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The Distractions were a quintet from Manchester, England who recorded only one album. That 1980 album, Nobody's Perfect, has long been out of print, and it's our loss. The band split up in early 1981, after the album failed to attract much attention. Their commercial failure wasn't caused by a lack of effort. Their small body of work demonstrated that these new-wavers were avid students of music history, and they skillfully applied their knowledge to their own enjoyable music.
The Distractions - "You're Not Going Out Dressed Like That" EP (TJM 2) 1978
Before recording their one full-length album, the Distractions released a few singles and a 4-song EP in the U.K. The 1978 EP, titled You're Not Going Out Dressed Like That, already showed that they did not intend to limit themselves to the usual new wave sounds. These four songs (one of which, "Nothing", was remade for the album) show influences including Elvis Costello, early Kinks, early Byrds (singer Mike Finney sounds uncannily like Gene Clark on this EP), and dashes of surf-rock and psychedelia. And this was just a rough warm-up for the album to come.
The Distractions - "Nobody's Perfect" (Island ILPS 9604) 1980
Nobody's Perfect is easy to identify as a new wave album of its time. "Paracetamol Paralysis" and "Valerie" are punk gems; "Waiting For Lorraine" and "Untitled" have the punk attitude, if not necessarily its ethos. But The Distractions took an educated approach to new wave without over-intellectualizing it. Nobody's Perfect draws inspiration from all three decades of rock and roll that preceded it. The band emulated everyone from Buddy Holly ("Wonder Girl", "Still It Doesn't Ring") to Phil Spector girl groups ("Boys Cry", "Looking For A Ghost") to Elvis Costello ("Something For The Weekend") and the Talking Heads ("Sick And Tired"). The wistful "Leave You To Dream" sounds like the Cars interpreting the third Velvet Underground album. Finney's sincere and sometimes somber vocals give many of the songs unexpected emotional depth. A unique and eclectic album from an intelligent and sophisticated band, Nobody's Perfect is truly one of rock's lost treasures.
Track Listings:
YOU'RE NOT GOING OUT DRESSED LIKE THAT
1. Doesn't Bother Me 2. Nothing 3. Maybe It's Love 4. Too Young
NOBODY'S PERFECT
1. Waiting For Lorraine 2. Something For The Weekend 3. Boys Cry 4. Sick And Tired 5. Leave You To Dream 6. Louise 7. Paracetamol Paralysis 8. (Stuck In A) Fantasy 9. Nothing 10. Wonder Girl 11. Still It Doesn't Ring 12. Untitled 13. Looking For A Ghost 14. Valerie
The second part of Mick Middles' fine piece in the Quietus last year. This focuses on the two 2010 Occultation EPs, Black Velvet and Come Home.
The Distractions
COME HOME & BLACK VELVET EPS
– Mick Middles, December 1st, 2010
Almost nothing has happened since the heady days of 1982... apart, that is, from a momentary reunion of a Finney and Perrin Distractions in 1995. This remains important because recordings from that fleeting time have resurfaced as part of the first of two Distractions EPs on Occultation Records. Indeed, 2010 sees the first Distractions releases of any kind since the early '80s. So long... and what is new?
Occultation, who have just issued the two Distractions EPs reviewed here, are also to release an album's worth of the band's pre-Island material* and, beyond that, plans are afoot for a complete album of all new material. A difficult process, given that Steve Perrin currently lives as a teacher in New Zealand while Finney enjoys the less exotic climes of Holmfirth, Yorkshire. Nevertheless, the two would meet in the summer of 2010, to records at Liverpool's Parr Street Studios... just a momentary flash, with Perrin's guitar as precocious as ever, his gorgeous swelling melodies now complimented by a Finney voice that has gained a honey-tone during the barren years... and longingly unpretentious soul, simplistic lyrics that leave room to breathe. Perhaps it is that sense of space that has always proved so magnetic to writers. Charles Shaar Murray once proclaimed that "The Distractions are good for dreams. " Paul Morley once called them "...the perfect pop band for the '80s" while David Quantick always regarded them as "his band."
Well I concur, despite the rather awkward fact that at least two members of this band ran off with a wife of mine... ahhhh... now there's true Distractions rub. For all their oikish cuteness, for all their wash of innocence... scratch the surface – in the old days at least – and there would lie a web of sexual intrigue that was rooted deeply within the Manchester early '80s scene. Innocence with a sting that refused to play by the rules.
