Wishing The Distractions good luck in meeting their finance goal on Pledge Music and releasing their vinyl record / re-mastered CD / book project in the near future. They’ve almost reached their goal, so head on over and pledge at least $15 to download their 10 song sampler immediately and/or pre-order a version of their book-set collection, hand numbered and possibly autographed. http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/thedistractions
This project comprises 1 x vinyl + 3 x CDs housed in a 100+ page 12” hardback book, which includes virtually all of #1 Distractions music unavailable for decades (99% of it has never been digitized). That’s all sorted now, they’v gone back to the original analog reels and found the first generation masters as well as outtakes / alternative mixes / demos and some long-forgotten tracks as well. Only 500 copies of the Parabolically Yours book-set will be made available, a seriously limited edition that you’re not going to find anywhere other than Pledge Music (for pre-ordering) or if any left at HiddenMasters.net, meaning it won’t be possible to order via any other entity (eg Amazon or similar). By including more recent studio and live recordings, this will bring The Distractions story up to date. A goodly portion of everything collected for this project has never been heard before. A collector’s edition? It will be for me. http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/thedistractions
And my commercial for the much sought after but unavailable…“AND THEN THERE’S… THE DISTRACTIONS”
Original and unplayed, New Old Stock vinyl in near mint condition
Import 45rpm single (small hole)
“Twenty Four Hours”
b/w
“Ghost Of A Chance/Love Is Not For Me”
THAT1
Distributed by Rough Trade / Pinnacle
British Import 1981
7” 45rpm Single (small hole)
A recently found warehouse discovery of a few unplayed and very collectible copies of The DISTRACTIONS single on That Records.
US$ 13.99 + shipping
To buy this 7″ 45: http://ebay.to/1J0BBiW
The Distractions – one of the great ‘lost’ Manchester bands of the late 70s and early 80s; sharing stages with the likes of The Buzzcocks, Magazine and Joy Division. 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. And then they went on to sign with Island Records.
As I plagarize from Wikipedia, what can I say about The Distractions: this fantastic band was originally formed in 1975 by college friends Mike Finney (vocals) and Steve Perrin (guitar), alongside Lawrence Tickle (bass) and Tony Trappe (drums).
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), mixing punk rock with sixties influences.
In a 1979 newsletter, Tony Wilson described the band: “Reminds the management of AustinTexas 66, but take your choice”. 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”. Two further singles were issued – It Doesn’t Bother Me and Boys Cry before the release of Nobody’s Perfect, the groups first album that, ultimately, received significantly more media plaudits than it achieved sales.
Shortly after the album’s release Perrin quit the band to be replaced by former Ludus guitarist, Arthur Kadmon. The group continued to tour (including playing shows in New York) but eventually disbanded in 1981. Before their end, the band included another latter member, Debbie Shure.
After the band imploded, 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 single in 1987; Pip Nicholls went to play drums in Glass Animals, alongside Miaow singer Cath, while Sidebottom founded and continues to lead the Republic of Swing samba band.
During early 2010, Finney and Perrin revisited material that had been recorded during a brief reunion in the late ’90s (when they also played selected shows in Manchester and Liverpool) resulting in their Black Velvet EP which was released via Occultation Recordings.
Perrin and Finney were back in the studio in June 2010 to record new material – this time for a 12″ vinyl EP, Come Home featuring “Lost”, “Nicole” and “Oil Painting”. The session was recorded at Parr Street Studios, Liverpool and engineered by Rich Turvey of The Wild Swans, who also played guitar and keyboards. Stuart Mann played drums on the recording, which was issued by Occultation in November 2010.
The following summer, and following some geographically-challenged songwriting, Perrin and Finney alongside Arash Torabi together with producer Nick Halliwell (The Granite Shore) entered a studio in Exeter. Four days later, they’d cut the basic tracks for a new Distractions album; at that time simply entitled 2.
The Distractions’ second album, The End Of The Pier was released by Occultation in August 2012. At the same point, the group played their only UK dates of the year – two sell-out shows in Salford.
“AND THEN THERE’S… THE DISTRACTIONS”
“Twenty Four Hours”
b/w
“Ghost Of A Chance/Love Is Not For Me”
Original and unplayed, New Old Stock vinyl in near mint condition
Import 45rpm single (small hole)
US$ 13.99 + shipping
To buy this 7″ 45: http://ebay.to/1J0BBiW
Or any of Sunsync’s other 45’s being offered on eBay: http://ebay.to/18XHjpC
CONDITION:New Old Stock (NOS) – UNPLAYED
Record: NM; Picture Sleeve: NM
sunsync 