Stray

Stray is an English hard rock band formed in 1966. Vocalist Steve Gadd (born Stephen Gadd, 27 April 1952, Shepherd's Bush, West London), guitarist Del Bromham (born Derek Roy Bromham, 25 November 1951, Acton, West London), bass player Gary Giles (born Gary Stephen Giles, 23 February 1952, North Kensington, West London) and drummer Steve Crutchley (born 1952) formed the band whilst all were attending the Christopher Wren School in London. Richard "Ritchie" Cole (born 10 November 1951, Shepherd's Bush, West London) replaced Crutchley in 1968. They signed to Transatlantic Records in January 1970.
The group's brand of melodic, hook-laden hard rock proved to be a popular draw on the local club scene during the early 1970s. However the band did not have commercial success with its record releases. At one stage Charlie Kray (brother of the Kray twins Ronnie and Reggie), was their manager. Gadd left the band in 1975 due to artistic differences and was replaced on vocals by Pete Dyer. The group's early musical style consisted of blues rock, acid rock and psychedelic rock. They then went on to join the hard rock and progressive rock movement.
== Links to Peel ==
Stray were one of the first rock acts to sign with the Transatlantic label, which had previously been home to a number of largely folk-based artists who had done sessions for Peel. In his column for Disc & Music Echo, published on 21st November 1970, Peel mentioned that he and the Pig went to Margate to see Stray play along with Fleetwood Mac. He thought their set was good, but also stated he didn't have time to watch Fleetwood Mac, as he had to go to Blisworth to hear Little Free Rock (who also recorded an LP for Transatlantic). In the same article, he also mentioned that he seemed to be seeing Stray quite a lot. 
In the early/mid 70's the group did four sessions for his shows, but by the time punk arrived, they were about to split up and the original band members went their separate ways in 1977. After that, there were a number of revived versions of Stray, but, as with many hard rock bands, they no longer featured in Peel's programmes. In the 1990's and beyond,there was a revival of interest in Stray and they issued some new albums. Peel didn't play anything from them, but did play "Jericho", a track from their 1971 Suicide album, at least four times on his later shows.
== Sessions ==
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1. Recorded: 1971-12-29. Broadcast: 21 January 1972. Repeated: 04 February 1972, 24 March 1972
*Mr Hobo / Leave It Out / How Could I Forget You
2. Recorded: 1972-10-23. Broadcast: 26 October 1972. Repeated: 16 November 1972
*Cross Country / Alone Again / I Believe It
3. Recorded: 1973-05-07. Broadcast: 17 May 1973. Repeated: 07 June 1973
*It's Alright Ma / Pretty Thing / Come On Air
4. Recorded: 1974-06-18. Broadcast: 09 July 1974
*Mystic Lady / Right From The Start / Times Like These / Give It Up
== Other Shows Played ==
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*16 May 1970: Only What You Make It (LP - Stray) Transatlantic
*19 September 1970: Time Machine (LP – Stray) Transatlantic
;1971
*22 December 1971: How Could I Forget You? (LP - Saturday Morning Pictures) Transatlantic
;1973
*05 July 1973: Alright, Ma (LP – Mudanzas) Transatlantic
;thumb|330x330px1993
*07 May 1993: Jericho (album - Suicide) Transatlantic
;1999
*01 June 1999: ‘Jericho (LP – Suicide )’ Transatlantic
;2003
*21 October 2003: Jericho (LP - Suicide) Transatlantic
*06 November 2003 (Radio Eins): Jericho (LP - Suicide) Transatlantic
== See Also ==
*Singles Reviews
*Gigography 1970
*Disc & Music Echo: Peel Columns
*Sounds
== External Links ==
*Wikipedia
*Discogs
*Official Website
Category:Artists