Stretch (band)

Stretch was a 1970s British rock band that grew from the collaboration between Elmer Gantry (real name Dave Terry) and Kirby (real name Graham Gregory). Gantry was previously the frontman of Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera. Kirby was previously a member of Curved Air.

Formation

The band was put together with help from Fleetwood Mac manager Clifford Davis and drummer Mick Fleetwood, to perform as Fleetwood Mac on a US tour, because of outstanding contractual obligations. Unfortunately, Fleetwood did not join the tour as planned, and part way through the tour it became obvious to audiences that there was no original member of Fleetwood Mac in the band, and the tour collapsed.

Music career

Stretch rose from the ashes of this debacle. They initially had a No16 hit single in November 1975 with "Why Did You Do It?", the lyric of which was actually a direct attack on Mick Fleetwood for his failure to join the band on the ill-fated Fleetwood Mac tour. They followed this up with an album, entitled Elastique. During the recording of this album, bass player Paul Martinez was sacked, and drummer Jim Russell left before the recording of the second album You Can't Beat Your Brain for Entertainment due to musical differences. He was replaced by future Status Quo drummer Jeff Rich. Two more albums were made, but Gantry left before the last album, Forget the Past. Another blow came in 1979 when manager Davis decided to withdraw his financial input, and the band eventually split up.

Stretch reformed in 2007 to coincide with a "Greatest Hits" collection, and toured in support of the Jeff Healey Band.

Personnel

Elmer Gantry (Dave Terry) - vocals, guitar (1974-78, 2007-)
Kirby (Graham Gregory) - guitar, vocals (1974-79, 2007-)
Hiroshi Kato - guitar (1974)
Paul Martinez - bass guitar (1974-75)
Steve Emery - bass guitar (1976-79)
Jim Scadding - bass guitar (2007-)
Craig Collinge - drums (1974)
Jim Russell - drums (1974-76)
Jeff Rich - drums (1976-78, 2007-)
Nicko McBrain - drums (1978-79)
John Wilkinson - keyboards (1974)
John Cook - keyboards (1975)

* The bogus Fleetwood Mac band consisted of Gantry, Kirby, Martinez, Wilkinson and Collinge. The absence of a female member also contributed to audiences realising that this was not the authentic group, since Fleetwood Mac featured Christine McVie on keyboards.