Stretch Arm Strong - GT Metal 6/92

Above is Dave S's review of Stretch Arm Strong's performance from the Fried Onion/Stretch Arm Strong show at The Right Track Inn (click here for the show).

Stretch Arm Strong @ CBGB's 5/18/92

I can't say no good ever came from Stretch Arm Strong because that band was the first time we ever played the legendary CBGB's. Here's a bunch of photos...


STRETCH ARM STRONG
Dean Drillbit - vocals, guitar
Frank Fusco - guitar
Kevin Purcell - bass
John Hoffman - drums

Fried Onions & Stretch Arm Strong @ R.T.I. 5/15/92

Here's The Right Track Inn double-bill show that Dave S's article (last post) alluded to.

First up...Fried Onions...

"Sucking Face With A Clown"


"Mary Jane"


"The Legend Of One-Eyed Sammy"


"Tied Up"


"Miss Magoo"


FRIED ONIONS
Al DiBisceglie - vocals, guitar
Joe Kollar - bass
Chuck Scharf - drums

After the Fried Onions left the stage it was time for Stretch Arm Strong. The music for this first song I originally wrote for the short-lived Muff Diver.







"Pseudo Sophistos"


"Dreams Of Youth"


"Pangs Of Liquid Inertia"


"Rage Asunder"


The last Stretch Arm Strong song I'm including is the last song we ever wrote..."Lift The Shades". It's our stab at a thrash-metal song and it's my favorite. I, for one, was listening to a lot of Metallica at the time so I was trying to channel Kirk Hammet during the two minute intro...failing miserably. Looking back, we should've just started the song with the heavy part.

"Lift The Shades"


And here's the complete Right Track Inn soundboard mix for Stretch Arm Strong 5/15/92...

[DOWNLOAD] Stretch Arm Strong @ Right Track Inn 5/15/92
01- Spiral Faces
02- Secular Vow
03- Pseudo Sophistos
04- Dreams Of Youth
05- In The Oven
06- Pangs Of Liquid Inertia
07- Rage Asunder
08- Why?...Pathetic Humans
09- Look Out
10- Lift The Shades
11- The Bridge

STRETCH ARM STRONG
Dean Drillbit - vocals, guitar
Frank Fusco - guitar
Kevin Purcell - bass
John Hoffman - drums

Stretch Arm Strong @ Dixon's White House 4/29/92

This was the absolute worst show Stretch Arm Strong ever played. We played just fine but the environment sucked. I think Kevin got us this gig through his boss at J&M Graphics in Bellmore – a job he took over from me. She was dating (now married to) John Blenn from Good Times entertainment paper, so he had connections. But when we got there we found out we each had to pay $5 to play! Plus, we weren't aloud to put our amplifiers above 2 because Mr. Dixon's frail ears couldn't take it!!

Richard M. Dixon (a.k.a. James La Roe) forged a career out of impersonating his look-alike, Richard M. Nixon. His resemblance was strong enough that during the Nixon Administration he made cameo appearances on shows like Laugh-In, Johnny Carson, Mike Douglas and Merv Griffin. He even landed roles in some motion pictures. His most famous being Where the Buffalo Roam (1980), starring Bill Murray, based on the experiences of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. Kevin and I used to watch that movie in my basement so for that reason I was interested in meeting him.

Here's Richard M. Dixon's scene from Where the Buffalo Roam...


After Watergate, Richard M. Dixon's career fizzled. But his comedy club – Dixon's White House Inn – helped start the careers of four of Long Island's most famous homegrown comics: Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal, Rosie O'Donnell and Jerry Seinfeld. In 1985, after an eight year run, Dixon closed the North Massapequa club, but reopened it again as a "Long Island Talent Showcase" in 1992...much to Stretch Arm Strong's dismay.

Here's a few photos...


STRETCH ARM STRONG
Dean Drillbit - vocals, guitar
Frank Fusco - guitar
Kevin Purcell - bass
John Hoffman - drums

Stretch Arm Strong @ R.T.I. 1/22/92

Stretch Arm Strong's second show was at The Right Track Inn, in Freeport on January 22nd...my 21st birthday. For the occasion, Dean topped his purple tights from the last show by wearing make-up and a cape.

I had set up a video camera in the back of the room which someone would sometimes zoom in and out. And as an added bonus, someone else videotaped the show (I can't remember who it was but if you'd like credit just send me a comment) so I was able to do a two-camera edit. Here's a few songs...

"Spiral Faces"


"Secular Vow"


"Matter Of The Mind"


Now this next song falls under the "Most Embarrassing Moments of My Life" list, but I can appreciate that people may find it funny so I'm sharing it. In Kevin's, John's and my defense...we had no idea what was to come. Before I go on any further, watch the video to "A Thousand Points Of Nothing"...I'll write more afterwards...

