Waving it Together

Stretch were a 1970s British rock band that grew from the collaboration between Elmer Gantry (real name Dave Terry) and Kirby (real name Graham Gregory). Gantry had been the frontman of Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera. Kirby had been a member of Curved Air. The band was put together in 1974 with help from Fleetwood Mac manager Clifford Davis and drummer Mick Fleetwood, to perform as Fleetwood Mac on a US tour because the existing Fleetwood Mac were not in a position to fulfil outstanding contractual obligations. However, Fleetwood did not join the tour as planned, and later denied any knowledge or involvement, and partway through the tour it became obvious to audiences that there was no original member of Fleetwood Mac in the band, and the tour collapsed. Bass player Paul Martinez claimed, "Mick Fleetwood pulled out at the last minute claiming not to know who we were!"

For a few years, I got to travel with these bands—they included me—a dream come true. I’ve tried to take you on a trip with me and Art and the bands while reliving all of it a little—in writing it, in pictures I took, scenes and conversations I recall. And in the music Art asked me to record. About which I feel absolutely safe in saying it: That’s it. That’s jazz.

Deemed a voice of his generation when he was only a teenager, Archy Marshall returns with The Ooz, an odyssey through the disenchanted worlds inside and outside his skull.