All we hear is....

Cha Cha Cherry
Apr 11
3 min read

Radio Gaga...or Stretch & the Armstrongs....

Are you confused right now? Or maybe you are having a 1970s flashback. Stop it Gen Xers - stop pretending some of us aren't turning 50 in two months (I like to kick, stretch and kick) and that the 70s WERE actually 50 years ago. If you were a child of the 70s, you will get the not-so-subtle reference to 70s cartoon Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters based on the action figure every kid had back then. You know the stretchy blond guy?

But for fuck's sake, we aren't here to talk about toys or cartoons or me about to hit a half century. We are here to tell you about an incredible band with a cool ass name - Stretch & the Armstrongs - that YES was inspired by that toy! Cha Cha Cherry and Jtweets first discovered these kool kats opening up for our buddies Super Trans Am last fall at The Stone Pony. But sadly we got there late and only caught about two or three songs. But it was enough for us to perk up our little kitty ears and say who is that?!

We've been waiting to catch this Staten Island-based band in NJ and were finally able to last week at Proving Ground in Highlands. Let's just say if not for Jtweets persistence, Cha Cha was about to leave to get some pizza at her favorite joint down the street (What's up Franny's!) because the crowd was a bit...crowded. But Jtweets insisted they stay and that was sooo the right choice (I'll always have Franny's...).

Stretch & the Armstrongs is made up of Tommy on lead vocals, Rocco and Glenn on guitar, Frankie on bass and Eddie on drums. All but Tommy are from Staten Island. Tommy is a fellow Jerseyan. The band formed in 2022 and play a variety of tunes from different decades and genres. The night we saw them they played three energetic sets and included such songs as:

Van Halen - Why Can't This Be Love?
Journey - Oh Sherrie
Toto - Rosanna
ABBA - Dancing Queen
Queen - Don't Stop Me Now
Whitesnake - Here I Go Again
RATT - Round and Round
KISS - I Was Made for Loving You
Bee Gees - Night Fever
Toto- Africa
Bay City Rollers - Saturday Night
And of course, Queen's Radio Gaga - the song that made Jtweets say DAMN when she heard them play it at Stone Pony.

Are you ready to rock out and dance yet? We couldn't stop. We absolutely loved the varied set list. Tommy's vocals are just so pure. His range to sing all of these different genre of songs was amazing. And the rest of the band was super talented as well. I mean these guys freakin rock. You can tell they love what they do and they've been doing it together for a long time.

We had the chance to talk to a few of the band members and found out some other interested tidbits... Although the band is only three years old, Eddie, Rocco and Frankie have been playing together for 17 years prior when they were part of No More Tears - a Black Sabbath and Ozzy tribute band AND Maiden NY - a Iron Maiden tribute band. So it makes sense when you see them on stage why they just mesh so well.

Even more fascinating is that both Rocco and Eddie are crew members for Ace Frehley!! Ace Frehley as in THE Ace Frehley - 70s rock god /founding member of KISS! Rocco is a guitar tech and Eddie is the drum tech!

We can't wait to see Stretch & the Armstrongs again. We had so much positive feedback after we posted videos of them performing last week! You guys and gals were feeling them as much as us!

Trust us - we wouldn't steer you wrong - you're gonna love these guys as much as we do!