are you sure that it continues throught the record or is it lmited to certain areas on the LP?
Yes it must do. It is a physical limitation of the way LP's are cut. LP = Long Play = some compromises are naturally required to get that extra music compressed (the RIAA curve etc)...this is analagous to good MP3 algorithms that make careful choices to get a compressed audio file that is often (but not always) indistingushable from the uncompressed version.
However, the audibility of this noise (I think of it it as a higher noise floor rather than distortion) will depend on an almost endless number of factors; loud passages close to soft ones, how many minutes of music is on the LP and how close the grooves are cut, the dynamic range of the music itself (more dynamic range will make the cutting of the master more tricky), the outside of the LP or the inner part of the LP... you can go on and on.
In general pre-echo is rarely a problem and even at the start or a track (the worst scenario) it is barely noticeable on the vast majority of LP's.
Fortunately those making the LP are well aware of these issues and will adjust the cutting paramters and choice of where to place tracks such that the LP sounds best (loudest tracks often on the outside).