Record of the Week

Another piece from Manchester District Music Archive's City Fun - The Hidden History of Manchester's Post-Punk Fanzines exhibition.  This one's a slightly odd but interesting article by Andy Zero about his criticism of The Distraction's management.  The NME and Sounds 'Record of the Week' articles on the debut EP are two we've still not tracked down yet...

Been getting some earache about my comment that The Distractions have never had a strong manager.  The Distractions were originally managed by Martin X, 'Wingnut' as he was then known.  Apart from his unfailing enthusiasm for the band, from their early days, he also got them gigging and their name known, not to mention sussing out their deal and record release with TJM that got them 'Record of the Week' in both NME and Sounds.  Since he packed in managing The Distractions frequency of gigs has dropped dramatically.  I don't exactly know why he stopped managing them - had he been approached by a 'major' company he would have been just as likely to insult them as to negotiate a deal.

The Distractions are into deals - as far as possible on their own terms.

The Distractions are now managed by Brandon and Berni from Arrow Studio in Manchester.  They have successfully negotiated the deal with Island Records and potentially placed the band on a better footing than ever before.  However, there has been a criminal lack of gigs.  Apart from the waste of talent there are a number of people who'd like to see them every night, and in the days as well, if possible.  This situation is being slowly put right by their agency (RFP), I believe.  It is quite possible though yet to be proven, that the Brandon/Berni management will be most suitable to The Distractions' particular temperament.

One of the original ideas behind City Fun was to stimulate and provoke music, in Manchester in particular.  We also like to have a laugh.  We're probably laughing at you.  I hope we're succeeding.  When someone tells me something I then have to decide whether or not I want to write about it, and if so how.  Print and be damned and sometimes I am.  I don't care about courting friends or enemies.  I do care about writing the truth.  OK.

Andy Zero