Johnny and the Distractions
Making it at an American Tradition
It’s an American tradition:
the regional cult band. A
band plays bars all over a
region and, with luck, talent,
and sheer hard work, builds a
following. Fans of the group
predict national fame and
fortune: “These guys have
gotta make it. They’re at least
as good as any other group
out there." Occasionally a
band will actually manage to
break out of cult status and
score hits on a national level.
Most don’t.
A year and a half ago,
Johnny and the Distractions
—then made up of singer/
rhythm guitarist/frontman
Jon Koonce, lead guitarist
Billy Feldmann, keyboard
player Gregg Perry, bassist
Mark Larue Todd, and drum
mer Kip Richardson —
seemed ready to do it ail
They’d been playing bars
throughout the Northwest,
and their high energy shows
had garnered them a fana
tical following in Portland,
Eugene, and Seattle. Two in
dependently pressed singles
( “Deep in the Night/
Diamonds This Time,"
and “Guys Like Me’V'Rock
Me Tonight”) were getting
airplay. The songs were
good, the playing was hot,
and the fans were exper
iencing the standard cult
dream: Johnny and the Dis
tractions would sign a record
contract, put out an album,
shoot up the charts, and take
over the world.
But 1979 went out without
a record deal, and by the
summer of 1980, the band
was beginning to stagnate.
The live shows were still ex
cellent, but there seemed to
be no progression. Johnny
and the Distractions didn’t
seem to be going anywhere.
Then ex-Nad guitarist
Mark Spangler was added,
and Billy Feldmann even
tually left the group. Feld
mann’s defection was the re
sult of an ego clash within the
band. He was writing his own
songs, songs Koonce says
were at odds with the rest of
the band’s material: "We did
some of 'em, and we
made’em fit because we
did’em our way, but there
were some musical differ
ences, changes that needed
to be made for his material.”
Koonce says that a major
part of the problem was due
to the band’s heavy
schedule: ’’When you're
playing five nights a week,
you don't have much time to
rehearse, which means you
can't change things around
as much. And when you do
the same songs the same
way night after night, you get
tired of 'em, and they actually
start to sound worse. Now
we're not playing as much,
and we’re making more time
to rehearse.''
The effort has helped im
mensely. During their most
recent appearance here, in
early December, Spangler’s
place in the band seemed
much more clearly defined.
Much of the slack created by
Feldmann’s departure has
been taken up by Gregg
Perry’s piano and organ,
which Koonce calls "my ul
timate weapon. They plow up
more dirt than any wall of
guitars ever could.” Some
erstwhile concert standards
have been dropped, while
others such as "Octane
Twilight" and "City of An
gels” (which now boasts a
piano-and-vocal opening)
have been substantially rear
ranged. Koonce promises
more changes in the band
during 1981.
The release of their first
album helps the group's
momentum. Recorded at
Kaye-Smith Studios in Seat
tle, the record was originally
supposed to be out in Oc
tober, but distribution prob
lems kept it out of the stores
until December. It's an in
dependent release, though
Koonce hopes a major label
will pick it up if it sells well
enough.
Johnny and the Distrac
tions, as the album is known,
was cut while Bill Feldmann
was still in the group. Span
gler plays on only one song,
“Broken Heart." Thus, while
it gives a good indication of
the band's range of material,
it’s not a completely accurate
representation of their cur
rent live sound.
The album also brings up
the dreaded Bruce Spring
steen comparisons. Koonce,
through an act of God, hap
pens to posess a voice bear
ing a remarkable similarity to
Springsteen’s. He's been
hounded so much by the
comparison that he some
times brings the subject up
himself in interviews just to
get it out of the way. He says
he doesn't like The River,”
Springsteen's latest release
— too many “car songs” for
his taste. Koonce’s criticism,
and his defensiveness about
what he calls "the whole
Springsteen thing," loses a
bit of validity when one ex
amines Johnny and the Dis
tractions.
Of nine songs, three
("Shoulder of the Road,"
“Octane Twilight”, and "In
the Street”) could be pegged
as “car songs” from their
titles alone. Others mention
cars of the street in their lyr
ics. Nothing wrong with that
— all of them stand up on
their own. But when all of it is
combined with the picture of
the Coupe de Ville on the
back cover, one really has to
wonder. It would be a mis
take to dismiss Koonce as a
"Springsteen clone”; he's
far more than that, and he
deserves to be heard “and
judged on his own consider
able merits. If he ever wants
to escape that label comple
tely, however, he would be
well advised to find other
subject matter for his songs,
or at the very least avoid the
really unneccessary refer
ences in his cover art.
You can, however, pick
your nits wherever you find
them. Johnny and the Dis
tractions is still one helluva
good album. Bill Feldmann is
a wonderful guitarist, and
since it may be years before
he records his own album, I
for one am grateful that his
work with the band has been
preserved on vinyl. Both
"Guys Like Me" and “Rock
Me Tonight" appear on the
album in versions superior to
those on the single. Most im
pressive among the rest are
“Rosie", "Octane Twilight”,
and "Broken Heart," which
gives an indication of how
Spangler will sound on the
next album
Johnny and the Distrac
tions' next Eugene appear
ance is scheduled for Jan
uary 22, 23, and 24 at Grand
Illusions. At their worst, they
still outclass any of the local
competition. And at their
best, they can hold their own
with any band in the country.
If they ever make it nation
wide, those in attendance
can say they sawem when
they were still playing bars
And if they don't, an evening
of non-stop dancing is its
own reward.
Phil Bernstein
Photo by Debb