I Suppose the Tedium Must Drive You Mad

The Distractions came together in 1975, though it would be a further 4 years before the band committed any music to vinyl with the 'You're Not Going Out Dressed Like That' EP on Manchester indie label TJM Records. Side 1 track 1 of that release was the original version of 'It Doesn't Bother Me', a good song in search of a little extra oomph. Things get a bit hazy at this point as The Distractions simultaneously signed to Factory for a one-off single and also to Island Records for a more conventional and comprehensive deal. In the event Island was first out of the traps with a re-recorded, re-arranged stab at 'It Doesn't Bother Me' produced by Jon Astley. This time around the song ticked all the boxes - it's powerpop perfection. 

The Distractions - It Doesn't Bother Me (1978) 

The Distractions - It Doesn't Bother Me (1979)

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

In 1977, for 'Life After Life, Alternative TV's second single on Deptford Fun City Records, the band drafted in a young Jools Holland to provide stabbing soulful counterpoints to the song's reggae soundscape. Mark Perry & co were on an early career roll with the debut 7" 'How Much Longer' preceding it and 'Love Lies Limp', 'Action Time Vision' & 'Life' all following within the next 12 months - classic singles one and all.

Alternative TV - Life After Life 

Alternative TV - Life After Dub

They'll Always Be Singles To Me

A free-streaming tune? A pre-release download? A lead track? Or perhaps, an instant gratification song? What does one properly call a radio-playlisted individual piece of music these days? I've seen all of the above used at one time or another. Of course oldsters like me still call them singles, even in the absence of a physical product, and I guess we always will. Here are three singles that I've been particularly digging in recent weeks.

'All Hail' by Pins is the brilliantly insistent follow up to the also brilliant 'Aggrophobe', a song famously graced by the vocal stylings of the mighty Iggy Pop.

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Mac DeMarco's 'On the Level' boasts a beautifully woozy, retro vibe, not a million miles from Thundercat's recent, and equally gorgeous, 'Show You the Way'.

   

Nadine Shah's 'Out the Way' really has crept up on me. It's not necessarily what you'd immediately think of as being single material, but once this splendidly dramatic tune lodges itself in your brain, it's a mighty tough one to shift. Pete Wareham of Polar Bear and Melt Yourself Down provides the muscular brass riff.