What Are You Listening To?

[SteveO]

WOW !!! That's great to hear Linda!!!! mile:

I just love Karen!! Christmas Portrait is my favorite Christmas albumn mile:

[SteveO]

Interesting that the band Budgie is mentioned! They have an adequate following and are often cited by critics when talking about hard rock and metal! They are on hiatus since 2010!

The band was assembled by Mick Fleetwood and the Fleetwood Mac manager in order to fulfill touring comitments in America. Typical of him, Fleetwood claimed he would join them later, but, when it was clear to audiences this was not the real band, he announced he had never heard of them. Hence, the later song title, 'Why Did You Do It?'

The core of the touring band was Elmer Gantry on vocals, Kirby Gregory (from Curved Air) on guitar and Paul Martinez on bass, along with keyboard player John Wilkinson and drummer John Collinge. Afterwards, they sacked Martinez, who went on to play bass for Robert Plant and Led Zeppelin at Live Aid. They had various drummers, the best of these (imo) was Jeff Rich, who later joined Status Quo. After this inauspicious start, Why Did You Do It? was a hit single and Stretch got good reviews for their first album, Elastique, in the music press. Their second album You Can't Beat Your Brain for Entertainment was brilliant, but a follow-up single elluded them and the album was ignored. It included an excellent version of You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover.

Stretch soldiered on through the seventies, even without the distinctive voice of Gantry, but eventually faded away. There are some bands who should have been big but it never worked out for them, like Captain Beyond, Budgie, Gamma . . . and Stretch! Especially when there are performers who achieve fame and fortune without any musical talent whatsoever.

One of the early Stretch drummers was Nicko McBrain from The Pat Travers Band, who went on to commercial success with Iron Maiden. He seems to have had a charmed life.

[Big Ears]

Interesting that the band Budgie is mentioned! They have an adequate following and are often cited by critics when talking about hard rock and metal! They are on hiatus since 2010!

They could never get out of the clubs and compromised with a West-Coast sound in order to sell records in the US, but it did not work. Burke Shelley carried on with different guitarists, while Tony Bourge became a French polisher. Their first five albums were as good as Black Sabbath's, if not better, but they did not enjoy the same amount of commercial success. Burke Shelley has been seriously ill, so while Tony Bourge made a brief solo comeback, a reunion seems unlikely.

It pains me to see groups like Iron Maiden and Metallica call themselves heavy and make pots of money, while the genuine articles, like Budgie, never could. Unlike, say, Judus Priest, Budgie were heavy to the core and could not be a pop group in a million years.

[jazzboCR]

On Stretch--Couldn't find a thing on YT; maybe one of you could Post so we can see what the excitement was about? I'd especially like to hear "You Can't Judge a Book...". No pro reviews but excellent rating by fans here: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/stretch-mn0000632331

[Big Ears]

Here they are with their greatest hit in 2012, looking quite elderly, but they haven't lost the magic. The only thing is, I don't know if this works outside the UK.

[video=youtube;JqEQKgxKo_0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=JqEQKgxKo_0[/video]

[Big Ears]

The greatest hit on Dutch TV:

[video=youtube;zY7f5nxuKts]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY7f5nxuKts&feature=player_detailpage[/video]

[Big Ears]

Elastique, the full album:

[video=youtube;DkC0B3cLLsY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkC0B3cLLsY&feature=player_detailpage[/video]

[Big Ears]

You Can't Judge a Book:

[video=youtube;U5ElztruHJ0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5ElztruHJ0&feature=player_detailpage[/video]

[jazzboCR]

Big Ears--Thanks so much for the posts. They work just fine in the US...and that magic comes through. Am I alone in hearing a group that with a few good songs, better publicity and a bit of luck could have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Average White Band? I don't think saying that is too much a stretch...
Let me expand my admiration: http://stretchwebsite.com/ << This site is 2 years old--no current dates and nothing in "Music & Vids". They do have 4 discs available on the Usual Suspect including a "Best-of" and their 2012 emission.
Not thrilled by that "...looking quite elderly... bit--they look right sprightly to me...

[Big Ears]

Stretch were heavier than AWB and not quite as soulful. Climax Blues Band's Couldn't Get Right from 1976 is similar.

[video=youtube;FRVSSwJYqh0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&amp;v=FRVSSwJYqh0[/video]