"A Thousand Points Of Nothing"


Backstory: During jams we'd mess around with that little indian-esque raga, reminiscent of The Doors "The End". Dean suggested we play it live and he'd do a little spoken word over it. If only we knew... Now I can appreciate performance art – some of my favorite bands have themes and wear costumes – but I never wanted this band to be one of those. Dean's monologue went on and on...you can see me shooting daggers at him hoping it would end. At one point Kevin and I stopped playing in hopes it would cut the speech short...but it kept going. Kevin did a good job keeping a vacant expression on his face. He probably detached himself from the situation in one of those out-of-body experiences. Around 3:00 minutes in you can see me laugh and at 3:58 I shake my head in disbelief. Little did I know two masked imbeciles were about to take the stage.

In all fairness, Dean was only following his heart. He probably thought people would dig it, and maybe some did. But if memory serves correct...I believe we hashed it out after the show.

Here's some photos...


And here's the complete Right Track Inn soundboard mix for Stretch Arm Strong 1/22/92...

[DOWNLOAD] Stretch Arm Strong @ Right Track Inn 1/22/92
01- Spiral Faces
02- The Bridge
03- Secular Vow
04- Remember
05- Look Out
06- My Days On The Moon
07- A Thousand Points Of Nothing
08- Why?...Pathetic Humans
09- Matter Of The Mind
10- In The Oven
11- Pseudo Sophistos


STRETCH ARM STRONG
Dean Drillbit - vocals, guitar
Frank Fusco - guitar
Kevin Purcell - bass
John Hoffman - drums

Stretch Arm Strong @ FM's 1/15/92

Stretch Arm Strong's first show was at Finally Michael's (a.k.a. FM's) in Plainview, LI. Dean surprised us by wearing purple tights.

"Matter Of The Mind"


"The Bridge"


"Secular Vow"


"Why?...Pathetic Humans"


Here's some photos...



STRETCH ARM STRONG
Dean Drillbit - vocals, guitar
Frank Fusco - guitar
Kevin Purcell - bass
John Hoffman - drums

THE DEAR JOHN LETTER (1991)

One of my favorite classes I took at SVA was History Of Comedy In Films, where all we did was watch Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton films. For the class final I made my own silent movie with Andrew Christou and his then girlfriend Grace Lerner, who were also taking the class. Though it was shot on video in color we always wanted it to be black and white – but we didn't have the means to convert it – so during the class screening we turned the color off on the TV set. So for YouTube, I pulled a little George Lucas and went back and desaturated the picture...everything else is the same.




Did you notice the person driving the car at the end? Yep, it was Andrew, even though he was the one being run over after slipping on a banana peel.


Also, there's a cool little piece of Bellmore music history during the last 5 seconds of the short. Apparently, the tape I recorded Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" on was an old Stretch Arm Strong tape. So when the song prematurely ends, before the movie does, you get to hear a warbly 5 seconds of Steve Zielinski auditioning for the band! I love happy accidents.


THE DEAR JOHN LETTER (1991)
Starring Andrew Christou and Grace Lerner
Directed by Frank Fusco

©1991 Bubjunior Productions

Stretch Arm Strong (1991 - 1992)

In April of '91 I started jamming again with Kevin Purcell and John Hoffman. The years had past since we were in Barking Spiders and we became better musicians so we started writing more intricate songs. We called ourselves Stretch Armstrong, after the 1970's doll. It started off as casual but by summer we decided to get serious and find a singer. For the first time we chose to go outside the pool of singers in Bellmore – although Steve Zielinski tried out – and we put an ad in Good Times entertainment paper. Jim Burns was shuffling off to Buffalo State College, otherwise I'm sure he would've been our man.

After numerous auditions we settled on Dean Mastrantoni (a.k.a. Dean Drillbit). At the audition he told us he'd played with Steve Zielinski before so we thought that was great – Steve later informed us Dean was difficult. But I too can be difficult...that comes with having a creative vision...so I wasn't deterred. Dean definitely had different influences than us. He came from a goth/new wave background, while we were punk rock. I personally never got the whole "goth" thing...I've got friends that do but I just don't. With Dean's influences we became more of a goth-rock band...which we were comfortable with...at first.

We changed our name to three words – Stretch Arm Strong – and recorded our first demo tape in February of '92 on a 4-track recorder in my basement. Looking back I wish Kevin and I eased up on the chorus pedal a bit...but that was the early 90's. With the tape we booked a bunch of shows at The Right Track Inn, FM's, Hammerheadz and CBGB's (some of which I'll get to in later posts). In August of '92 we recorded seven more songs on 4-track in my basement but by then Dean and I were at constant odds so we soon called the whole thing off.


[DOWNLOAD] Stretch Arm Strong (1992 demo)
01- Dreams Of Youth
02- Lift The Shades
03- Rage Asunder
04- Spiral Faces (alternate version)
05- Pangs Of Liquid Inertia
06- In The Oven
07- S.A.S.
08- Secular Vow
09- Look Out
10- Why?...Pathetic Humans
11- Matter Of The Mind
12- The Bridge
13- Spiral Face (original version)


STRETCH ARM STRONG
Dean Drillbit - vocals, guitar
Frank Fusco - guitar
Kevin Purcell - bass
John Hoffman - drums