect (1980) Island
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Larkin, Colin (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music. Guinness Publishing. ISBN 0-85112-579-4.
- ^ Larkin, Colin. 'The Guinness encyclopedia of popular music, Volume 2 Guinness Pub., 1995. ISBN 1561591769, 9781561591763
- ^ a b c Strong, Martin C. (1999). The Great Alternative & Indie Discography. Canongate. ISBN 0-86241-913-1.
- ^ "The Distractions". Ian Curtis and Joy Division Fans Club. http://www.iancurtis.org/gigs/bands/thedistractions.html. Retrieved 23 March 2008.
- ^ a b "Factory Records newsletter and shareholder's analysis September 1979 part 2". Manchester District Music Archive. http://domain1085646.sites.fasthosts.com/archive/showartefact.php?bid=290. Retrieved 23 March 2008.
- ^ "Cerysmatic Factory > The Distractions > NME 12 December 1987". Cerysmatic Factory. http://www.cerysmaticfactory.info/distractions2.html. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
- ^ Cerysmaticfactory.info
- ^ Lilypadrecords.com
- ^ Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1999. Cherry Red Books. ISBN 0-9517206-9-4.