Today, things are more relaxed. The first EP kicks of with 'Black Velvet', a track drawn from those lost mid-'90s demos and the precise moment when the band finally discovered the depth of sound they had been searching for back in the Island days. 'Black Velvet' is simple lost love and, like 'Time Goes By So Slow', is arrives from a place of heightened perception. A man dreaming of a lost and fading love... wallowing perhaps but lifted by the rich Finney voice. This is the music of a lost band, in a sense, as drummer Van Den Berg has been lost to the mysteries of South Africa while bassist Nick Gartside is now firmly encamped in LA, surfacing as mixer and polisher of the 2010 version of the band. This truly international flavour has undoubtedly stretched the scope and is completed by the addition of a third songwriter in Nick Halliwell. Confused? Well, against the odds perhaps, The Distractions now sound more coherent than ever and these two EPs sit perfectly back to back... as a mini-album, perhaps.
The second track on Black Velvet, 'Still It Doesn't Ring' hails directly back to 1978 and yes, it is as obvious as the title suggests. A touch of Undertones – always a close cousin, in so many ways – and a fresh attack at an aged tune. A yearning pop blast... heartfelt although nothing... nothing in this ancient echo could prepare you for 'If You Were Mine', arguably Finney's greatest soulful moment... I do not know of technical perfection but, in terms of sheer howl and angst, this links deeply to the Otis Redding who always sat so central in Finney's record collection. Odd thing, I have to say, during the Secret Seven phase this was a voice that appeared to be weakening... not so now. Does Mike Finney own the great lost voice of modern music?
The second EP, Come Home furthers that outrageous claim. Here Perrin's song-writing has gained the depth of age. The downside is that this comes at the expense of that lovely old naivet̩ but, well, that's nothing if not a perfectly natural progression. 'Lost' is a pure pop gem, written by Perrin under the New Zealand sun. Again there are huge blocks of silence built into the production. If only Nobody's Perfect had been gifted such treatment. The lyric will take you nowhere in particular Рis a simple existential expression Рbut you can forgive that and ruminate on the fact that almost nobody is making pop music like this any more. At least in 'Nicole', a girl is ushered swiftly to the spotlight. Only in the glorious sprawl of Nick Halliwell's 'Oil Painting' are the realities of the band's advancing years appear to be approached. "You may not be an oil painting..." sings Finney which, I strongly suggest is not something anyone wishing to retain manhood status should ever say to a lady of any age and, frankly, all is not retrieved by Finney's level admission "...and neither am I." Nevertheless, and at the risk of encouraging the wrath of Steve Perrin, it is my personal favourite of the six songs on these two remarkable EPs.
For Mancunians of a certain age, witnessing the unlikely return of The Distractions will provide a touch of unexpected hope. The fact that, despite the band being scattered around the globe, they have appeared in better shape than even warped nostalgia might allow, is simply stunning.
The hope is that Occultation can succeed where Island failed. That is – to state the obvious – to link this to the audience that yearns for the touch, the warmth and, as we began, for the soul in the darkness of punk. The great lost band of Manchester are back.
* Possibly not quite the case - watch this space for more details.
 
Part 1 of Mick Middles' brilliant piece on 2010's Black Velvet and Come Home EPs in the Quietus.
The Distractions
COME HOME & BLACK VELVET EPS
– Mick Middles, December 1st, 2010
A touch of soul in the black night of punk. A glimmer of light in the Factory dawn. Emerging into post-punk Manchester, the unlikely Distractions became the best dance in town, adding songs and a touch of the old to a disparate mess of a local scene. They became the perfect counter-balance to the introversion of Joy Division, the stubborn aloofness of The Fall. A most un-Mancunian ensemble. Then again... maybe not. It was Mark E Smith who first alerted me to the charms of this band. Although not one to overtly praise those he would find in his support spots, he warmed to the sexual frisson of their infectious simplicity. They reminded Smith of the finer edge of Merseybeat. There was, he said, a "touch of The Everly's" in there... "a bit of Orbison".
