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Welcome to the official Distractions website. We will be aiming to record the history of one of the greatest, but least heralded, of all Manchester beat groups.

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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

1 Top Class Manager


Rob Gretton, co-founder of Factory Records, and the eccentric manager of Joy Division then New Order was subject of a fascinating book a couple of years ago, 1 Top Class Manager - Rob Gretton.  This was a collection of his notebooks between 1978 and 1980, a period when The Distractions supported Joy Division on many occasions.  As you'd expect, Gretton's notebooks contain several mentions of The Distractions and there's also an extract on the website.  Here's a few bits from the book which comes highly recommended for not just Factory heads and JD-NO fans, but all those interested in British music history and budding musicians alike.



This one is Rob making note that The Fall, Joy Division and The Distractions had been booked in for Stuff The Superstars on 28th July 1979. 



Here Rob is planning the 22nd September 1979 gig with The Distractions supporting Joy Division at the Nashville Rooms in London.  Not sure how far The Distractions' £50.00 fee would have gone!  The website has a full extract on this gig:




The last extract is from the planning of the 'Factory Night' at the Electric Ballroom gig on 26th October 1979.  A night which resulted in iconic pictures of, most famously, Ian Curtis, but also of Mike Finney and Alex Sidebottom:

Mike Finney photo (c) Rock Photos.




Rob Gretton
15 January 1953-15 May 1999
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