Catching them for the first time at Manchester's Band on the Wall in 1978, I couldn't believe my eyes. Mike Finney, as anti-cool, anti-star vocalist, blessed with a voice of dark honey, a cheeky dance stance and the looks of a geography master. Behind him, orchestrated by the band leader Steve Perrin, The Distractions bobbed away in precocious style. Adrian Wright's steely guitar. The shy – Tina Weymouth-style – bass stance of Pip Nicholls and the solid rhythm of sticksman Alec Sidebottom... who I had encountered before as a member of '60s Stockport psychedelics, The Purple Gang. This was home grown bunch that had been quietly emerging since 1975, I have been latterly informed. But best of all best of all they arrived at the Band on the Wall, fully armed with an album's worth of nuggets. Pure classic gold that had yet to be discovered. Within a year, they would emerge as the most promising band in Manchester. Initially emerging with the raw and modest You're Not Going Out Dressed Like That EP on Tony Davidson's TJM Records (which included the bare bones of 'It Doesn't Bother Me', set to resurface in polished form as the band's first single for Island Records).
Before that, however, came the Martin Hannett produced* classic, 'Time Goes By So Slow'. Even from the epicentre of the era of Joy Division, this song of the surreal state of heartbreak so perfectly illuminated post punk Manchester. Indeed, for thirty years I have not been able to walk past Alfred Waterhouse's stunning Manchester Town Hall without the lyric, "They put your statue up in Albert Square...and all the people passing by, just stare..." striking an evocative note in my head. A song as a tangible heart of a city and, frankly, quite unprecedented.
For a while, The Distractions usurped Buzzcocks as the best paid band in the city. Inevitably, however, cracks in the band camaraderie began to appear at the very moment they appeared set to crack the charts. Their Island album, Nobody's Perfect, immediately disappointed, not for the lack of great songs... but for an achingly clumsy hand of production. Not since Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers LAMF, had an album full of jewels appeared in such a muddied state. Worse, even than that, principle songwriter Steve Perrin decided that enough was enough, and left to for the aptly named Escape Committee.
Legend tells of an Island meeting where two bands were plucked from the roster... the decision resting on which to unceremoniously drop from the label. The other band, U2, was duly retained while Manchester's finest hurtled directly back to the shadows of obscurity. Even a comparatively eclectic rebirth, with ex-Ludus guitarist Arthur Kadmon – and an excellent Rough Trade EP – couldn't rescue the limping unit. Soon they fragmented, with drummer Bernard Van Den Berg, bassist AJ and co-singer Debbie Shore filtering into position next to Finney and Kadmon. What transpired was a uneven unit prone to over-adventure and an unlikely taste for Latino rhythm. Well, it was the age of Kid Creole although the Manchester equivalent never quite gelled.
Finney was unbowed however and, with Van Den Berg, AJ and co singer Julie, (as Secret Seven) scored a short-lived record deal with, of all labels, Bronze, hardly a suitable home for an ironic pop ensemble who mixed strains of Velvet Underground with Dollar. The liaison lasted just one single 'Hold On to Love' and a bizarre flirtation with ZTT (Mike and Julie provided vocals on an edit of Art of Noise's 'Close to the Edge').
Almost nothing has happened since the heady days of 1982...
* Martin Hannett didn't produce FAC12, rather it was Brandon Leon.
Jackson's Row, off Deansgate, Manchester - former location of Arrow Studios. (c) googlemap.
Arrow Studios were at No. 6 Jackson's Row off Deansgate in central Manchester. Sadly nothing remains of Arrow - not even a Blue Plaque - and Evans Cycles sits in a new build where the studios once stood. Today Jackson's Row is best known for the Old Nag's Head, one of Manchester's oldest pubs, established in 1777. Arrow Studios were owned by Greendow, who also owned Indigo Studios on the other side of Deansgate where, amongst others, the seminal Buzzcocks Spiral Scratch EP was recorded in 1976 [1].
Jackson's Row, off Deansgate, Manchester - former location of Arrow Studios. (c) googlemap.
The recording sessions for Joy Division's proposed RCA album were held at Arrow Studios in May 1978 but this record was never released; of course Factory Records put out their debut album [2]. A few months later in November, Joy Division's future label mates and touring mates, The Distractions, recorded their debut release, You're Not Going Out Like Dressed Like That for TJM (this was by no means their first studio material committed to reel though... watch this space for more on that).
You're Not Going Out Like Dressed Like That producer, Brandon Leon, gave The Distractions some free overnight studio time, during which they recorded their signature track, Adrian Wright's Time Goes By So Slow, plus the Perrin/Finney flip-side, Pillow Fight. The Record Mirror "Sign of the Times" feature on 8th September 1979 describes Mike trotting down Deansgate to Arrow-Indigo. If he'd done this 130 years earlier, he'd have been passing a Quaker Burial Ground that was on this corner and, presumably, eventually beneath Arrow Studios!
Jackson's Row, off Deansgate, Manchester - former location of Arrow Studios. (c) Alan Godfrey [3].
3. Manchester City Centre 1849, Alan Godfrey Maps (2008).
This review of Nobody's Perfect from the December 1980 issue of Trouser Press references, amongst others, Love, fellow Mancunians The Hollies, and the usual Undertones:
DISTRACTIONS
Nobody’s Perfect
Island ILPS 9604
“Recycling vinyl dross” or “tomorrow’s sounds from yesterday?” Bands which mine ‘60s pop and rock for inspiration are particularly vulnerable to being gobbled up by just such tedious debates. But if, instead of slavish and inferior rehashes, a band is capable of infusing new life into the genre, why carp? Here’s a pair that can.
[The Lambrettas]
The Distractions’ basis in ‘60s pop-rock is broader than the Lambrettas’. Whether they’re tearing their hair out on “Waiting for Lorraine” (“…to go drop dead!”) or chasing after “Valerie”, the Distractions recall the melodic spirit of Invasion-era groups like the Searchers and Hollies, as well as American bands like Love (circa Forever Changes) and even the better bubblegum records. The “modern” tempos and lyrical twists, though, as distinctively Distractions.
Phil Chapman and Jon Astley’s production is full of smart touches, except when they’re too heavy on sweetening. Mike Finney’s vocals, a huge plus, are as wonderful in their own way as Undertone Fergal Sharkey’s.
How many Searchers or Tommy James & the Shondells albums could you listen to all the way through? With the Lambrettas and the Distractions, the only time ya gotta lift the needle is to turn over the record.
- Johnny DesEsseintes
This little piece on The Distraction's first two 12-inch records - the You're Not Going Out Dressed Like That EP and the Nobody's Perfect LP - is on the website of the New York magazine, Trouser Press, founded by Ira Robbins. Distractions articles appeared in the February and December 1980 issues, but this article appears to have been written more recently.
THE DISTRACTIONS
You're Not Going Out Dressed Like That EP (UK TJM) 1979
Nobody's Perfect (UK Island) 1980
Decades from now, rock historians will scratch their heads in bewilderment that the Distractions' fine body of work didn't ensure the Manchester quintet a longer lifespan. The 1979 EP (which contains rougher versions of two songs [Doesn't Bother Me and Nothing] that would later turn up on Nobody's Perfect, plus a live pair — "Too Young" and "Maybe It's Love" — unavailable elsewhere) hints that the group was working from an abnormally broad palette, a sense confirmed by its one fine album.
A lot of records belong to a specific time, but Nobody's Perfect continues to measure up as an ace slab of educated pop rock, right in tune with the ground rules laid down by Blondie, Squeeze and others of that ilk. Part of the problem may be that Nobody's Perfect is too weighty to be passed off as a simple diversion. The band's eclecticism draws on everything from Chuck Berry to Phil Spector to psychedelia — often within the same song — and the vocals tend to be more somber than carefree. "Boys Cry" comes on like a Ronettes tune but delivers none of the upbeat emotional release seasoned pop listeners are trained to expect. Regardless, Nobody's Perfect very nearly is.
[David Sprague/Jon Young]
While we wait for the new Distractions LP to be mixed, dubbed and readied, why not revisit another of the earlier records, their third (and last) single on Island in 1980, Something For The Weekend b/w What's The Use? (WIP 6650). The single is a re-recorded and predictably more polished version of the stomping album track recorded without the recently departed Steve Perrin. The B-side, What's The Use? is a funky number with a kettle drum style beat that hints at Alex Sidebottom's future ventures. Here's ' The Poor Ditching Boy's' take on it: "Because I should probably post something before the weekend and because this one seems the most relevant but mainly because I just scored the picture sleeve 7-inch of this a couple of weeks ago for a steal, here’s one from a group who were probably a bit out of sorts with their original label mates on Factory Records. The Distractions were one of those new wavey type groups who received all the critical hype but had little, if any, commercial success. A move to the more appropriate Island Records in late 1979 did little to alleviate this predicament, even after the 1980 release of their lone album, Nobody’s Perfect, which, again, received all kinds of favourable reviews but little mainstream airplay. This is really quite a shame as anything I’ve heard by this group is worth your time to seek out."
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